27 – 30 Jun 1998: Taman Negara, Malaysia
Tabing Hide
In the late afternoon, we made our way to Tabing Hide. We are spending the night at this tree-house hide, built for night observation. The amenities within the hide was very basic with 4 standard double-decker beds (not sure when was the last time they changed the bedsheets) and a toilet (before you thank God, look inside). If we were lucky, there was a good chance that we could see a deer or wild boar drinking the water from the stream nearby. So, the guys were on a “patroling” clock to look out for the animals from the watch-out area.
At about 3 o’clock, I shone my torch and saw a pair of glowing eyes. Excited, I screamed: “Leopard!” When the crowd squinked their naked eyes intensely, they chuckled: “It’s a deer!”
Opps….
We beat the sunrise for our way out of the Tabling Hide. Perhaps, we were too early and the boat shuttle service did not start until a long wait. We killed time by playing “Heart Attack” at the jetty.
The Floating Restaurant of Taman Negara
The eateries in the park were all floating restaurants. In fact, we need a boat ferry to reach them. Not wanting to eat more bananas, we went for breakfast at one of the floating restaurants. It was steaming hot Roti Canai with spicy curry.
Ear Cave
Another highlight of this trip was the Ear Cave, a ten minutes boat journey to Gua Telinga and another 30 minutes walk from the riverbank.
The cave was only 80 m long but there were a few narrow and difficult stretches that poses some challenges to us.
The cave is home to bats, frogs, insects and snakes. Bats are the most commonly found animals here and this was the first time I had such “close” contact with countless of them. They were everywhere, hanging silently above your heads.
As we departed from the Ear Caves, JL found “something” that was stuck on her leg. Something small but refused to be just swept away by naked hands.
“Leech!” These slimy little vampires were commonly found in the Malaysian jungles. When we tried to pull it off, the little parasite held even tighter.
“Let me help”, a veteran hiker passed by and burnt it with his cigarette. Within seconds, the leech fell off, lying lifeless on a leaf. Apart from the shock, JL was practically unhurt from this incident.
After dinner, we packed our bags and made our way home. Again, the boat ride back to Jerantut where we spent the night at Jingjing Hotel again.
At 1.30 am, we boarded the second class sleeper train home. This marked the end of our adventure. Period.
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