Gunung Irau #2 - The Climb Begins.

Gila Man, a reader asked if I've trouble getting my engine started as it has been quite some time since I last posted. Well, yes and no. It is true I've not posted anything new in this blog but I've been quite active in my flickr site where I've chronicle almost the whole of the Mount Irau climb. Well I understand that some of you may not go there and may not want to take the time to go through all my pictures (more than 3,000 of them and adding more every week) to find what you want to read.

So I thought I'll make it easy and guide you to the photos and the accompanying text that describe the journey in my flickr site. However, I've no intention to duplicate everything into this blog as that takes time and you can view the photos in even bigger view should you so desire. After all, my writings these days are more of a photo essay than an actual blog anyway. I thought this best and apologize if you think otherwise but please indulge me, will ya? :)) Here is the link again to my latest photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/11517445@N08/

But to go directly to the second part of the Mount Irau climb, click on this link - Gunung Irau#16 - Ready to Go!

Or just click on the first picture to take you through the journey. Below are just some of the photos to whet your appetite or for you to decide if you want to follow the journey. Remember there are more photos and text if you follow the link to my flickr site. Enjoy the trip.

Ready to Go!

The Hills of Irau.

A Leisurely Beginning.

The Real Journey Begins.

To be continued...

Gunung Irau #1 - Up The Highest Road In Malaysia.

This is my climb up Gunung Irau. Together with one of my working colleague, we joined a group of 18 young adults to scale up this mountain which rose 2110 meters or 6923 feet above sea level and is the ninth highest hill in peninsula Malaysia. I document the whole journey is an photo essay form and all the pictures have been uploaded to my flick site http://www.flickr.com/photos/11517445@N08/

8.24 a.m. – I drove with Andrew to Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata to meet up with the rest of the team who drove up from KL through the night. There were a total of 20 in the group including the two of us.

8.56 a.m. – We checked into this apartment where the group will be staying for the night.

9.32 a.m. – After checking in and packing for the climb, the group were raring to go despite the lack of sleep.

9.36 a.m. – Everyone put their best foot forward in a show of faith. We may be different but our shoes are all the same. And these RM5.00 shoes are the best money can buy for trekking in tropical jungle.

9.36 a.m. – My shoes are cleaner than your shoes. But not for long. Clean shoes and clean legs. Both will be very dirty before the day is done.

9.56 a.m. – Two vans drove us up the highest road in Malaysia. So narrow that it is a really tight squeeze. You have to horn at every sharp turn not to end up in a nasty crash.

9.59 a.m. – We passed by the Boh Sungei Palas plantation on our way up. The rolls of light green tea plants are a sight to behold.

10.01 a.m. – Rolling hills of green tea leaves in irregular undulating rolls following the contours of the hill – lovely.

10.01 a.m. – The tea plants reaching up to the sky. Not an inch of ground are wasted. They are grown right to the road's edges and up to the top of hills.

10.03 a.m. – We drove up to the cloud line and above. The driver wonder if there is more road ahead. We told him he will know the end when he reached it. Actually, we were not so sure but we had to say something to keep him going.

10.16 a.m. – Soon enough, we did reach the end. A locked gate with a “trespasser will be shot” greeted us. Not someplace we wanted so go so we parked by the side and alighted from the vehicles.

10.17 a.m. – Just beyond the locked gate is a blast of inviting bright yellow blooms that contrasted greatly with the forbidding barrier. One is man-made and the other is nature after all. The irony is not lost to us.

10.17 a.m. – We stretched our legs and took photos…


Of this imposing telecommunication tower.

10.17 a.m. – Last minute preparation before we tackle the unknown. Unlike the lowland jungle, there are no leeches or mosquitoes, just mud and mud everywhere.

10.18 a.m. – Before we did that, we were going to scale this watch tower to view the world from above. We are now on top of Gunung Brinchang and up in the tower, the world are spread below our feet.

To be continued...

A Tortoise Got Me Started - :Part II

I believe we will find what we are looking for. When we know what we are looking for, they will appear before us as if mysteriously. We will see what were always there but only notice now because we open our eyes to them. Many of us do have eyes that do not see. I look for Beauty that day and see what I find in the same place that dozens of people pass by every day.

I saw this beautiful water plant that beckoned to me and could not resist going down into the water edge; squat, stoodd, bended, contorted myself under the hot sun until I saw the angle that I wanted to capture.

I saw this plant that that formed a beautiful arc with the flower buds exploding from the joints in the stem standing upright facing the sun. From which delicate white flowers are already in bloom.

The paper thin delicate white petals floating like tiny pieces of ultra thin cotton clothes that fluttered and waved to the whispering winds. It was poetry in motion. The dance reflected in the gently flowing water.

They were not alone in their dances. Dozens of white flowers were along dancing along on top of Broad green leaves above the water. In that moment, I forgot the intensity of the sun. I forgot everything.

When we keep an eye open for Beauty, she will appear. There is nothing magical about it. For she shy away those who has no regards for her. And smile on those appreciates her for what she is.

She Walks In Beauty by Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

A Tortoise Got Me Started - :Part I

I had wanted to return to my blog for some time but somehow found it difficult to get restarted. One thing after another distracted me. I wanted to write for those who miss my blog and for some, that is our only meaningful mean of communication. But I kept putting it off. I need a kick-start. In the meantime, I've become quite active in my flickr site - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11517445@N08/ If you have enjoyed the photos I took, please drop in there for a visit and drop some comments while you're at it. Finally, today I forced myself to write again and it is all because of a tortoise. Read further to find out how a tortoise got me started again...

To toughen up for the Gunung Irau climb (which will be my next blog, already partially written out in flickr), I took up jogging in this park behind my house and have continued since then. On my way back late last evening after the sun had almost completely sank below the tree lines, I came across what I thought was a small coconut in the middle of the concrete jogging track…

Nearing it, I discovered that it was a tortoise with its head and all limbs tightly tucked in. Some naughty boys must have caught it from the river, played with it and left it there. It must have been severely traumatized because it showed no sign of life…

I took it to the muddy bank and carefully placed it down in the shallow so that it sat on the mud. I waited for 10 minutes but there was still no sign of life. It was completely dark by now and I have to go. I told myself I will come back early next morning to check on it.

Just to know that it is still alive and took some shots from the place where I left it to mark the crossing of our paths. I overslept and it was about 11.00 am before I reached the bank but was happy to find that the tortoise was no longer there. It lives

The intense Malaysian sun was too high up to take good pictures and they did not switch the fountain on but I said “what the heck, I’m already here” so I took these shots anyway for me to post it up in flickr to share with my new friends there. So this post is actually written for flickr and modified for this blog. It used to be the other way round. I upload pictures into flickr so that I can easily transfer it to my blog. Whichever, it was a tortoise that made it happened.

I now jog here once or twice a week. Usually, I will jog for 20 to 25 minutes for almost a complete round of the lake and spend the rest of the hour listening to music while reflecting on life. This are time I'm beginning to enjoy, time spend completely with myself dwelling on old memories. A little sadness won't hurt anyone, I think.

In life and taking photos, I tried to see the beauty in ordinary things for I do believe that we have to be happy with what we have, rather than desperately seeking for what we have not. But I know it is not easy sometimes…

I see Beauty as a perception and it is not universal. Thus I tried to appreciate others’ appreciation of Beauty besides my own. I don’t succeed all the time.

But whether we do or not is not important. We are all unique in our own individual way and have our own special preference and taste. What is important is that we must learn not only to tolerate others’ preferences and decisions but also to accept that we have to respect others' choices if we want them to respect ours.

And we should not be so arrogant as to think that our appreciation of Beauty is the correct one. For indeed, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” and we all see Beauty in different ways.

In the words of John Keats in his epic poem, Endymion he said -

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

And there are few things in Life whose Beauty is as universal as the flowers. Which is why I took so many pictures of them. Our life is not completely futile when we can still appreciate Beauty. So I spend a lot of time these days trying to capture and share them with my friends.

Zen & The Desperate Art Of Living.

There were reasons why I stopped writing the last few months. They were too personal to disclose. During this period, instead of mopping; I lived Life even more aggressively. I went jungle trekking, mountain hiking, water rafting and skytrekking. I went on long walks, jogging, traveling and drove long distance seeking adventure. I drove my body to exhaustion to clear the cobwebs in my mind. I did things out of my routine to break the rut.

Now that the dust has settled somewhat, I am ready to return. I had not forgotten. I just had to be away. I’ll start with a new story and return to the old after I’ve loosened my limbs. I will finish those stories eventually.

Taman Negara #11 - To The Canopy Walk.

With the rain lightening a bit, we took our boat up Tembeling River again. There were still dense mist covering the hills. It was beautiful and gave the jungle a mystical feel.

It was a good thing we have shelter over our head as light rain continue to fall. The river and jungle appears different on a rainy day.

It had a charm all its own, one in which is limited only by our imagination.

It is amazing how simple mist can transform a jungle’s allure, like a veil to a beautiful woman.

We came to a bend where the sand kiss the water and the river disappeared ahead.

After a short journey we arrived at our destination as our boat pushed into the sandy bank to allow us to alight.

And we began our climb up the tricky slope in a single file.

We came to a path where wide metal steps have been built over the track to assist in the climb. This only went a short distance before we were back again on the earthen track.

Before long we arrived at the hut which served as the waiting platform for those who wanted to go for the world’s longest canopy walk over the world’s oldest tropical jungle.

There were already two groups ahead of us and when we arrived, we packed into the hut like sardines. I went up to the upper platform where it was not so crowded but no full shelter from the rain. Well, a little rain would not hurt.

It was definitely the lesser evil and I do not like to be hemmed in from all side and be surrounded by chitty chatters. Up there, I got a little rain but I felt freer. I was never one for much idle conversations. From where I stood, I could see down the side of the side of the slope to a clearing watching rain falling down. When the sun came up, sunlight filtered through the gaps among the tall trees and those that made the way through shone on the rain and leaves brightening them against those in shades. It was a beautiful sight.

Sunlight, rain, trees and leaves.

This guy went down to a clearing where the light beamed down, spread his arms as if to say “I saw the light!”

It was a long wait. The group occupied themselves as best they could.

And got together for of course, another group photograph.

New groups kept coming and the crowd swelled. When there were not enough place in the hut, they spilled over the benches below. Bored, they distracted themselves with the leeches on the ground.

One of our friend wanted to find out how it was to be bitten by one. So he put it on his hand and arm. But it just would not suck, just moving by forming a forming an arch. Told him maybe it sense his blood is toxic. Or maybe it is too young to suck.

We were worried that the canopy walk may be banned today as it sometimes does if the rain or wind got too heavy. Rangers were at that moment checking on the safety of the ropes. We prayed that the rain would stopped and the hundreds of prayers must have been effective for the rain did stop.

We have to patiently wait our turn for only one person was allowed every 5 meters of the rope bridge. So considering the size of the crowd, this would take quite a while. We were lucky for we were still among those in front of the queue although not the first group. Finally, it was our turn to climb the tower to get to the bridge. From the top, I took a shot of the others still waiting below. I was glad to be up there and raring to go…

To be continued...

Taman Negara #10 - The Morning After II

From one end of the river bank, I looked back the other seeing the stirring of life as activities picked up with the rising of the day. With every minute, the world brightened.

Boats are being loaded as preparation started for the beginning of another day. I was on holiday but these people are earning a living. Their working lives are so much different from ours. I don’t know if I can do this for a living but their office is certainly much nicer than mine with a more fantastic view and feel.

An early boatman taking his boat out for a spin.

The sun tried but could not break out through the mist cover. This was the brightest it shone all morning. The clouds are in fact gathering and taking on an ominous tone.

I walked back to where I came from but along the length of the pebbled beach. I sms a friend to describe the morning for it was not an ordinary one for me. I passed by a Malay woman selling Nasi Lemak. It looked delicious and my mouth watered. My stomach groaned reminding me I had not had my breakfast. Told myself if the free breakfast is not good this morning, tomorrow I will buy Nasi Lemak from her. The rocks crunched under me as I made my way back to our meeting place as it was getting near to breakfast time.

As I walked along the beach, I passed by the approach to Sungai Tahan from Sungai Tembeling.

This trip we did not take a boat up the Sungai Tahan. I would like to come back here someday and one of the things I would like to do is to take a boat up that river. I think that would be nice as I always enjoyed boat rides.

I came from the other end, beyond the boat houses to view the sunrise. I stopped for a while to absorb it before climbing up the stairs to the high bank.

The sound of what sounds like pitiful meowing caught my attention. I saw two cats facing each other on the roof. The white cat was perched on a higher roof and its hairs were standing on end. The other white cat with black spots was on all fours staring up and making the most pathetic calls. Although squaring off, they did not seem to be fighting so I can only guess it was a courtship. I stood there for longer than 5 minutes hoping to see the end, but end have to give up for there is no knowing how long the drama will continue. I left with the piteous call still ringing in my ears.

As I neared our chalets, my path took me under a rambutan tree with large bunches of the hairy fruits. It is a pity they are still unripe or I could feast on them. There is nothing like eating fruits you plucked from trees yourself.

We went down to our floating restaurant for breakfast which is a choice of fried rice and fried mee. You can have both which most of us did. But the rice was quite plain, still it was better than the noodles which is a little bitter. It made me regret not buying my own breakfast. Tomorrow morning, I told myself.

They also have bread and jam for those who preferred them but I never dig western breakfast. Where breakfast is concerned, I am typically Asian.

The weather turned gloomy and then a fine shower began pouring down. This group of tourists was lining up to get into the boat was drenched as there was no shelter.

As the rain began, the mist rolled down from the hills and obscured the hills in the distance. The sky deepened and everywhere was the steady sound of rain falling. It was not heavy but persistent so we waited in the restaurant waiting for it to lighten.

The anchored boat and the river seen through the bamboo screen.

And looking from the boat, you can see the sun shining through the dense layer of clouds and mists that moved and swirled from down the hills to the land and river giving it a surreal kind of feeling. You can even see a morning moon where the clouds parted slightly. The sun and moon was up in the sky at the same time. Sun, moon, clouds, mist, river, rain, boats, trees; somehow I don’t mind sitting here idly waiting for the rain to stop. It was kind of pleasant though we were impatient at the same time to get going. If we have to wait, we cannot have wait under more pleasant surroundings.

To be continued...

Taman Negara #9 - The Morning After.

I woke up with a start. What was that dream I was having, now receding faster than a speeding bullet? I shook myself awake, shaking the wobbly double-decker bed before tentatively climbing down attempting not to wake my sleeping companion still in dreamland with a smile on his face. I carefully pulled aside the creaking wooden door and stepped outside to catch a rush of fresh morning breath. At 6.30 am, I was probably the only one awake among the 22 walking the edge of the bank of the river absorbing in the morning scene. I liked that. Alone. Made me feel I understand and appreciate solitude; and closer to nature. The river was sleeping when I took this shot…

…and was awakened when I took the next when an early boat cut through the calm water creating spreading ripples.

I walked to one end of the river near the welcome gate and beyond to see sleeping building still basked by the orange street lamp. While a dense spread of white mist covered the forested hills. Some songbirds were already welcoming the dawn when suddenly a black and white bird flew to an upright pole just feet away from me. It was faster than my movement and flew away before I can train the camera on it. But it left me its song though I wished it has left me its image as well.

Light was beginning to creep up the hill but the hills itself was just a dark outline that blocked the light to the valley below. I could just make out the water of the river that reflected back the lighter shade of the sky. A single boat sat lonely by the sandy bank.

Time and again, the wind swept down heavy mist obscuring everything in its path and only nearby trees can be seen; while those in background were swallowed up. If you did not know they were there, you would not know they were and thought the cloud as descended on earth.

I walked down to the beach covered with round stones smoothen by the rushing waters for decades, maybe centuries. These boats clustered together as if seeking company.

While these with identical blue tips always point to where they are heading, whether land or water

Blue tips in the water by pebbles.

Boats secured on a string going no where.

To be continued...

Taman Negara #8 - Night Walk.

Through a path at the back of Mutiara Hotel, we came to a building where we were to see a documentary on Taman Negara. But this is peak season and there was a long queue. So we hand around in the gallery reading interesting facts about the National Park. We also took the opportunity to form a circle and introduced ourselves to the other members of the group.

This is a simplified map of Taman Negara and Gunung Tahan. See Kuala Tahan somewhere near the center; that is where we stayed from where we took our boats to all the other locations for our activities. Looking at it, we realized we have covered only so little and there is a lot more to discover.

This poster explained the origin and history of the National Park – Taman Negara. It was first gazetted as Gunung Tahan Game Reserve before being called King George V National Park by the British.

This is a list of the protected animals in this forest reserve. This is necessary as there is an illegal trade in wildlife and many of the animals are also on the endangered list.

Then came our turn to go into the air-conditioned hall smelling of sweat (due to the number of sweaty audience) to watch a documentary of Taman Negara. It was interesting but the dark cool atmosphere after a heavy dinner proved too alluring for some to doze off.

We started our walk into the dark after the show. We walked on metal platform built over the track. It is good in the sense that we will not trip over roots or stepped into muddy holes. But we were also making so much noise that we will drive away any animals in the vicinity.

Each of us was armed with a torch but there really not much to see. It was more a casual group walk.

Every now and then, the guide will stop to point out something to the group but because we were traveling in a single file, only those near to him can hear his explanation.

Basically what we could see are just a few insects not disturbed by sound and maybe even attracted by the lights.

This is a stick insect hiding under a large tree leave. No price for guessing how it got its name.

On the top left hand corner of this picture (light green), you can see a large insect that was disturbed by us and took flight into the safety of the high branches of the trees.

Sometimes our light caught a light shining back at us. We are not sure what it was, whether animal or insect but no one was game to push into the undergrowth to find out.

Here we were shown some luminous mushrooms that glowed in the dark. A huge dragonfly, three or four times the size of the city cousin flied and entangled on the guide shirt before taking off again.

It did not take many steps before the dark will close in and swallowed you up which not even the flash can illuminate. And our weak torchlight is just a pathetic beam good enough only to show us where to plant our feet.

We climbed into the watch tower to try to hopefully catch sight of some large mammals. It will be too much to hope for to see a tiger. It was so dark that looking out the observation deck, we just saw a sheet of black.

But with the combined torches, we did make out a large deer feeding in the water hole in the distance. It lifted its head to look all those lights shining from the tower. I did not know what it was thinking but it did not take off. I set my camera on night mode and hopefully took a shot. When I viewed it, only the a branch illuminated by the torches was visible proving our eyes is much superior to our camera.

After that, we walked back to Mutiara without any interesting incident. We took our boat which again churned up the muddy water to send us back to our hotel for our first night in Taman Negara and for me a long awaited bath in icy cold water.

We did not see any tiger but on the way back to the room, I spied this tomcat trying to impress this demure female cat. When I looked back, he had succeeded and was rubbing necks with her. At least someone will be happy tonight. Hope it did not make too much noise celebrating its love. We need our sleep for the next morning…

To be continued...

Taman Negara #7 - Taman Negara Sunset.

The food was ready by the time we got back to the restaurant. That was just great for I was so hungry that I could eat a horse, or at least a leg of a horse. That food was not great but pretty decent for the price we are paying and the quantity is large enough to fill our stomach.

On the way back to our room, we spied the amusing sign on this toilet – “Don’t Go Here – Snake Inside”. This is understandable as there are not enough bathrooms to go round and there is a long wait during peak hour unless you want to take bath with a snake.

As we will be going jungle trekking at night, I decided not to take a bath. It will be slow going as eight of us were waiting for his turn. So I took the opportunity to hunt around for photo shoots. I took this shot on the high bank looking down at Sungai Tahan partly concealed by tall ficus tree with their overhanging roots.

Another shot of the Sungei Tahan showing the Ficus leaves.

At times, today the sky was a clear blue but most part of the day it was cloudy. But as I looked for the sunse, I was not sure where was west as I lost my orientation with jungles all around. I believed this was west and that is the light of the setting sun just above the tree lines. It was not much of a sunset but it was still something to remember by. I have no time to just wait for perfect moments.

When I look around, I was surprised to see an even brighter spread of orange and gold at the opposite end. Which is the real sunset? It only took me a second to ponder before I trained the camera at it. Who cares as long it is beautiful, right?

The river reflected back the sunset gold but the greedy jungle absorbed it and would give nothing back.












My attempt to capture attracted other photographers with much better gears. This photographer took up position in front of me and clicked away. He seemed quite pleased with his effort. I asked him how was his shots and he proudly showed on the LCD screen.

The Caucasian with his girlfriend was not too pleased with his shot though. He lamented that it did not look great without the tripod stand. It was not a great sunset but it was the only sunset during this trip for it rained the next day. I will take less than perfect pictures over nothing any day.

The light faded but new lights came on. The floating restaurant took on a new look, looking sexier in half light. It has just the right alluring look to welcome you onboard.

Over at the other bank, the dim lights of the restaurant looked trapped by the dark. Everywhere lights were failing and the jungle rose up to consume everything.

It was time to return to the hostel. A white cat with jade green eyes rimmed by yellow lids questioned our presence before her equally white kittens drew her away.

The night now ruled the Earth. Boats and lights swimming in the ink black river illuminated by shimmering lights.

We crossed the other bank to go The Mutiara, the only five stars hotel in Taman Negara with suite costing up to RM1,000 a night. We had our torches ready for the night jungle trekking.

The river can rise many meters during the rainy season. This sign near the entrance of the hotel marked the record it achieved – a staggering 74 meters!

Nights are especially dark here. This was a shot of the river bank from which we came and the white streak is a boat coming in to moor. A serene scene punctuated by boats in a hurry.

Armed with torches, the group took a photo before setting off to search for our jewels of the night...

To be continued...

Taman Negara #6 - Eeeeh! Leeches!!

As we regrouped before setting off, our guide discovered that a leech has bitten him through his socks. He just casually pulled it off. The girls became paranoia and started checking their legs. First there was a loud scream from one of the girls and she started to jump up and down. Alex who brought along a concentrated salt solution sprayed on it until it dropped off. This was followed by another piercing scream as yet another found she was bitten. Even though the salt solution caused the sucker to drop off, the blood kept oozing out freely. Some of the girls were really freaking out and started checking their body having all kinds of creepy feelings and hysterical screamings at imagination. They started checking one another. Actually, it was kind of amusing. When they settled down again, we set off into the woods again.

This plant has rough hairy leaves which the forest people used to polish their rings.

Blue ferns can be seen growing on the ground, its color standing out from the other green plants and the brown of the earth.

We eventually came back to the Batek village again and saw these Batek children performing a flower dance for me. Wonder where they got that yellow flowers for we did not see it anywhere along the trek.



This boy was peering intensely into the yellow flower. What were his thoughts?

Even the Batek are not immune from modern influence. See some of their huts are covered by the blue plastic sheets to keep off the rain. And this lady is carrying plastic containers.

If not hunting or gathering for food, they just while their time away. Whether this is good or bad depends on one’s outlook of life, I guess. But they seem contented with their life which is more than can be said for many of the city folks.

After a short trek, we came to the river again waiting for our boat to pick us up. Along the way another guy was bitten by a leech, a tiger leech this time which unlike the water leech that bit the girls in the cave; has a painful bite. These suckers that can detect you by vibration (e.g. footsteps) and carbon dioxide given off by nearby hosts and will aggressively pursue you. Our friend found one inside his T-shirt so maybe the girls were not so jumpy after all. We gave that one a salt water bath too and sent on its way to leech heaven.

Our boat came and we took off for our hostel. This boat and its owner is leisurely hanging back waiting to pick up his passengers.

We passed this scene which for some reason reminded me of Brokebreak Mountain.

As we passed by this floating boathouse, the children shouted to catch our attention. Then one after another they dive into the water. Unfortunately I was not quick enough to catch them taking the plunge.

Nearing our destination, we saw this fisherman getting ready to cast his nets. I quickly got my camera ready. I always got a thrill whenever I can catch a fisherman casting his net.

Caught him in the act.

The net dropped forming an arch over the water (like a giant jelly fish) before disappearing under. I hoped he had a good harvest. We are now very hungry having worked up a healthy appetite. It was time to eat.

To be continued...

Taman Negara #5 - Into The Ear Cave.

Before we enter the house of bats, we took a picture as proof in case anyone did not re-emerge from it. The Ear Cave is so named because it is shaped like an ear. Like one too, once you enter it gets progressively narrower till it is just a small channel into the inner ear. But even more like an ear, you went in one direction and came out the other. :-)

Last minute advice – “keep your head low, don’t bump into things though I know all of have thick skulls; talk soft, don’t wake up the dead; it is slippery, watch out for the sharp rocks; if it is too slippery, God gave you a backside for a reason; if it is smelly, hold your breath until you came out the other side; if you are not dirty when you come out, we all know you cheated and double back.”

With those words swarming our heads, we climbed in and plunged into instant darkness. The feeble beams of our tiny torches seemed to be sucked in by the darkness and eaten up. Don’t let some of the pictures fooled you. Only when the camera flashed could we see with any clarity. See the three tiny lights in the picture, they were made by torches – not very bright was it? Immediately in and the low ceiling forced us to bend double to walk like a hunchback.

Sometimes we have to climb down and other times we have to climb up. Luckily, there were ropes strung at strategic points in the cave to help in the climbs.

In the semi-darkness, you could just about see several feet in front of you and the general appearance of the cave wall while further away or deeper caverns are shrouded in complete darkness. I did not know there were bats in this cave even though they are just feet away until I used the camera to illuminate the cave.

Take for example this photo. Even with the flash you could not see beyond the rope.





If you grabbed too far, you may end up with grabbing one of the bats instead which are just inches away. They were around us everywhere except we couldn’t see them – we were like they said “blind as a bat”.

They may just be on top of our head and we would not even realize as this picture showed.

Something spooked the bats, probably our loud voices having woke them up from their slumber and they started flying. They flew in erratically in complete darkness yet managed to avoid slamming into anything. We now have to climb up towards a break in the cave where light and jungle greens were visible.

The path we have to climb is the area through which the bats were flying. We have to just hope that their radar is good enough to avoid crashing into us. “Mayday! Mayday! Bang!!”

Well, there were no flaming hits so we made to the next chamber which is all the way down. The first section was easy enough, just have to make sure we had a secure hold.

The second section proved to be more tricky. It was steep but also very smooth and wet and a bit dangerous to try to stand and walked down unless the shoes have a good traction. It is safer to slide down with the buttocks. Four Englishmen were standing here obstructing the traffic, debating on whether to proceed and go back and wondering aloud where this leads to while others just moved round them and continued below. It is kind of strange they way they carried out their conversation as if none of us understand their language. So I volunteered them some information and told them that there is only one way to go – forward. There are still many people coming from the back as we were almost at the head of our party. One of them said to the other “There – there is your answer” and followed us in.

However, we could not proceed far when we had another traffic jam. After sliding down the slippery slope, we have to crouch and crawl through a watery channel. We could not see what was ahead and had to wait until the path was cleared. You can imagine what can happen when this cave became flooded. Incidentally, the Ear Cave is closed during the rainy season for obvious reason.

It seemed the cave got narrower as we went in. This is a slit between two huge boulders and only a medium sized person could squeeze through. One of the participants (not of our group) had to turn back for there is no way his extra large size is going to squeeze through this gap.


There are more tight spots ahead. At the end of the long channel, there is a hole through which you have to push yourself upward with the strength of both your arms. It is not a large hole and our guide told us in an earlier trip, one guy was stuck there for three hours before being rescued. Our guide told us that the cave is getting narrower over the years as the earth movement hemmed the cave in.


But once we pushed yourself through it, sunlight again greeted us and we found that we were at the bottom of a deep narrow ravine. Using our arms and steeping on places of the rocks where there are footholds, we pulled ourselves upward.

“I did it! I am out of the cave!” she seemed to say as she flashed both a beaming smile and the V sign.

Those who have got out helped to pull the others up.

“Look! My front is pretty clean.”

“But my back – well, I did use my buttocks!”

This group of girls said “Hey, we also want our front and back taken.” So I shot their front.

But when they turned their backs to me, they suddenly felt shy and dispersed before I could get a proper shot. Girls!


As we were about to depart, I saw the four Englishmen coming out from another path. I was puzzled and asked them how come. They told me they were tired of waiting for the queue and double back where they came from. I thought – what a pity! So near yet so far. I would have regretted and always wondered what it was I missed, for want of a little patience.

To be continued...

Taman Negara #4 - The Trek To Gua Telinga.

We continued our way through the jungle when we came across a point where two paths forked into different directions. This reminded me of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” where it said – “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.” Well, in this case, we took the well worn path for we would not dare to take the one less traveled by and end up lost.

Road sign in the jungle pointing to us the right direction.

In single file we marched on, sweat soaking our shirts. It rained here the last few days and the ground was muddy at some stretches slowing down our walk. It was unusual to rain this time of the year but the weather had been upside down all over the world, it seems.

These black jungle termites took advantage of the wet cool weather to troop through the ground looking for food. You would not find their white urban cousins doing that in day time even under the shades of trees. They are not as hardy. These jungle termites are dangerous, their bites are poisonous and can give you painful swelling for up to a day. They are however important for the health of the forest chewing up dead and rotten trees to rejuvenate the forest.

We stopped by this tall tree which if I’m not mistaken is called Pokok Kering. Its sap is used by the aborigines to make vanish.

Trees in the original tropical jungle grows straight and tall making for the sky. Every trees fighting for the precious sunlight. Here sunlight is filtering down from a break in the dense foliage.

It is time for a group photo under the giant Tualang tree, the third tallest tree in the world. This huge baby is only about a thousand year old. They can grow up to more than four thousand years old and more than 80 meters tall. Such a giant would take more than 20 people to link their arms round its trunk. It is an amazing tree.

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep” and a little scary too to be wandering off by yourself.

We were surprised to see such a bright colored bean growing on this tree. They also grow much higher up in clusters on tree branches. Our guide told us they are edible but this is not ripe enough to be eaten. These pods can be opened for the edible beans within. They made a wonderful contrast from the homogeneity of the green, brown and grey of the forest.

The group came to an abrupt stop as there was a traffic jam just ahead. There was a puddle of mud that we have to figure out how to negotiate. Our guide laughed at us. He said after the cave, we would not care about getting our legs dirty and would just be stepping through the puddle.

We finally reached the mouth of the cave. Everyone stopped for a breather and waited for the traffic to clear a bit before going in. All of us armed were with a torch for it will be dark inside. We will be entering through this entrance and exiting through the other end.

It was photo session as group after group took the opportunity to pose before the fading sign. Here our pretty smiling ladies revealed their best smiles to the camera.

This guy is standing at the edge of the mouth of the cave staring into the abyss wondering when to make the plunge. It was dark and damp; and the fetid smell of the bats’ guano was emanating from it. After a moment’s hesitation to get our bearing, we plunged into the depth…

To be continued...

Taman Negara #3 - The Batek Forest People.

Once we dropped our bags in the room, we hurried down to river; everyone raring to go.

The bank where the houses are built consisted of two levels, we were at the highest level. The reason why they are built so high up is that you will amaze by how high the river can rise during the rainy season towards the end of the year when the monsoons starts. It is also the reason why all the restaurants at the river are all not on permanent legs but are floating.

We made our way down this rickety wooden stairs with missing steps which swayed precariously under our combined weight. Over the next few days, we will be climbing up and down this stair several times a day. But we did not break it, we left it for some else to do it. See the single strand of flimsy wire that is supposed to be our guide rail but we still hand on it for support and to some it seems like for life.

One after another, we planted our foot carefully taking care not to tumble down like Jack & Jill and brought the others down in a chain reaction.

Our heart started pounding when through thick foliage and flowering plants, we saw the river where Sungei Tahan joined Sungei Tembeling. It was like we have found our long lost love if you know what I meant. This is what we came for and the view did not disappoint.

There was a wide stretch of sandy beach, and a number of floating restaurants all lining just off the shore greeted us. You do not have to worry about getting a decent meal any time of the day or night.

This restaurant ran by our tour company is the focal point of all our meetings and starting of our activities as well as our meals. A narrow plant is all that connects it to the beach. One wrong step and you will have an early drink.

These are our trusty boats that will take us to all our activities. As all round us are dense tropical jungle that are almost impassable (at least to non-jungle dwellers like us). The main and in many cases only mode of transportation is by the river boats.

This is our first boat ride and you can see the excited expressions. The powerful motor kicked to life and pushing us off to our first adventure.

The river is quite busy with many boats traversing to and fro between destinations. The boats traveled quite fast and sometimes it appeared a bit recklessly. But these are experienced boaters who do not like to take it slow. Amid the sleepy jungle and languid river, the only things roaring to life are the fast boats.

We passed by interesting scenes and I kept my camera busy. I liked this shot which I called ‘waiting’; for it will make an interesting story. The man is waiting for a fish to bite, what is the lady waiting for? Write your own story.

This picture shows how lovely it is taking a boat down the river. Clear blue sky overhead, a wide river, fresh air, dense forest on both banks. Our tour guide took the best seat of the house, at the front of the boat.

As all activities starts at the river bank, boats are busy ferrying passengers to the various points.

We arrived at ours to go to the “Ear Cave” or Gua Telinga.

After a short walk, we reached a Batek forest people village who just happened to camp off this track having moved in recently. They are nomadic people who never stayed long in one place. They lived off the jungle and once the surrounding area is exhausted, it is time to move. A death or sickness in one of their member may also cause them to move as they are highly superstitious people. Our guide is explaining to us the lifestyle of these gentle people who took life each day as they come.

There are only less than a thousand of the Batek (which meant original people in Malay) left and they are mostly concentrated in Taman Negara. They are shy people who kept very much to themselves living a way of life thousand of years old. When we came across them, we felt like we are intruding into their world which is the truth.

To be continued...

Taman Negara #2 - The Arrival At Kuala Tahan.

Woke up at 5 a.m. and decided there is no point in trying to sleep further so put on the music and moved at a leisurely pace. But once Alex and MongShe picked me up, the mad rush began. We fetched Lay Yee from her house and on the way got a call that JenShyi has arrived in Klang station from Kedah after an overnight journey of 9 hours. From there, we shot to meet up with Alex's friend who was kind enough to drive us to KL. We were lucky that the traffic was exceptionally smooth that day. Could it be because the dramatic increase in petrol price the night before is having an impact? Our pick-up point was in Puduraya from where we were transferred to Chinatown after a hearty breakfast in KFC. We departed from Chinatown at 8.45 am. Other members of this group arrived at the pick-up point from various places, at various times by various means.

In Lanchang, we had a stopover for what we call a sing-along. That is better sounding than a piss-stop. Caught this black bumblebee with a bright yellow crown stealing nectar from the banana plant.

We are again on our way. It is about a 4 hours plus journey.

We stopped in the Chinese restaurant in Jerantut, a town that owed much to Taman Negara as a stopover, for our lunch. Considering that this is a tour group lunch, the food is quite decent and adequate.

We took two large tables but as many in the group do not know each other, conversation is a bit stiff as the ice has not been broken yet.

But hunger is a language everyone understands. So when the food came, we all dig in but still politely ensuring everyone has their equal share.

We thought we were going to drive to Kuala Tembeling and from there to take a boat to Kuala Tahan so was a bit disappointed when we learned that it will be a bus trip instead. The roads were getting more hilly and winding as we approached our destination. At one point, there was a landslide that occurred only days or weeks earlier. Much of the land we went through were already cultivate with Oil Palm. Civilization has caught up to the fringes of the jungle.

We arrived at this Persona Village Resort where we dropped a family who came on their own. While the living accommodation here is better, I do not think this is a good place to stay as there is no atmosphere.

We have arrived. Everyone crowded round the tour guide asking for direction.

There was a school immediately to our left as we alighted from the bus. There were many sayings drawn on its wall greeting our arrival. I liked the last one – “It makes no difference where you came from but a great difference where you’re going.” There were 22 of us and we came from all over the country. From as far North as Kedah and as far South as Johor. And we all knew where we wanted to go – to Taman Negara and have fun!

Once that is settled and we knew where we are supposed to be headed, we took our belonging and looked for our chalet.

This is Kuala Tahan and the gateway to the Taman Negara, the National park.

All the chalets and individual bungalows (concrete base and wooden walls & roof) were built following traditional Malay architecture. They were all situated along the river which is the center of activities and transportation. The pricier units are closer to the river or overlooking it. We went for the budget units, the whole package of which cost us only RM350 per person - a real bargain for 3 days/2 nights.




Along the way, we saw a family relaxing by one of the benches. This young boy seemed like a seasoned player. Cool confident face and deftly handling the cards. Later, I caught him sleeping with his legs hanging up. Even a King Gambler must rest, I guess.

I brought along quite a bit of snacks worrying I may go hungry but there was even cendol in our very doorstep! Just bring along some money. You can buy everything you need including freshly fried "goreng pisang" with the banana just plucked from the trees - D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

We reached our chalet and has to decide how to split 22 in three rooms with almost equal numbers of males and females. With a bit of give and take, we managed to figure out this complex mathematics and determined who sleep with whom and who to sleep on top of whom being bunker beds. Everyone was given the pleasurable experience of sleeping with strangers.

To be continued...