Taman Negara Trip

i went to Taman Negara with 9 friends of mine in february just right after chinese new year from 18/2-20/2/2008 (then only got money ma) justin google-ed us some pretty good deals and so we decided to go with the package which only covers transportation..justin even called a resort there to do some booking for dormitories..for transportation, it was Rm60 for a bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Pahang and a boat ride along the Pahang river directly into Taman Negara..there are two ways to get into Taman Negara one is as the above and another is directly by bus there..oh yeah the 10 of us includes me, alexander, tsu chong, han meng, darren, sin loong, leonard, han siu, justin and wai hong! anyway, we took the 5am bus to Kuala Lumpur because the tour bus we're suppose to take, leaves at 830am..so we all gathered at Melaka Sentral before 5am BUT han siu wasn't there! and transnational bus drivers are very punctual! sigh we left d bus station without han siu :(:( ANYWAY, not giving up, his father chased after the transnational bus and finally caught upon it somewhere in town..phewww luckily the driver was kind enough to stop the bus for han siu..

we had a nice journey up till the small river cruise jetty which looks something like this.all the long long things are the river cruise..upon reaching, we registered ourselves at the agency and paid for camera and entrance fee..each camera cost RM5 and only darren and tsu chong brought camera so we equally divided the fee..anyway, we had lunch at a nearby shop and chatted with the owner who introduced himself as Pak Abu..do not be deceived by his malay name as this guy speaks Hokkien! he then told us a brief history about himself saying that he was from Penang and a Muslim convert :) he even introduced us to a tour guide and payed for our drinks! Pak Abu added that it was dangerous to go into Taman Negara without a guide because of the "guardians" of the forest..

we said bye to Pak Abu and thanked him for his generosity before we headed for our river cruise :)

okay the thing about river cruise, it's cool and it's a whole new eXperience for us all..how often does one sits a long boat like this?? the con about it was, we had to stick our butt on the seat for 3 long hours..YES THREE!!! we did not waste time and quickly took pictures on the river cruise before it started to move!

first 5 mins on the boat, we were like WOW..WOOHOOO..COME ON! FASTER, FASTER!! WALAUEH SCARY BALLZ NABE..

andddd after 10mins, everybody got used to it then thats when the boredom starts..now you can see people taking out keropok la chipsmore la and all sorts of food..

after 30mins, some of us were sleeping on the boat..

darren and tsu chong took the opportunity to take pictures of the lush greeneries along the river

after 3 hours river cruise, we finally reached the place at about 4pm! the company's representative gave us a short briefing before we leaving us..

we found our resort and then check in for 2 days..unfortunately, all of us could not squeeze into 1 big room :( but divided to a 4 : 6 dormitory style room..standard price for dorm, RM10 per night..GOOD..

picture of our room

waiting and hanging out area in front of our room

then we called the tour guide introduced by Pak Abu and met us there at the resort..his name was Man (pronounced as Ma-an or Man the Jamaican way) again, this man spoke Chinese AND Hokkien!!! he explained that most of the chinese people there are Muslim converts..he offered us a package tour for RM110 which included night jungle trekking, jungle trekking, canopy walk, hill climbing (Bukit Teresek), cave exploration (Gua Telinga), visit to orang asli village and night safari..GOOD..

picture of Man

we took a walk along the river after checking into our rooms and cam-gigolo around the place..
tsu chong pretending to be ultraman

sin loong, me and wai hong becomin chiu kap mou tek chong mun yan! justin being cool..han siu trying to kiss darren..alex, leonard and han meng jus posing for the pic :P

we found a burst pipe and feeding leonard, han meng and tsu chong's thrist for river water..eiww
err got no idea wat han siu is trying to do

after that, we returned into our room to get our stuffs before going for night jungle trekking the first day (18/2)..for most of you who ask what is the difference between night jungle trekking and normal jungle trekking when both of the route are the same? well, i also dunno but both also very nice! the things one experience at night and during the day is very very different..

picture of a beautiful white tiger lily

as you can see on the sign board, in 1971, there was a super heavy rain which flooded the Pahang river till 74meters above sea level! so the made a mark there so that visitors know wat happened some freaking 37 years ago..

taking some pictures in the foresta spider as big as tsu chong's left palm..tsu chong was bitten by this spider and then paramedics from kl flew in to save his life..nahh jus joking :P

after the night jungle trekking, we all bathed and went to one of the restaurants by the river to have some supper and then gamble at the hut in front of our room..see la all puak kiau kui (ghost gamblers) haha surprisingly i didnt gamble :)

han siu sneaking up to sleep beside me althought he's supposed to be in the other room..

the next morning,

we all had to start our jungle trekking, canopy walk and hill climbing tour at 9am..alot of pictures from now on so i think i'll let the pictures do the talking :)

proof that we all went to Taman Negara instead of some forest reserve in melaka..wahaha
han siu is holding a buah belimbing..it's eaten with rice or cooked with satay sauce to give it a lil sour taste tsu chong picking up a leaf and looking super proud with it :)
this leaf reminds me of the land before time cartoon the dinosaur cartoon, the star leaf
resting and posing by a big tree okay this is the coolest fern i've ever seen in my life..given light, it turns green..with the absence of light, it turns purplish blue!! how cool is that??
Man showed us the tongkat ali tree and then gave each one of us a small piece to try..super bitter if not extracted..eiww
random pic of the greenerieswe all reached the canopy walk station and waiting for our turn to go on it..cam-gigolo again playing around on the canopy walk
crane stance for kung fu man after the canopy walk where alex had a hard type going thru :)
tsu chong scolding han siu for steeping on his shoe and han siu acting manja
me trying to make han siu feel better but he farted due to extreme sadness

climbed up bukit teresek where we can see Gunung Tahan from there..
err one of these gunung is gunung tahan but dunno which..haha

as we were coming down from bukit teresek, one ang moh(white man) suddenly ask us to take pic with him! wanna action to his friends he made friends with some asian guys..haha but the pic on his camera is very neutral :)

another big tree
time for cave exploration of Gua Telingataking a break before heading into the tiny dark cavebat infested cave!hahah all scared being bitten by the bat..at the end of the cave, we had to go through a small cleavage before exit and guess who got stuck??TSU CHONG!! haha had a hard time squeezing through but eventually made it :) cheers!out of the bat cave at last! damn dangerous wanna take pic there..one slip and you're a goner random pic before heading to the orang asli village

orang asli village was really an eye-opener for me..it's worst than any kampung u've ever seen..no electricity, no internet, no supermarket around and all sorts! and they still go hunting for animals and picking forest fruits! we were showed how to start a fire by jus using bamboo and some darn good friction!trying my hands on blowing a dart and look who's my volunteer :D see ya in hell pang sin loong! niahah..but i had a bad aim :(some of the crafts they made..i was really tempted to buy the blow pipe and dart for RM20 but didnt..kinda regret it now
we went for the night safari hoping to see some wolf, tiger, deer, elephant or wat ever but then, we were brought to a oil palm plantation :( we saw a spotted leopard, small snake, kingfisher bird and a lil tree frog..so much so of our exciting adventure eh? but i was surprised when the driver spotted a lil lil jungle frog..so small that it took us a few minutes to realise it's there

after night safari, we went back to the resort, ate some bread and then sleep!! tiring day man..really good exercise climbing up and down the hill, in the cave, and fooling around in the jungle breakfast at the local roti canai shop the next and last day in Taman Negara

a group picture wit Man..haha err there is a reason why we put out hands like that ;)

after breakfast, we took the earliest bus to Jerantut..from there, we took the bus to Kuala Lumpur because no direct bus to Malacca..reachin KL, han meng and leonard leave the group to find ronald while the rest of us headed back to mlk :)

ahhh another trip, worth telling over and over again..it was something like we were scouts again and camping in the jungle..TAMAN NEGARA is a place personally recommended for those who love adventure and being close to nature :) after this trip, everyone was busy waiting for results especially we STPM-ers..tense tense..hahah but what d'ya know?? i passed with flying colours in STPM :D heh heh

-PEACE OUT FROM TAMAN NEGARA-

p/s : anybody who wants to go taman negara, you can contact Man at 017-9157668 or email him at akbarmmnaturezone@hotmail.com (i think he barely reads his email la so call is safer)