Once in a lifetime!

After the textbook 5 hour drive in our 'new' battered Proton hire car we arrived at Rainforest Resort, Kuala Tahan. Kuala Tahan is a small village where the road ends, on the edge of the rainforest. We are staying in a hostel, there are no other type of accommodation, it is simply somewhere to sleep whilst you take part in all the activities on offer. The whole rainforest, which we discovered is the oldest in the world, is a national park called Taman Negara. The setting is quite spectacular.


We got up early on Tuesday morning and were taken in a truck down to the river. A boat took us across to the park, then we obtained a permit to be able to enter the rainforest and another to allow us to take photos. Then we were off, there are several trails laid out but they are very difficult to negotiate, over tree roots and under vines and branches. We walked for about an hour and had only covered 1.5 km. But the sights and sounds are unbelievable.









Eventually we arrived at the canopy walk suspended 50 m above the forest floor and 540 m long. What an experience, the canopy walk is made of ladders and ropes, sometimes it goes uphill, sometimes downhill and sometimes it leans one way or the other! Amazing views though, it was so exciting!








Whilst we have been travelling we have got used to the humidity but here it was like nothing we have ever experienced, imagine washing your clothes on a very hot wash then removing them from the washer before they have finished spinning and putting them on! And I mean all your clothes... We were literally dripping, sweat just poured off you and it was the most uncomfortable sensation ever. As soon as we began to climb uphill, after our canopy walk we decided to walk a further kilometre to a viewpoint, our hearts were racing with the exertion in the heat.

However, nothing beats standing still and listening to the sound of birds, insects and monkeys. We spent hours in the forest, then reversed the route back to the hostel where there was an amazing storm and no electricity.

Today we decided to go back again and stake out in one of the hides which we had spotted on Tuesday. I made my way up the steps with Jim following. He can take-up the story now...

Having followed Annie along the trail and noticed how observant she was I was surprised, to say the least, to see her walk straight past a two foot long snake that was laid across the step. She never even noticed it. What followed surprised me even more, I shouted there's a snake, I then stepped over it and ran after Annie.
When we got up into the hide we ( well Annie ) checked every five minutes to see where the snake had gone. The only thing was it moved out of sight without her seeing where it went.
When we decided to risk it and leave the hide I was the gentleman to the last and let ladies go first. When Annie successfully made it to the bottom I exited like an Olympic sprinter.

Anyone who knows Jim well will know the truth in this incident. I was gobsmacked that he followed me, given that he won't even look at snakes on the telly, I thought that we were going to be there all day and he only followed me after I had explored every step in detail to ensure the snake had gone.

Because of the heavy rain the night before the forest was even more steamy and there were leeches poking out of the ground. We stepped around and over them pretty damn quickly. This afternoon we explored another trail which is obviously used far less frequently than the others we had been on. We felt as if we were all alone, the rainforest is eerie but enchanting. We found great big animal tracks but only saw wild boar, birds and butterflies. We have had a fantastic couple of days here but tomorrow is another day and we are getting back into our trusty steed (Edna as she is known) and heading north-west towards Kuala Lipis en route to the Cameron Highlands.



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Location:Jerantut,Malaysia