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...