Taman Negara, Malaysia

Well, I had my first real disappointment of the trip. Hoping to experience a bit of rainforest on this side of the world, I went to the Taman Negara (which translates to National Park in Malaysian). But the place is overrun with tourists, motorboats, and scam companies, which ruined the place for me. I suppose if it was my first chance to see some tropical rainforest, it wouldn't be so bad, but after having such a great experience in the Ecuadorian Amazon last summer, it was a big let down. They had a cool canopy walk, however, apparently the longest in the world, so it wasn't all bad. Just from all the trails you could hear the motorboats and there was little chance of seeing even a bird, let alone some bigger. They had no observation towers in the canopy either, which is where you can normally see the coolest stuff. And on top of it all, a cut in my foot got infected a few days ago so I couldn't hike to the more remote places. So I spent one day and high-tailed it out to Langkawi, an island in the northeast of Malaysia, more info on that to come. But thought I would give an update so everyone knows I'm alive. Here's a few photos:



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Details:
From Kuala Lumpur, take the monorail north to its terminus at Petililing Station. From there, take the bus to Jerantut ($6), which takes about 3 hours. You can also take the train, for about the same price and time, though I can't tell much about it since I didn't do it. When you arrive, somebody will probably approach you from Hotel Sri Emras to take you to their office where they sell tickets to Kuala Tahan, the village next to the Taman Negara. They are around 4-5 times as much as the local buses, but you will meet other travelers and it is considerably more comfortable, especially if you have to wait for the next bus. They also have a river boat. Don't bother (as it's more expensive and longer), you'll get to see lots of the same river scene on most of the activities or just walking around. Honestly, I would try to avoid the Hotel Sri Emras crowd if possible. The image of fat, blinged-out, wolfishly-smiling people will remain in my mind as my experience with them. The one thing that they do do well is they will get you to the Perenthian Islands from Taman Negara on the same day, which is not possible by the public transport, but is relatively expensive (about $40 without the ferry ride, which is $20 return). Anyways, once to Kuala Tahan, just walk around to find accommodation. It is all very basic, but very cheap (don't pay any more than $3). For the activities, they offer guided tours, night walks, boat trips, tribal village visits, and more, but they are all $10 minimum and didn't look that great, so I didn't partake. To get to the National Park itself, you must pay the $.30 ferry charge to cross the river and walk through the resort on that side. The walk to the canopy walk is over-developed and not really good rainforest but if you go further, such as hikes to the "Bukits" or hills further out, the rainforest gets much more impressive and closer to pristine. You don't need a guide to do the hikes, just be independent and make your own way. You'll see more without all the noisy people as well. Getting out, I took the 7:30am bus to Jerantut and then the bus to Kuala Lumpur straight after. The best way to find out about how to get around is to look at the book explaining the public transportation, which is very thorough, at the official tourist information locations. Below are some maps and timetables fyi. FR means floating restaurant. The food at these is quite good. I stayed at Liana hostel, which was well-situated and had a balcony, though like most of the accommodation, is very basic.