Teman Negara (a vast national park on the Malay Peninsula of Malayasia) - Part 47

The mini-bus journey was quite uncomfortable; I actually prefer buses even if they do take longer. We arrived at the pier to pick up long wooden boats, with equally hard wooden seats so no more comfortable. I met a German who had been visiting relatives and now doing some travelling. Ronald was a retired doctor who lived near the Black Forest in Germany – he gave me contact details if I ever find myself in that area. The people I am meeting are great so friendly and generous. It is times like this that I feel I am part of a community and not so alone.
We set off for what was a very interesting expedition in that there was a lot of passenger participation. Every so often the boat beached, we had to help move it to deeper waters then push ourselves off again. Finally after about 3 hours we reached the 135 million year old rainforest. I was welcomed by a guy from the hostel, really friendly and helpful showing me some of his friends drone footage of the area. The views when the drone got above the trees were amazing.
He shared a good deal of information about where to eat, the sights and some hiking trails I could try. This was most welcome as the Wi-Fi was terrible and I now had no guide book! (I gave it to Eye in Thailand).
I also met some London girls that guessed I was from Manchester, not difficult with my accent!
I ended up staying in the same dorm room as them; it is great to meet people that have very similar goals and aspirations as myself whilst travelling and swapping the normal travellers spiel.
They went out on a night safari while I had a safari of my own in the shower block with a huge green beetle with a large robust shell, butterflies, moths, umpteen ants and thousands of flies attracted by the light but killing themselves and making food for the ants on the ground. – the circle of life!! There was also a cat mesmerized by the flies.
I was up early for a pancake breakfast with tea (obviously) before catching a small boat in to the park, costing 1 ringgit (19p).
There was a woman on the boat who thought the sign prohibiting e-cigarettes was a machine gun!!! You meet allsorts!!!
I trekked close to the river, the trees were colossal but I was enthralled with the teams of giant ants and their impressive military efficiency. My mind went back to Primary School when I learned about the rainforests, the different levels and all the wildlife – I never dreamed I would one day get to experience it personally. I made my way up to the canopy level paid the toll charge and continued to experience Raj Forest. I met Ronald up there and among other things we were lucky to spot monkeys. I hiked around and up to Bukit Tersa Mountain for great views but very distracting due to the pestering of many flies and other bugs.
From here I took a very different route than the average tourist and the influx of school day trippers. I went over the other side of the mountain down quite a steep path to arrive at another river part way down. I climbed down a very steep embankment to a fallen tree and clusters of a huge range of different shaped, size and coloured butterflies. I could not help but walk through them genuinely feeling like I was in fairy land! I was soon brought crashing back to earth by the sound of petrol engines and boats filled with Chinese tourists. Ha ha!
I followed this route for a few hours till I ran out of food and water. On one part of the route it was advised to enter only with the help of a guide but I took a risk and carried on alone. I did see elephant dung and was hopeful I was close enough to view them but unfortunately not close enough. However, I did find a Hornbill, like the famous one you see with a huge beak and an extra red bit on top. I found it due to the strange flying noise it made. It was very close to a hut of dorms that I came across, covered in graffiti and tales of other travellers. I was filled with indecision and very tempted to stay but I had already paid for another night in the hostel and was already 2 days late meeting up with a couch-surfer in Kuala Lumpur. The wildlife here is fascinating, I took time to watch a lizard eating a caterpillar, amazed at all the antics they go through.
I had not seen a soul since I left the mountain but when I slipped and fell off a huge tree of course there was a couple there to see me!!!
I made my way back to the river resting a bit at the beach area where a man sat reading in the middle of the river!
Reluctant to leave I purchased my bus ticket out and met Roland again for one last chat; he was a great guy reminding me a bit of my uncle. I got some things at the shop; after all the walking I managed to get a free ice lolly; the shopkeeper didn’t know what flavours he had so kindly gave one to me, I also couldn’t put a name to it but it was fruity!!!
The next morning I caught the bus to Kuala Lumpur.
The day was filled with quite a bit of bus-hopping. There was guy there similar to my age that was crippled and travelling with a friend. I have a lot of respect for these people. Traveling may be fun but it is also very tiring carrying around heavy packs and spending hours on your feet.