Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Tahan - Taman Negara

Day 1

I wasn't sure if I had fully recover from diarrhea on the day we're departing to Kuala Tahan, but we're going anyway. I wasn't vomiting after the visit to the clinic but the thought of food still did not excite me even after a few days. No food channel on TV please, no cook show of any kind please. No hot food, no curry or dhal for my roti canai that I had for breakfast either. Hubby just laughed when one of the waiter at our favorite Mamak restaurant brought my roti canai sprinkled with sugar. He said this one must be a trainee and this must be the first time he got a request for roti canai and sugar. After breakfast, we headed towards Kuala Tahan aided by Garmin from hubby's new hand phone. I've downloaded some static map on my hand phone too just in case. Departure time, about 15 minutes before 10 a.m.


The view at Kuala Tahan by the river.
The road was clear and wasn't too winding but I kinda felt dizzy so I tried to remain static as much as possible. No sharp head turning to avoid any throwing up incidents. We reached Kuala Tahan around 12:45 and the place was packed with cars and bus loads of tourist. I hope most of them will check out the afternoon we checked in. Thank God I've made reservations earlier. The room was very basic but clean and convenient. There's a friendly Chinese guy hanging around near our chalet. He's very informative. We chit-chatted a bit, ask questions about the place and ended up booking a rapid shooting trip with him. It's still early so we went to have our lunch. The masak lemak cili padi was extremely spicy and I had the first taste of the place's specialty i.e. Gulai Asam Rong. Only a few place in Pahang cook this dish.

As for the place, Kuala Tahan has a special charm very different from most places I've been too. We have no idea of what to expect. Even some pictures we saw from websites and brochures didn't prepare us for the real thing. But I got excited anyway when I saw something recognizable from pictures I've seen. Photography can be misleading. It may capture only part of the real thing. Don't get me wrong. I'm not disappointed at all with the big picture. It's very charming indeed.


The intersection of Sg. Tembeling and Sg. Tahan.
Any dizziness I felt was immediately forgotten once we were on the boat for our rapid shooting trip and the wind swept my face. The boat took us upstream the Tembeling River, zig-zagging to avoid rocky areas. The skill of the boatmen doing tricky maneuver were amazing. Despite the fear of getting drenched and spoiling my camera, I still took the risk of taking photos and videos of the trip. We were on the boat for about 45 minutes before the boat make a u-turn.


The boat made a stop near Nusa Holiday Village for a short picnic trip. There's a small stream going into Tembeling River called Sg. Abai. 'Abai' means neglect or ignored in Malay but this river surely is not ignored or neglected in any way. There's also a rocky area that will be submerged during rainy season. It was quite a view. Thank God I kept my camera on the way back because we really got drenched. I think the boatmen purposely do that to give us some thrill.




After dinner, we went across the river for a video show session by the Perhilitan Taman Negara. Before that we took some time going around the exhibition area looking at some photos. They have quite a lot of interesting information especially about the exploration of Gunung Tahan. The video was nice and a must see if you want to know what to expect and what's the place to see around Taman Negara area. However, we thought they could improve the video a little bit with some welcoming and closing message since there's no one doing it. Show some Malaysian hospitality there with some message about preservation and appreciation.


A very nice photo at the exhibition area.


Night view from our chalet.
Day 2


Morning view.






Yesterday there were so many people so the next morning, our first agenda is to get to the canopy walk before throngs of people crowd the place. It was a pleasant walk and the weather's nice.








On the canopy walk we heard cries, "tak nakkk... tak nak naik... uwaaa...". That's from a young boy behind us. His sister seemed OK with the whole idea of walking across the forest few hundred feet above the ground. After going through several platforms, he's getting braver. When we reached the end, we overheard the siblings talking to each other, "best lah kan" said the boy to his sister :) There's a little girl behind us walking so fast like walking on the playground pressuring us to walk faster. Hubby's behind me. He got pressured by the little girl and in turn pressured me to walk faster. Sigh! I told hubby to ask the girl to wait. I want to enjoy the view from up here.


When we reached the ground, we decided to trek to Terisek Hill. The signboard said only 1.5km. That shouldn't be a problem. Right? Wrong! It's going uphill and hubby has to stop many times to wait for me. We're like the tortoise and the hare. Hubby's the hare, I'm the tortoise. Well... I do stop more often to take photographs :) And I'm wearing my rubber Asadi sandal instead of sport shoes. Excuses... excuses...


Hubby.


The sun peeping through the leaves.


Amazing tall trees.


Interesting looking Lianas.


The first view on Terisek Hill.




We walked a few hundred meters from the first stop to see this second view.
On the way up to Terisek Hill, we saw a sign that shows the direction of Lubok Simpon. There's some information about Lubok Simpon at the exhibition we saw the night before but I wasn't really paying attention. It's not mentioned in any of the website about Taman Negara I've visited. But since we're there already, we might as well just trek to the place and surprise ourselves. It was downhill most of the time which worries me if we have to trek back uphill afterwards.

Don't get fooled by all those sign that shows 1.2km or 1.5km. It can actually be quite a distance in the jungle since you have to maneuver the roots, trees and going up and down the hills. It took us about 1 hour and hubby said how nice if there's a boat that we can take to ride back to our chalet when we reached the place. I told hubby how much I prayed he's right because there's no way I'll have the energy to walk back up the way we came. Hubby discovered a leech on him. I told him maybe because he stopped to rest and wait for me so I'm not stopping for whatever reason. Still a leech managed to just get stuck on my feet before I flick it away. Hubby's too far away to do it for me and I was too tired to screech.




Is the trek worth it? It does. There's a boat there and two groups of people having a picnic and fun splashing in the water. Lubok Simpon is actually a spot at Sg. Tahan and according to the boatman, we're quite near to Kuala Tahan. That's really good news for us.




This is the color of Sg. Tahan because of the existence of shale stones at the river bed.


Can you see the little fishes?
The water at Lubok Simpon is so cool and refreshing. Hubby took a dip. I just dipped my feet. We left the place about 12:30 to head back to our chalet. As we started walking, we saw a group of family carrying picnic baskets with small children making their way to the picnic spot. That means we're very near to civilization. Thank God! We reached one of the floating restaurants at Kuala Tahan about 1 p.m. for lunch. We must have burnt hundreds of calories walking and trekking from 8:30 that morning.

After lunch, we rest for a while before going to Lata Berkoh. Yesterday during rapid shooting we went upstream the Tembeling river. To Lata Berkoh, we will go upstream the Tahan river. We will also pass by Lubok Simpon. The rusty color of the Tahan river is very interesting with green trees on each side of the river. We stopped at a spot on Tahan river which has become a sanctuary for Kelah/Mahseer fish for fish feeding. There were lots of them.








I have a boat under my name :) Look at the name on the jacket and cushion.


All the boat going to Lata Berkoh will stop here. We have to trek for about 700m to reach the waterfall. After all the trekking we did this morning, what's another 700m right :)


The current is so strong, only strong swimmers should swim in this area.


Hubby swam for a while there, then we went to a tamer place so I can play in the water. There were parts where the river is so wide and shallow, its incomparable to rivers we normally went to. Hubby said he could stay there for days and enjoy the scenery and serenity. I would too. On our ride back, I feel like I can't get enough of the beautiful and refreshing greeneries.






Hubby saw a big iguana he initially thought a crocodile on the river bank. I missed that. Then, not far from Lubok Simpon, all of us can't miss the big snake crossing the river. It's probably about my arms length if not more, zig-zagging across the river. Very, very near to Lubok Simpon and there were quite a number of people picnicking there. I managed to take a photo but in the water, it looks like a streak of light.

Anyway, we reached our chalet some time before 6, took a bath, change and pack in record time because the owner is waiting for us. Someone wants to check in. I'd love to visit Taman Negara at Kuala Tahan again. Taman Negara is one of the place I've always wanted to visit and to have a dream come true with amazing sceneries and experiencing nature almost untouched, sharing it all with hubby, the moment were priceless. Very early the next morning when I heard the sound of car or motorbike engine from our bedroom, I told hubby that's the sound of Kuala Tahan's engine boat :) Sigh! Back to the hustle and bustle of the city.