Sleeping in the jungle

Taman Negara (national park) and Kuala Tahan, Malaysia

We spent a couple of days in Kuala Tahan, a village within walking distance of Taman Negara (the world’s oldest rainforest). We were taken by wooden longboat to a mini waterfall and swam in the refreshing river, deep inside the rainforest. We also did a night trek where our guide pointed out creepy crawlies of the rainforest – including 2 scorpions and a bird-eating-spider! The following day we were meant to head to Thailand but it’d mean Jack spending his birthday on a sleeper bus (not so fun). Instead, we ending up doing a 2 day, 1 night jungle trek, and slept inside a bat-inhabited cave!! The trek was challenging but enjoyable, we had a good group and an awesome guide. We walked 16km in total, with our sleeping bags, roll mats, food and 3 litres of water. We walked over rocks, fallen trees, roots and leaves covered with leeches. I was bitten once, it didn’t hurt but bled a lot. On a number of occasions we had to balance on logs, suspended several meters above rivers/streams, to get to the other side. During the trek, we also got the opportunity to meet one of the genuine tribes of the jungle. It was a little daunting. They speak their own language and have their own traditions and beliefs. We were shown how they catch food using a blow dart-gun. It was an effective weapon, made entirely of materials found in the rainforest. An interesting - slightly disturbing - fact we learnt, was that when a member of the tribe dies, instead of burring/cremating the body, the corpse is hung and left on top of the highest nearby tree, as the body is apparently closer to haven this way. Imagine coming across that!!