A Day in Taman Negara: Into the Malaysian Rainforest

After slowly working our way along Malaysia’s east coast in It Zwibble, we turned inland.

Our destination was Taman Negara.

We weren’t planning a multi-day trek or trying to disappear deep into the rainforest. Instead, we’d booked a one-day trip through Taman Negara Malaysia that would give us a taste of several different parts of the national park before we continued our overland journey north. This cost RM150 each.

Into the rainforest

Our day began by crossing the river and walking through the resort area before heading into the forest with our guide.

Having a guide made a difference almost immediately. Rather than simply walking through a wall of green, we stopped to look at particular plants and learnt about some of the ways people have traditionally used the forest around them. At one point our guide demonstrated how part of a tree could be struck to create a deep, drum-like sound that could carry through the jungle.

Then we started climbing.

There were stairs. A lot of stairs.

The walk to the viewpoint was around 2.5 kilometres, with another 2.5 kilometres to get back, and in the Malaysian humidity that was plenty. Our group was only four people plus our guide, so we could stop when we needed to rather than turning it into a race to the top.

Eventually we reached the Bukit Teresek viewpoint, where the forest opened enough to give us views across the national park, with the river below and rainforest stretching into the distance. The highest mountain was hidden behind cloud, but after weeks spent around cities and beaches, the landscape still felt completely different from the Malaysia we’d seen so far.

Visiting a Bateq Orang Asli community

After a quick lunch, the afternoon began with a visit to a Bateq village. The Bateq are one of the Orang Asli, the Indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia.

Our guide introduced us to aspects of the community’s traditions and way of life, including customs surrounding death and burial. We also watched practical demonstrations of traditional fire-starting techniques and the use of bamboo blowpipes for hunting.

Darryl was particularly enthusiastic about the blowpipe demonstration and jumped at the chance to have a go himself. His aim turned out to be rather good, and he managed to shoot the poor teddy bear being used as a target straight in the neck!

It was a fascinating opportunity to learn about Bateq traditions and their longstanding connection with the rainforest. We particularly enjoyed the chance to see some of those traditional skills demonstrated firsthand and to try them ourselves.

Getting very wet: Rapid Shooting

Our final activity of the day was Rapid Shooting, a boat trip through the rapids on the Tembeling River.

We knew there was a very good chance we’d get wet. That turned out to be an understatement. By the end, we were soaked. It was also ridiculously good fun.

After the steady climb through the rainforest earlier in the day and the quieter pace of the village visit, bouncing along the river and through the rapids was an unexpectedly energetic finish.

Then it was back to It Zwibble.

That’s one of the rhythms we were starting to appreciate about travelling through Malaysia in our own campervan. We could spend the day hiking through rainforest and getting soaked on a river, then return to the same little home that had been with us on the beaches a few days earlier and would be travelling north with us again the next morning.

Was one day enough?

One day certainly wasn’t enough to see everything in Taman Negara.

But that wasn’t what we were trying to do.

Our overland journey gives us flexibility, but it doesn’t mean we stay everywhere indefinitely. Sometimes we spend five nights beside a beach because we feel like it. Sometimes we have one full day somewhere and make the most of it.

For us, the day worked as an introduction to Taman Negara. We walked through the rainforest with someone who could explain what we were seeing, climbed to a viewpoint, learnt a little about the Bateq community living in the area and finished on the river.

Then we pointed It Zwibble north again.