Rumble through the Jungle

Chris was very sad to be leaving the Cameron Highlands. I, on the other hand, was ready to get out of the cold dripping wet. I'm not brilliant with cold and damp climates. The hills were nice, but I was ready for some jungle.

We booked a boat into Taman Negara, a national park in Malaysia. It contains the oldest ecosystem in Malaysia. That's nothing to sneeze at. I was ready to see some big trees and witness wild jungle animals at play, namely tigers and elephants. The leeches I wasn't too keen on meeting, with our guidebook warning us about them. I bought some expensive repellent at our stop in Jerantut.

The scenery at Jerantut was pretty incredible. There was a wide brown river carving out much of the landscape. All around was jungle. We were only a few hours away from the Cameron Highlands, but the difference was staggering. This was verifiable jungle. It felt sort of Amazonian, especially as we piled in a long boat and slid off through the water. Low to the river, we cruised through the muddy water, keeping our eyes peeled for crocodiles and natives. Everyone took their shoes off and got comfortable. It was a long ride upstream. Three hours to be exact. It was a long time to be sat like that in a boat, but the scenery kept us alert. There were water buffalo about, and locals with their fishing boats. We saw no towns along the river, only wilderness.

In late afternoon we slid up to civilization. We saw floating restaurants lining the shore of the river. Mama Chop's was dead ahead, and a guide waited there for us. After gathering our bags, we sat around and listened as the guide welcomed us to Taman Negara. The park was actually just across the river from us; we could see a sign and some steps leading into the park. The village we were stationed at was Kuala Kanpung Tehan. It was hardly even a village, there were two roads in total. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

The guide invited us back that evening to view a video on Taman Negara. Plus we had signed up for the Night Jungle Walk. We'd return to Mama Chop's, but first we had to get up a very steep hill with our rucksacks. It was rough. There were only a handful of guesthouses in the village, but fortunately the one we picked was very nice. Our room was equipped with a squat toilet, which wasn't ideal, but I was ready to overlook it in favor of the decor. The whole guesthouse had a kindergarten quality to it, with kid-style mosaics on the walls, stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling, and positive messages posted throughout. Our room had giant lady bugs painted onto the walls. A sliding door opened onto a mosque and jungle. Very nice. My only problem was that squat toilet. I still didn't have the hang of using one (I had a bad experience in Turkey that left me traumatized).

We prepared ourselves for leeches. I wore two pairs of socks (I heard these little buggers can squeeze through the holes in cotton socks) and tucked my pants into my boots. Chris and I sprayed our expensive insect repellent all over us. Leeches be damned.

The sun was setting over Taman Negara. Beautiful. We could see smoke rising across the river. There are communities of natives that live in the jungle. Related more to the Aboriginees than to Malays, they live in longhouses and maintain their jungle way of life (though tourism must make some impact on their lifestyles).

Chris and I ate at one of the floating restaurants then showed up at Mama Chop's for our orientation to the jungle. Groups of us sat around at tables and watched the half hour film. It showed some pretty non-impressive stuff. Lots of insects. My ears did perk up with the mention of tigers and civets. Maybe there was a chance we'd see one or two. Looking across to the deep darkness of the park, I wondered what we'd run into in that pitch blackness.

Snakes, Scorpians and Spiders—Oh my!

A short boatride took us across the river to the park. Our group did this in batches of two. Our guide was a small little Malay man with a slight lisp (non-English speakers had a hell of time trying to understand him). He seemed overwhelmed by the size of our group. He said he wasn't used to having so many people at once. I knew our chances of running into any elusive jungle cat were next to nil with this many people.

We started on our jungle trek. Chris and I noticed that most people were wearing flip flops and shorts. Ha, we thought. Let the leeches get them. But we weren't really walking through the jungle. Rather we were walking on a raised wooden platform. Still it was quite exciting, in that it was completely dark and the jungle hummed around us.

Our guide would sweep his flashlight over everything in his search for wildlife. Finally he drew our attention to a tree. We all gathered close to see the thing he had caught in his light. A frickin cricket. Oh dear. I knew we were walking along one of the tamest tracks in the park, but I was really hoping to see more than insects. Further on he found us another cricket, but a different type. I appreciated the guy's enthusiasm, but I have never in my life been excited about crickets. Thankfully things did pick up as he spotted a green snake hanging over our heads, and then a few really big spiders. The highlight of the walk was the scorpian he coaxed out of a tree. We all held our breathes as he tapped on the bark, waiting for the scorpian to emerge. Back in the Butterfly Farm in Brinchang, I had seen a few scorpians in a tank. Monster scorpians. But nothing prepared me for this guy. Frickin hell, he was huge, like something out of the Cambrian age. I stood far back, getting that feeling of creepy crawly things on my skin. Insects are good for a freak show, but in general I'm not a fan. Where were those tigers?

We continued on to an animal hide. This was a wooden hut built in the jungle, located near animal licks, for people to watch animals feed. There are a few hides throughout the park, but we were in the one closest to the park's entrance and to the resort. There was a very slim chance of finding anything. Sure enough, our guide swept his flashlight over the area, and only darkness stared back (though there were probably many insects to be found). He left us to sit in the hide for fifteen minutes in the dark. We all had to stay quiet in order not to scare any animals away. I knew that the animals were far off. Animals are not dumb, even with salt licks around. They keep their distance from humans. Still I liked sitting there staring out into the dark jungle. We could hear the sound of crickets and frogs and maybe a snapping branch here and there. It was almost meditative for me. When our guide came back, sure enough nothing was there. He talked a bit more, probably about the other fantastic hides further out in the park, but then before we were to leave, he shown the light into the dark again, and said, “Oh, there's something there!” We all jumped forward to the edge of the viewing area. It was just a deer, stopping to take a drink by the river. Yawn. “I've seen more wildlife in my parents’ backyard,” I told Chris. Still it was an interesting experience. There are elephants and tigers out in Taman Negara, and I dare say, I'm glad they steer clear of humans.

Among the Canopy

We went back in Taman Negara the next day for a little jungle trek of our own. One of the greatest things about the park is the Canopy Walk, a set of wooden bridges suspended from trees. It was quite a hike in itself to get there. The heat was intense. We weren't so worried about bugs anymore. We hadn't seen as much as a mosquito the entire time we were there. We did keep a keen eye out for snakes though. One thing I had learned from the night walk is that there are things everywhere. Seriously, we were probably walking past all kinds of creepy crawlies without realizing it.

Our guidebook had advised us to visit the Canopy Walk early in the morning before crowds gathered. Well Chris and I had vied to sleep in. Organized tour groups were due there in the morning, to avoid the crowds, I could only assume. By the time we got there, mid-afternoon time, we found there was no line at all. Funny that. All those people had joined organized tours thinking they were beating the crowds, when they actually were the crowds. Anyway, Chris and I had the walk to ourselves.

I walked through it in a breeze. Chris, on the other hand, is afraid of heights, but he did rather well. We were up pretty high, and some of the bridges swayed as we walked across them. Chris called out that there were rivets missing, a disconcerting announcement. But we made it safetly across, and I was somewhat disappointed to have passed through so quickly. We trekked back the same way we came. I tried to take in as much of the jungle as I could. After all, it's not everyday you visit one of the oldest ecosystems in the world. The trees were magnificent, their roots like giant octopus arms. Some of the trees stretched way high into the canopy. I thought of the redwoods and giant sequioas in California. Some of those trees are thousands of years old. They looked prehistoric. I could see some dinosaur rubbing its back against one of them.

Looks like Diarrhea for You

We had dinner at another one of the floating restaurants. I have to point out that these were the only eating establishments in town, and the food in them was not particularly wonderful. In fact it was downright scary. These places were as basic as you could get, which means that hygeine was probably lacking. I ordered a fish dish, just to change things up a bit. Marinated fish with rice on the side. I thought fish might be a safe bet, seeing as how we were on a river. At least it would be fresh. When the dish was set infront of me (and indeed it was a whole fish, head and all) Chris looked at me and said, “Looks like diarrhea for you,” or something to that effect. These are words I really want to hear just as I'm about to bite into my food. It ruined my meal. That and a dead fly I found buried in my rice. I really did feel ill and left quite a bit on my plate.

Sometime in the middle of the night, under our mosquito net, I felt a rumble in my tummy. Oh boy, this is it. I've been waiting for food poisoning. I was actually suriprised I hadn't gotten it earlier. I thought I'd be pooing my way across Asia with all the stories I had heard. In fact I was kind of betting on it, hoping to lose a few pounds along the way. But it was a false alarm. Nothing was going to happen over that squat toilet anyway, as my arse doesn't seem able to handle such a device. So it was no food poisoning for this traveler, though I wanted to swat Chris over the head for putting such a notion in my head.

Birthday with the Elephants

I was thrilled to be spending my day at an elephant sanctuary. Sure, I had originally planned on being in China at this time, and holding a baby panda on my birthday, but riding and feeding elephants was just as good if not better. I had decided this for my birthday treat. A bit pricey, but the sanctuary was a good place that helped find homes for displaced elephants, and didn't exploit them or force them to work like some of the other places in Asia.

We left Taman Negara early. This time we took a bus to Jerantut, and from there we got a mini-van to the elephant sanctuary. It was just Chris and I, so I was really hoping for an intimate experience with the elephants. That's what I had envisioned anyways. A little one-to-one time with Elly. When we were in Bangkok, we visited the zoo there. Most of the animals had been asleep, but the elephants were awake and ready to be fed and touched. I had never been close to an elephant before. It was a real treat to feed the elephants pieces of coconut. I couldn't stop laughing as an elephant truck searched my hand, gripping around the coconut chunk, leaving snot on me. I adored those elephants, and I wanted more.

Immediately we could see that the sanctuary was well funded. In the middle of nowhere, it had a very Western visitor center, complete with displays with elephant factoids. We were ushered into a theater where we watched a film on displaced elephants. It was actually quite sad. With the proliferation of date palm plantations (used for palm oil), lots of elephants find their natural habitat reduced. They barge into these plantations looking for food, creating massive amounts of damage. They risk being shot by the plantation owners. The film shows a team of men taking these large animals and placing them in a protective environment (many of them get taken to Taman Negara, which is a protected area). It's supposed to be a happy story I suppose, elephants being saved from being shot, but it was quite sad. These elephants don't know what's happening to them or why. They're tranquilized and chained and put into a completely different setting. The look in their eyes is just devestating. These are wild elephants, not used to humans. You can imagine how traumatizing the whole thing would be for them. I wanted to cry watching this movie. I wasn't sure what it had to do with the sanctuary. Maybe only the injured ones get rehabilitated at the sanctuary. I'm still not quite sure.

After the film we were hurried along to go feed the elephants. Chris and I were handed a bag of bananas. Ahead of us was a line of elephants behind a low wall. A crowd of people were already gathered. Chris and I tried to find a place, hoping to have more of an intimate experience. We focused on the last elephant in line. A cheeky fella. He danced around in front of us, shifting back and forth on his legs, but he didn't like bananas. He took them from our hands, but then tossed them aside distastefully. We had a potato in our bag amongst the bananas. The potato he liked, munching happily away. But the bananas... nah. I wonder why they had given us so many bananas. None of the elephants were very keen on them. It was sort of funny watching them fling them over their shoulders. I can imagine the dialogue in their heads as they reach out their trunks and discover “Oh crap, another banana.”

It wasn't the stuff of Hallmark specials, in that it lacked the elephant/human bonding experience I had hoped for. Still it was entertaining. That elephant dancing and tossing bananas was pretty damn cute.

They paraded several elephants out and performed tricks for us. I only hoped that these elephants were wanting to do this, and not forced. After all this was a sanctuary and not a circus. Some of the tricks involved rolling over and playing dead. Another sprayed water out of his trunk at the crowd. After that they lined the elephants up and we got to ride them. My first elephant ride. It was only around a little ring. It wasn't the most comfortable ride in the world; I wasn't very steady. We did get to stand there behind another elephant and watch him empty his bladder and bowels. Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.

It was then time to bathe the elephants. Or just one of them anyway. They brought a little Dumbo baby elephant out with a girl on his back. They led the elephant into the river (the very dirty river by the look of it). Chris got into the water with some of the others. Rolling his shorts up, he thought he could escape getting wet. I decided not to take part in the elephant bathing. After all, taking care of my eye was still my priority. I didn't want to risk getting bacteria in it, and that elephant-bathing water looked pretty bacteria-infested. I stood with the camera and snapped pictures as Chris climbed aboard Dumbo. The handlers there suddenly shouted “Bathe bathe” and started splashing the elephant and Chris. Everyone followed suit and within seconds Chris was soaking wet. It was really funny, especially since Chris had wanted to stay dry. I laughed and smiled, but I was quite sad that I hadn't taken part. Damn my stupid eye.

After our elephant extravaganza, we boarded another mini-bus back to Kuala Lumpur. We shared our ride with a bouncy blonde young girl from New Zealand. She was fantastic company. We discussed sheep and Maoris and everything kiwi. One thing I was pleased to find out—New Zealanders said they would boycott Cadbury chocolate if they started using palm oil. This was a fitting discussion, seen as how we were moving through palm oil territory. Palm oil is a cheap oil found in most kinds of chocolate. Not only is palm oil incredibly bad for you, the plantations are an atrocity to the Malaysian rainforests (we discovered one of the consequences of palm oil in the elephant video). New Zealanders had made their voice heard, and Cadbury had decided against palm oil, a real victory for environmental types. I'm proud of New Zealanders for taking a stand. I can only assume that Cadbury, bought out by America, wanted to cheapen their product (Americans don't know good chocolate anyway). I learned a thing or two by visiting Elly and her friends. I don't want palm oil in my diet. I'll be reading labels when I get back to settled life.