Into the Wild

I survived 4 nights and 3 days in the jungle! Friday, I took a 5 hour bus and 3 hour boat ride into Kuala Tahan, a tiny town opposite Taman Negara National Park (picture). Taman Negara is supposedly the oldest rainforest in the world and it's massive.

On Saturday, I went on two boat rides in the National Park. The first, called ‘rapid shoot’ basically meant that we sat in a little boat and rode up the rapids instead of down them. I got absolutely soaked! From there, we headed to Lata Berkoh which the Malaysians call a waterfall but what I would call a lot of big rocks with some water running over them. Still, a refreshing swim after the hike to get there!

I met four girls from England, all 18 or 19, and spent most of Friday night and Saturday with them. They were hilarious. Some of the funniest things they said: “I can’t believe there are no castles in America!” “My head hurts I think because it’s getting more oxygen than it’s used to.” To the waitress: “Excuse me, but my watermelon juice has too much sweet syrup in it. Could you please add some more watermelon? Oh, and I’d like to order a sugar pancake.” And, “I wish these stupid bees would quit flying around my crotch.” Couple what they were saying, usually all at the same time, with their accents, and I couldn’t stop laughing!

Sunday I headed into the jungle alone. I booked a hide (aka a very basic house in the jungle), took a map and off I went! I got about 1.5km in when I realized that I left my camera at the ranger’s office. So, by the time I got back to retrieve it, I was advised that I needed to hurry because it was at least 2 hours to get to my home in the jungle. I arrived with plenty of daylight left after having to cross nearly waist high water…I slipped on a rock and fell on all fours…soaking wet, but thankfully no leaches! My jungle home was quite nice. No electricity, no fans. Shockingly, there was running water and double bunk beds, made out of wood. I was there not 10 minutes when I spotted a wild boar walking through the field behind the hide!

I finished my pack of crackers and dried beans for dinner, wrote in my journal and watched for tigers (they saw one a few years ago…thought I might get lucky!). The noise in the jungle is amazing…crickets, birds, the occasional monkey, mosquitoes swarming around my head. It started to downpour about 7 PM and didn’t stop until well into the night. Listening to the rain fall down on the tin roof was so relaxing. Around 9, I made my way to bed to read a bit of Joyce’s Ulysses. I dropped my torch while lying on my wood bed, breaking it (how?!?). It was absolutely pitch black so I obviously couldn’t see a thing, much less fix my torch. My heart raced slightly at the thought of going all night without a torch, in the event of any scary noises. I survived, but didn’t move an inch off the bed. I slept off and on, but every time I heard a loud noise I was wide awake. I don’t know why I thought that having a torch would make me feel safe, but I suppose having light does provide some kind of comfort when you’re sleeping at least 1km away from another human being, it’s pouring down rain and you’re in the middle of the jungle. Next time I’ll bring a back up light!

Monday morning I woke up not entirely rested from my sleep in the jungle and started on a trek up a nearby mountain. I basically walked a kilometer straight up, so straight that I had to use a rope to pull myself up for about 70% of the climb. It was nuts! On the backside of the mountain, I walked on supposedly the world’s longest canopy, 550 m, suspended at least 50-100’above the ground. The platform was 1’ wide, hung by rope suspended between trees. It moved a lot from side to side, and if I were afraid of heights, there’s no way I would have been able to handle it. Thankfully, all the ropes held and I made it! On the walk back to the park entrance, a snake slithered just out of my footstep, turned around and jerked its head up in a striking position. It scared me to death!! I screamed and moved far enough away to get a picture of it…it still in striking position and me ready to run as fast as possible if it moved another inch.

Animal count: 3 wild boars, 2 snakes, 4 lizards larger than 2’, 1 monkey, 1 flying squirrel and a lot of birds and bugs.

All in all, a great trek into the jungle. I’ll take the thousand mosquito bites I got over a snake bite or a leach any day! Tuesday, I’ll be on a jungle train most of the day en route to the Perhentian Islands. More from the beach later this week!