Taman Negara (possibly the oldest jungle in the world) is beautiful, secluded, free from noise pollution, wonderfully green… I think I need not say I fell in love and became more smitten every day!
Here I faced challenges I had never come across before, crossed mental barriers doing so and met some great people, backpackers and locals alike, who were only too happy to impart knowledge on our surroundings.
Although trees here actually have a shorter life span than many European trees (a few hundred years for the former Vs thousands of years for the latter), the forest as a whole has been in existence for much longer than most in the world (I’m told it is impossible to pinpoint the oldest forest, but that this is definitely one of the oldest). Tropical trees grow consistently throughout the year, and so develop much quicker than those in Europe (explaining why tropical climates are so often targets for logging, palm and other such industries). Constant growth also makes it hard to know their exact age, as they do not display rings within the trunk.
Less than an hour after stepping off the bus, I’d found a hostel overlooking the river and the jungle on the opposite shore, eaten on one of the floating restaurants (which I later discovered have to be dragged to safety during floods in monsoon season) and booked an overnight trek to begin the following morning.
With a planned start of 9:30am the following morning, our group was ready by around 10am and truly began our journey an hour or so after this, once we had logged the contents in our packs with the rangers (in a bid to prevent littering at the overnight location).
After a short boat trip upstream the first stop was at the Canopy Walkway. A short route through the canopy level of part of the jungle, around 30m high, built largely from rope and wooden planks. This creaked and swayed as we made our way through, the reality of my location slowly setting in as I drank in the fresh, green view.
Our multicultural group of six (Belgium, Swiss and English) plus the guide and our boat driver (Malay) then began the hour or so journey upstream to begin the trek. This route passed through rapids which thoroughly soaked us in the shallow, engine powered boat (similar in structure to that of a longboat), and was also hot enough to have dried us off again by the time we reached our destination.
This is the moment I really excelled myself in showing my lack of experience in such settings and with one slip, followed by one small step, I managed to lose one leg knee deep in sinking mud!
I later learned my guide was waiting for my reaction (having even had one girl who had done the same want to return for new clothes), and was greatly relieved when my focus was purely to get my foot back with my shoe still attached!
It was not the finest start. Muddy and damp before we even began, and a state I would stay for the entire journey due to the constant moisture never allowing anything to dry.
Safe to say, it’s not an error I’m likely to make again! Not only did this moment teach me, but every further step over the two days made me that much more comfortable and aware of reading the ground around me and how best to navigate my way forward.
The track, which I discovered had barely been open two weeks following monsoon season, was muddy, slippery and sometimes none existent due to newly fallen trees. A mostly mental challenge, we travelled at around 2km an hour, over undulating terrain, seeing mostly the ground in an attempt to avoid slips and trips.
We crossed rivers, balancing across logs, jumping on rocks, and one shoeless paddle during which it’s fair to say I panicked a little when faced with my first rather large, mid-sucking leech. Subsequent leeches were dealt with in a much calmer manner, being less of a surprise, smaller, and feeling less vulnerable when I was not mid-river without shoes.
Dusk began to hit as we reached a large stone wall and climbed up and into the large cave which would be our home for the night. We laid mats and sleeping bags on the floor as Zuki, our guide, began to prepare dinner by candlelight.
Despite its expansive size and many dark corners, the cave gave a feeling of protection from both the elements and creatures of the jungle.
After dinner half of us followed Zuki back out to experience the jungle at night. I was immediately hit with how alive it felt, so much more than it did in the day. Though perhaps partly because I did not have to concentrate so much on where I was walking, enabling me to concentrate on the surrounding noises, there was a sheer, intense, increase in sound. This due to around 70% of animals being nocturnal. There was little to see, but all of the noise made sight feel unnecessary.
Day two seemed to pass much quicker than day one, much more confident in my abilities, and a little more mentally prepared.
After breakfast we made a small detour to a cave filled with bats, and snakes who place themselves at the top the cave waiting patiently for a bat to fly just a little too close.
We had lunch by a leech free river, giving us the opportunity to bathe and feel clean for such a brief and wonderful time, and before long we were emerging back at our starting point, dirty, sweaty, smelly, but utterly satisfied.
On our way back to the town we stopped at a small indigenous village. In reality more a community centre, built as a way to show tourists a little about the lives of the local tribe that still live and thrive within the jungle. Still creating most of what they need from the land they live on, they make blow pipes to hunt, poisoning the tips of the darts with sap from a certain tree. So much in tune with the land, they had all moved far inland around one week ahead of the last major flood.
Following the jungle trek, I spent another three days in Taman Negara. The people in my hostel as well as the utter peace and beauty of the place, making it very hard to leave.
