Kuala Lumpur and my Malaysian jungle adventure
If I had thought the change of scene from Klungkung to Kuta was a shock, then the difference of environment in Kuala Lumpur was something else entirely! I arrived about 10 days ago, and wandering through this city of modern and gleaming high rise buildings was something I had to try and adapt to. It probably didn´t help that homesickness had kicked in once again, having just waved off Cara a week earlier, and Mum and Dad the day before…
But, I made the best of it, and wandered around the city, which has a vibrant atmosphere of its own, and is certainly proud of its technological advancements and connection with the west. One of the clearest signifiers to this are the Petronas towers, an impressive architectural feate, and standing as the tallest twin towers in the world. Completed as recently as 1998, the towers house offices and even a shopping centre, not to mention the steady flow of tourists that come in throughout the day. Spanning across the two towers is the skybridge, where visitors can come and enjoy the views over Kuala Lumpur from the 41st floor. The tickets are free, but only allocated on the day itself, so you have to get there early and book your time!
I managed to get up the towers the afternoon of my first full day in Kuala Lumpur, and although I wasn´t too overwhelmed by the engineering ingenuity and the marketed 3D video introduction we were shown beforehand, it was pretty incredible standing at that height and looking out over the city.
Another day took me in the direction of Chinatown and the National Mosque, where all visiting women are required to wear a purple robe, including fetching hood. Mine, of course, looked ridiculous, and was more of a hazard than anything else as I tried not to trip over the extra length of material trailing on the floor. The Mosque itself was all a vision of blinding white, and very simply designed. It made full use of the light available, and was a cool and calm place to be. Tourists weren´t admitted into the prayer room, only able to stare from the sidelines, but volunteers gave us some background info on the Mosque and Islamic belief.
As I was still feeling a little disoriented in the ´big city´, I took a day trip to somewhere a little smaller, calmer, and ´cultural´(for want of a better word). The city of Malacca is just over 2 hours south by bus from KL, and once you get into the old part of the city, it has an atmosphere of its own. It is full of a mix and match of all kinds of colonial influences, from Dutch bricks to typical English Geordian hotels. I began my exploration along the famous ´yoker street´, a street jampacked with arts and craft shops, antique shops and chinese bakeries and restaurants. I bought some freshly made pineapple tarts (introduced to be my Ommena!) and an iced coconut drink as I wandered along. Once along the main street, I ambled into a small art gallery, walked past the Stadhys, along St Pauls Hill, and towards a huge unused water wheel close to the harbour.
Of all the highlights, however, was the boat river cruise I took, just before I headed back to the station and the bus to KL. The route was nice, and took us quite far along the river, but what really made the cruise was the guide himself. He obviously enjoyed his job, and was very proud of Malaysia. Intermingled with the historical facts, he gave us little morsels of wisdom which included the digestive qualities of papaya and mango, and gave detailed snapshots of the scenery used in the film ´Entrapment´, some of which was filmed in Malacca. I certainly left the tour with a smile on my face, and a strange urge to see Entrapment again too…
My biggest adventure of all was yet to come, however. Thus far in my 10 months of travelling I had slept overnight in some unusual places, from the Australian outback to Christchurch airport. The rainforest of Taman Negara would be a new addition to my unusual list. Recorded as the oldest rainforest in the world, dating back over 130 million years, Taman Negara National Park welcomes a continuous flow of tourists and visitors for trekking and exploring the jungle, but retains a character of its own. I opted to take the slower route to get to Kuala Tahan, the village just over the river from the entrance to the park, and where most of the accomodation was based at, and took a 3 hour bus from KL to Kuala Tembeling, followed by a 2 ½ hour ride in a lowlying boat along the river Tembeling to Kuala Tahan.
The boat ride was smooth, even hypnotic in fact , with the engine humming behind and a gentle continuous rocking. Within minutes myself and many of the other few passengers, were fast asleep. The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Tahan took almost a full day travelling in this way, and although it was mesmerising to see the jungle growth from the perspective of the river, and spot lizards, cattle, and if you are lucky, a Taipei monkey or two swinging in the trees, I was satisfied with my one way boat trip, and even happier to take the bus back.
I did meet one traveller, Hilli from Sweden, and we both had the similar idea of doing a bit of trekking and exploring, preferring to be with two rather than one. We seemed to have arrived at Kuala Tahan at a fairly quiet time, perhaps just a lull inbetween the next influx, but it made it a little more difficult to join some of the activities, which required a minimum of 4 or 8 to go ahead. The boat dropped us off at one of the many ´floating restaurants´, which included a ´floating minimarket´. The equivalent of covered over barges set on the shore. The only way to get from the beach onto the floating restaurants was by walking along makeshift wooden planks, which would not always be above water, or incredibly stable depending on the tide!
Almost every one of these restaurants acted simultaneously as tour operators, and small boats from the other side of the restaurant could ferry you across to the parks entrance for 1 ringgit one way. Most of the hostels and hotels were farther back and up the hill from the shore and the floating restaurants, but the shore and its eateries remained a focal point for evening dinners. Without fail, from early evening onwards, people would ´crawl out of the woodwork´, so to speak, and appear as if from nowhere for their evening meal. The hostel I stayed at had a balcony, and the perfect vantage point to watch all the comings and goings. There were little other sounds, or activities going on in Kuala Tahan, save the continuous motorboats, and the daily evening beach volleyball game.
Hilli and I decided to take on the rainforest and the humidity the next day, and do one of the most popular routes, which went along the canopy walkway and the viewpoint from Bukit Teresek. We obviously went the long way around, as the loop took us well over 2 hours, and although it wasn´t particularly long in distance, the steepness made up for it!
The canopy walk was a particular surprise to us both, as I thought it would just be a glorified rope bridge, with a bit of a swing to it. I should have believed it when it said it was the longest tree canopy in the world. It kept on going, on and on, from tree to tree, and up and up. This was not just a rope bridge, it was a scouts dream, and for anyone scared of heights, their worst nightmare..
The entire construction was made from natural materials, which meant elaborate lashings and fixings and weavings all over the place. I felt fairly safe, apart from one point where they seemed to have lashed a metal ladder a little carelessly, and it creaked and swayed a bit too much for my liking..
We got back in the early afternoon, and thought we would fill up the rest of the day with ´shooting the rapids´ (there are no real rapids here, it was just an excuse to get rocked and drenched with water on one of the motorboats) and a visit to an Orang Asli (original people) village. The tribe which live in the Taman Negara rainforest are the Bateq people, and essentially nomadic, moving around when food sources dry up and/or when a member of their tribe passes away. They speak the Bateq language, although a handful in the tribe will speak Malay and/or English. We were shown how they made fire, a strenuous process (they were sweating and it took a lucky 7 attempts to get one going), and how they made darts for their blowpipes.
Our little wander that day had been hard work, but not too tough, and Hilli and I were eager to take it one step further the next day. Our ´before picture´ will give you a laugh, as we looked ´oh so stylish´ with our trousers tucked into our socks – but either that or leeches…
We bought up enough supplies of water and food to last us overnight, and set off the next morning, stopping by the tourist centre at the entrance to the park to book our ´hide´ in the jungle to stay in that night. A hide is actually more glamorous than it sounds, and we were both surprised when we did eventually find our way to it that afternoon. It´s a wooden house set on stilts, with wooden bunkbeds inside, a toilet/shower and a balcony. No mattrasses and room service, naturally, but a far cry from the grass hut I was almost expecting! It is a little disturbing when you see the floor stained with blood from previous occupants´ leech bites, and the visitors book inside also forewarns you for the possible night-time occupants of rats, spiders and anything else that goes bump in the dark.
After a little nap, and meeting two new trekkers who came to the hide, we had the idea of going on a bit further to the lookout point of Pecah Piring. All four of us set out, and followed what we thought was the trail. We kept on going anyway, as the path kept improving and then getting more overgrown, only to improve again when we thought of turning back. It was when we got to a stream that that the other two turned back for fear of leeches (I found a shallow spot to step through, leech free), and Hilli and I kept on going determindly..
It was a good while later that the thought crossed my mind that perhaps we were not on the right track after all, and were perhaps following a hunting trail made by the Bateq tribe. My thoughts were confirmed when, just further up, we crossed paths with an Orang Asli Bateq family on their hunt!
Hilli was in front, and the small boy began to cry when he saw her. We both let them pass in complete wonderment, and they seemed similarly surprised to see us so far away from the walking trail. We continued on a little farther, so as not to seem like we were following them, and then decided to turn back.
It was on this return journey that we got hopelessly and gloriously lost…
At some point we lost the (not so well trodden) path that we had been following, could not find the crossing at the stream/river, and ended up following along the riverbank up and down inclines (Hilli had to pull me up from the mud at one point when my shoes got stuck), scratched and held back by thorns and vines as we went.
With 6pm gone, and the thunder rolling ominously overhead, I now understand the meaning of the word ´thrashing´, as we got more and more desperate to locate the familiar. Our only assurance was that we were following the river in the right direction, and it would eventually meet the main river Tembeling, where boat traffic could (perhaps) be waved down.
Instead, as the panic was really beginning to inhibit my rational judgment, we stumbled upon 3 Bateq women washing in the river. They looked even more puzzled to see us at this stage, two females, muddy, sweaty and bedraggled. We managed to ask them where ´Bumbun Yong´ (the name of our hide) was, and they pointed to the other side of the river where there was a path up the bank.
Knowing there was little other choice, and trying not to think of leeches, we waded through the river to the other side (I did manage to pick up two leech bites which I discovered later that night) and followed the path which brought us directly into an Orang Asli village. The villagers all came out to stare in silence as we traipsed through, what a sight the two of us must have been!
One man who spoke English told us to take a path to the right, and our hide was about 10 minutes walk away. We thanked them profusely, and as we wandered away, soon realised one of the tribe was ´escorting´ us back from a distance. Probably thought the silly tourists would get themselves lost again! I asked him if he had to show lost tourists the way very often. Without hesitation, he simply said ´Yes´. It broke the tension though, and Hilli and I laughed all the way back at how the two of us must have looked. It was also undoubtedly a relief from the stress we had been through in the last few hours.
I am not one to believe in every sign and miracle, but I couldn´t help thinking there was some guiding hand at work that evening in the jungle. I dread to think how much longer we would have been searching and struggling in the jungle if we had not found those women washing in the river!
Before the sun came up, the four of us got up to look out from the balcony and try and spot some wildlife roaming in the jungle. The sounds were almost deafening, and definitely thrilling, but no animals appeared during our watch..
It was definitely an adventure, for both of us. We may not have seen any sizeable animals, but that unexpected moment of meeting the Bateq family on their hunt is a moment I will not easily forgot, neither will I casually throw aside the fear of getting lost at night in the rainforest, and the sheer relief and gratitude at finding a helping hand pointing the way home.
Rx
