28 Jan 2003 Taman Negara, Malaysia

[Emma's journal]  We left KL early to get the bus to Jerantut, which is billed as the "Gateway town to Taman Negara."  From here we got a longboat up to the small village across the river from the park.  The journey was beautiful and took around two hours ten minutes.  It was wonderful to finally be out in the country side and seeing something green after Singapore and KL.  We decided to stay in a dorm (there are four of us) so that we can then splurge a bit when we get out first beach hut.  The private rooms were quite a bit extra.

When you arrive you get off the boat at a floating restaurant and then up a hill and steps to the lodge.  There are a few restaurants which all seem to have been developed for the tourists visiting the park.  There is a resort in the park, but this is a lot more expensive and when it is only 50 sents per-person (15 cents US) to go across and you can get a boat whenever you want, it is just as easy to stay in the village.

We did a "jungle walk" in the evening and although all we saw was deer, spiders and insects, the rain forest sounded so alive.  Our guide was called "crazy like monkey".  Obviously a nickname given to him by some visitor- I wonder if he knew it would stick.