Our base for exploring the rainforest “Taman Negara” was the small, sleepy village of Kuala Tahan. 6h bus ride should be between the Perhentian Islands and Kuala Tahan according to the Busticketverkäuferin. Ultimately, it was about 10h with our longest bus trip. Pretty tired we arrived at our accommodation in 18h, the Yellow Guesthouse, ,.
The next day we went first with a small boat across the river to the entrance of the National Park. We walked on boardwalks through the forest. However, we saw very few animals: z.B. a monitor lizard, a squirrel and giant ants. There are probably elephants, Tiger, Leopards and rhinos. But this hide away from the trails deep in the jungle, so that you do not get to see. In the evening we booked a jungle night walk. Armed with headlamps, we examined together with the Guide for nocturnal animals. We discovered stick insect, which look like small branches, giant centipede (also called Doppelfüßler), Geckos, Beetles and spiders different. The highlight was a plate-sized tarantula, lurking for prey on a tree trunk.
On Saturday a hike was through the treetops of the jungle (“Canopy Walk”) and the small mountain Bukit Teresik on our map. The “Canopy Walkway” consists of several narrow suspension bridges, which run through the treetops. At a height of up to 40m you have a beautiful view and in the woods. We then made our way to the 344m high mountain. Since almost all the trails consist of boardwalks, came from us not so real jungle feeling on. On the way back from the mountain but we found a small path off the Beaten Track, which led to a river through the jungle. That was much more exciting for us.
We spent the evening, as well as the two evenings before, in one of the floating restaurants on the river. Unfortunately the subsequent night was anything but relaxing. In fact, we had quite a nasty roommate: Bedbugs! This robbed us of sleep, and we were glad to leave the next morning, the guest house. Unfortunately, there has been little disturbed the owner, because he has not yet taken much against this pest. After we had made ourselves smart on the Internet, we now know, against bed bugs that only professional help is effective to get rid of them permanently. These little beasts are in fact very persistent. We only hope, that we do not take the luggage. We do not want to experience again!
For the onward journey the next morning to Kuala Lumpur, we have set ourselves for the first stage instead of the bus in a boat. The rain forest was shrouded in mist at this hour and it was nice to drive around this peaceful setting. After 2,5 hours we arrived in Kuala Tembling, and from there it went again 3 hours by bus to Kuala Lumpur, in the capital of Malaysia.
Schöne Bilder!
PS: das ist keine enorm große Fliege, sondern eine Zikade 🙂