From Kuala Lumpur we took a bus to Jerantut where we were able to transfer to a long boat to motor up the Tembeling river to the Taman Negara National Park Rainforest. It was a very relaxing way to travel and made you feel like you were going to the middle of nowhere.
After settling ourselves in our room we got a map of the walks in the area and wondered how we would ease ourselves in to jungle trekking. We thought we would have one easy day to figure it out and then do a two day trek with a stay in a hide overnight. Unfortunately the hide was only available for the next night so there would be no easy day and we would be thrown in at the deep end. We set off in the morning starting with the canopy walk - a rope walk up in the tree tops - very cool. Then at about 10.30am it was into the main hike. We were on a route which loosely follows the river and therefore crosses a number of tributaries - as we found out this meant a lot of up and down!! We were on our own which we felt fairly happy about but after a couple of hours realised we really were on our own - we hadn't met anybody - and luckily hadn't met any of the tigers or panthers either (although kind of would have liked to seen one!). After another couple of hours we were sure we should have reached the one landmark that was on our sketchy map.....but there was nothing, were we on the right track?! And then out of the jungle appeared a couple of concrete steps.. a sign of the right track, and then came the bridge over the river, brilliant we musn't be far from the hide then. We decided to stop on the bridge as this was the only place we could be sure the leeches wouldn't try to scale our boots and latch on- eww, horrible little things. Unfortunately we had not really taken a proper break before now and I had forgotten to eat and drink enough in comparison to the sweltering heat and humidity! I started to feel a little bit special once the adrenaline stopped going and had to lie down on the bridge and drink some water before we could get going again! I think Charlie was wondering what on earth he would do with me!
Off we went feeling refreshed. After another while trekking we met a mass group of about twenty - some of them seemed slightly concerned that we were without a guide, it turned this was because they had just picked up a man who had been lost in the jungle for 4 days - and he looked like he had been in a fight with a tiger! Anyway we made it to the hide and were first there of the 12 people who were booked into it. It was a fantastic place to stay with views over a salt lick. Unfortunately we didnt see any big animals - I think with the amount of noise our group was making, there never was any chance! There lots of fireflies which look beautiful. After a dinner of cheese pringles and raisin bun I settled into my wooden bunk above Charlie but I was woken at midnight by the thunder, lightening and heavy rain. The idea of wading through the river the next day suddenly didnt seem so appealing!
We decided to walk back the same way the next day with three other english people we met at the hide, apart from being stalled in our tracks by a couple of wild boar, a snake skin, a monitor lizard, blisters and a few leeches we made it back to the comfort (and shower) of our hotel room.
We had an amazing time in the jungle. Jungle Boogie!!
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