Taman Negara

Hello! I'm posting, once again, from a small internet cafe in the village across the river from the Taman Negara national park. We've been here since my last entry, taking it pretty easy for the most part. Yesterday morning we were up for breakfast at 8:00, then headed across the river to the park for a "trek" (hike) through the park. It was quite easy, and about 2 hours long, but interesting to see the jungle (rainforest, really) up close. At the end of the hike, we reached the canopy walk, which is a series of narrow bridges between platforms up in the treetops of the forest. Apparently, this is the longest canopy walk in the world, and it was pretty interesting! We had free time for most of the rest of the day, so we ate lunch on a floating restaurant, then relaxed for a while, cooling off. At 4:30, we met up for a trip in longtail boats through the rapids in the river upstream of the village. We were told we might get a little wet, but we got soaked! It was a lot of fun, though. Afterwards, our hosts back at the guest house provided us with some snacks, and later we went back to another floating restaurant for supper.

Today we were up an hour earlier, had breakfast, and again were off to the park for a hike. This time, though, it was supposed to be a bit tougher, and would take four hours. Whereas the last one had well-defined trails (and even a boardwalk-type path in some points), this was essentially hiking through thick jungle! Sure, there was a "trail", but it was pretty loosely defined at many points. It had rained quite heavily the night before, so the path was very muddy, and the leeches were out in full force. We had been advised to tuck our pants into our socks, the day before, to prevent the leeches from crawling up and getting onto our legs. The previous hike, though, didn't feature any leeches, so people weren't too worried about it this time. However, I probably flicked or pulled about 100 leeches off the shoes of Betty and myself alone! They were incredibly persistent, and incredibly sticky. Fortunately, only one or two people actually got bit--and it's not really that bad if you do. Definitely annoying, though! I was dripping sweat by the end of the hike (moreso than even normally) when we reached a little camp kitchen, of sorts, for lunch. From there, we boarded (smaller) longtail boats and cruised down a tributary of the main river back to the village. This river was really quite beautiful, with the tree canopy forming a tunnel in several places. The jungle was so thick and lush, it was a sight to behold. I had a cold shower (well, there are only cold showers here) and a nap after returning to the guest house.

It's about a quarter to 6 right now; dinner is at 7. Tonight should be another early night, because we're up for breakfast at 7:00 again tomorrow before heading out for a nine-hour day in minivans en route to our next destination. We'll spend a night at Kuala Besut, then take a boat to the Perhentian Islands for three days of relaxing!

By the way, Dad, the longtail boats here are not exactly like the longtail boats we had been talking about (or like those seen in "The Man With The Golden Gun"). They're just as long, and just as narrow, but instead of having a motor with the propellor at the end of a very long shaft, they're equipped with standard two- or four-stroke motors, ranging from about 15 to 30 hp depending on the size of the boat.