BootsnAll Travel Network



Taman Negara

Taman Negara, Malaysia’s greatest national park and the world’s oldest rainforest. There are two ways to get to Taman Negara from Kuala Tembeling by bus direct or by boat. I definitlely recommend the slow boat ride on the Tembeling river – it takes about 2.5 hours to get to the park but the scenery is gorgeous.

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I met a few Dutch girls (Daisy, Esther, Carmen) on the boat ride and shared a dorm room with them at RM10 ($3) a bed. I signed up for a jungle trekking tour and canpoy walk the first day – which was quite boring. The jungle trekking went for only 30 minutes long up to a hill top – wasn’t real trekking, it was like a walk in the park and the guide for our group wasn’t that informative either. I wanted to learn a bit about the plants and species that lived in the jungle but the guide didn’t help on any of that. I could of easily done the trek on my own. The only thing I saw on the trek was an army of ants in the millions making there way to who knows where – their own full moon party perhaps? 🙂 Anyway, on a good note, the canopy walk that came with the jungle trek was cool.

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The cave exploration was awesome. Hands down beats the trekking/canopy tour and our guide was very informative. I’ve never really been inside a bat cave before so I was pretty excited! The cave is small and takes about 40 minutes to explore. I had to crawl through loads of guano (bat droppings) and squeeze my 120 lb frame between rocks that only gave you so much room to maneuver. I had no problem at all but I think a muscular, heavier set person might find it a bit difficult. Thousands of bats hang over, just chillin’ above us and beside us, as we tourists explore their home and snap photos. If you are clastrsophobic and afraid of bats then you wouldn’t want to do this activity. I climbed out of the cave drenched, muddy and reeking of guano. Perfect first date? I think so 🙂

So all of the travel agencies here in Taman Negara were charging RM90 a head for a bus ride to the Cameroon Highlands. Which is a total rip off!  I asked around and a local said I can take the local bus to Jerantut for RM3 and “maybe” catch another local bus to the Cameroon Highlands. I took my chances and caught the early bus out, crossing my fingers that there is another local bus to the Highlands. I was wrong – I got to Jerantut and was notified that no local buses ran to the Highlands.  Luckily, I met a trio from Germany (Lena, Lisa, Elena) and a french women (Elodie) on the bus who were all trying to get to the Highlands…so we stuck together and managed to book a van to take us there at RM55 a head. Sweet deal – beats paying RM90! Overall, had a great time in the jungle and I will definitely be back one day for the seven day trek up Gunung Tahan!

Note: There are no ATMs here so you better pull out money before you come – because the closet ATM is at the next town, a 2 hour bus ride away.

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One response to “Taman Negara”

  1. Robert Smith says:

    Interesting content here, well composed and something to think about. I was in a discussion with my spouse over this matter earlier.

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