Welcome to Taman Negara! The jungle with the distinction as the world’s oldest. Pretty cool if you ask me.
It’s located in the heart of Peninsular Malaysia and is definitely worth a visit. Especially since all the rainforest surrounding it for as far as you can drive has been converted to palm oil plantation. But that is for a different discussion. For now, let’s focus on the good stuff, like giant trees and huge root staircases.
Also pretty cool for some people, snakes. How about giant black and yellow snakes hiding in the bathroom next to the toilet in the animal watching hide?
Yea, I know. Crazy. My buddy went to relieve himself and had quite the surprise. He then proceeded to save a future visitor from a snake bite on the butt by giving his best Steve Irwin impression and getting the snake outside. Sheesh! Not my thing. Poisonous perhaps? The guy we met further down the trail definitely thought as much.
Possible poisonous snake? Check. Can you spot anything else in the jungle that could kill you? How about some fungi? Now, let me tell you there was so much fungi and the sheer variety was impressive. No two mushroom are alike you know. I just made that up, but seriously, look for yourself.
And how about a few more mushrooms for good measure.
Fungus is cool and interesting and all that jazz, but just walking through the jungle is pretty sweet. You rarely see any large animals and you also rarely have a view of anything besides leafy foliage and decomposition, but it’s a unique suffocating feeling and Malaysia’s humidity only adds to the effect.
The best part of walking through the rainforest has got to be the sounds. Just listen and you’re sure to hear all kind of insects and animals. We even heard some monkeys talking back. It’s not all fine and dandy though. While you’re listening, be sure to keep an eye out for leeches. They are persistent little vampires. When we first arrived at the animal viewing hide, we totally stripped down and pulled off a bunch of the blood suckers, which left a few too many unwanted bloody spots. Nasty.
Finally, don’t bother getting a guide unless you plan on going real deep into the jungle. Day hikes are totally fine and you won’t get lost unless you wander off the well marked trails.
where did you get your daily tour? what the best city to get in to start the hike tour? I’m going from georgetown to perenthian and it will be good to stop 2 days in the jungle.
thank you
We actually didn’t have a tour. Instead, we just paid the entrance fee and went exploring. If we were going to stay overnight within the park, than we would’ve gotten a guide. One of the workers at our hostel was leaving for a 3 day trek when we arrived, which I wish we had had time to join in on. Either way, tours/guides are easy to come by outside of the park in Kuala Tahan
I live in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and even I havent been to this place. haha, love your website!
Sounds like it’s time for you to make a trip!
I am prepared to go to TN alone from 7-10 August ths year. Anyone keen to join me so there’s company along the way? My first trip to explore the rainforest.
Thanks for this post. I’m planning to head to Taman Negara myself in a couple of weeks. Will definitely keep an eye open in the hides! From that first image, it looks like the snake has the classic triangular shape head of some sort of viper…