One thing I have been looking forward to since we decided to go to Malaysia was Teman Negara; A national park in Malaysia.
It is a place where people can trek through one of the oldest jungles in the world and stay over night either in the jungle or in a hostel in the little village across the river from the entrance to the park.
We bought a package which gave us three days and two nights at the park with a room in the village and we could pay extra if we wanted to do activities while in the park.
My first mistake was thinking that the package included three whole days in the park or at least one full day and two Half days. But travel here takes a lot longer than I thought and there were so many connections that we didn't get to Teman Negara until 5pm even though we left at 8am. Luckily there was a boat ride through the jungle which was pretty relaxing and we got to see some monkeys and water buffalo.
When we got the the park I was a bit disappointed because I realized that instead of booking two days in the hostel, we could have booked one night in the hostel and then done a two day guides tour where we could have slept in a cave. That would have been so cool! But we didn't know about it before and everything was already booked so we couldn't go for that option. Too bad!
So instead we went on a night safari ride, where we got in the back of a 4wheeler with two other Canadians, and went on and adventure to see animals in the palm tree plantation. Our guide, who sat on the roof with a giant flashlight, pointed out some birds and little leopards to us while we hung on for our lives along the narrow pathway over steep cliffs.
The next day, we hiked up to the canopy walkway, a sketchy little walkway above the treetops with nothing but a net on both sides. It was beautiful views but I was so scared and couldn't help walking super slowly.
I then had to stop about 5 times on our way up a million stairs to the top of a hill with a lookout. But it was worth the view.
We then booked a tour to "shoot the rapids" which was also stopping off at the Orang Asli or "original people" village. My first instinct was that it seemed like a strange things for tourists to do, but that was the only option so we hopped in.
At the Aboriginal village, the Malay tour guide told us about the way the Batek people there lived off the jungle entirely. He explained that they originated from Papau New Guinea and explained their funeral ceremonies and how they created blow darts for hunting and could kill animals in three seconds with the poison. A teenager then came and showed up how he could make a fire in one second and make a dart in about two seconds.
They guide then spoke about how the government allows them, and only them, to live in the jungle, but that the government hoped they would one day decide to live somewhere else as they are contributing to the degradation of the jungle. (But so is tourism so it was a strange argument to make to a bunch of tourists).
To be honest, the stop at the aboriginal village was very awkward and although it was cool to see the way people live in the jungle, I felt very awkward being there. I felt like we were making a spectacle of there life there and were being insensitive to their homes and space. I felt like we had walked into someone's kitchen or backyard uninvited and made entertainment out of their traditional ways (they let us try the blow dart pipe). Before we left for the tour, Jake and I figured it would be insensitive to bring our camera, and we didn't want it I get wet afterwards, but we were the only people who thought so. Everyone else was shamelessly taking photos of their huts and the children, as well as asking them to pose for the camera!
It's very confusing for me because I am essentially doing the same thing all over Asia, but I feel like I try hard to respect people's space and not take photos of people I don't know, but in the end I am still an uninvited tourist in another person's homeland. But for some reason the visit to the village felt even worse, especially because the tour guide said they were annoyed with tourists being there. The tour gives them five dollars for each tourist that goes, on there request, but still. Also, when we drove by again later, there were at least three times more people on the hill than when we stopped to visit. So obviously they go away when we show up. I'm not sure what to think about it. On one hand i feel like its good that the tours exist so tourists don't just go uninvited, but I still feel people should be going there without being invited. We talked with some other backpackers and they seemed to agree with our sense of annoyance that those tours exist and that we went on one. Maybe we should of thought harder about it next time. Anyway, your thoughts would be appreciated!
All these thoughts then disappeared as I did the third most dangerous thing I've ever done (that's three in two days) and went down the rapids in a rickety wooden boat driven by two twelve year olds. The tour guide and his friend sat at the front of the boat and rocked it back and forth to ensure we got soaking wet. Luckily it wasn't a deep river!
Anyway, we made it back alive and well. We're now on our way to Penang for Chinese New Year!
Good luck with all the snow for those in Canada. Stay safe!
