Heart of Darkness

To the north of Kuala Lumpur lies a dark, legendary jungle. It is a land that frightening and exotic creatures call home. A place where the bush is so dense, light can't penetrate through the leaves and only the brave, strong, and smart survive. But provided you don't go too deep into the rain forest, even a half wit like me can enjoy the splendors of Taman Negara, Malaysia's premier jungle terrain.

Arriving in the jungle you take a three hour long jungle river cruise. This is a rustic long boat with the tops right next to the water's edge. The river snakes it's course through lush tropics, revealing now and again, the wildlife she so preciously harbors.


During the course of the boat ride, we came across Monkeys, Otters, Birds and Deer.

After arriving at the docks, I checked into my hotel and made my way to the jungle itself. The interpretive trail is a a medium long trek and requires no demanding physical prerequisites. However, just coming off a climb from Mt. Kinabalu, even the short elevation changes were not welcome in the slightest. But at short clearings, I was offered some magnificent vistas far over the canopy and deep into this mysterious, sacred land.


Then I met Taman Negara's most spotted wildlife- the leech. Any visitor to this rain forest will tell you that any protection you can take against leeches really ought to be taken. As I sat down to catch a breath of water, I wiped the sweat trickling down my neck. Then I came across a big, slimy, squishy thing stuck to my body. I thought it was odd that it wasn't coming off and I had to wonder what it was. Once I pulled it off, there was this big sucker with about a tablespoon worth of my blood in it writhing around in my hand. I through it away and continued on my journey absolutely disgusted. Lesson learned- avoid low lying swamp areas if you want to sit and rest.


Along the hike, however, I came across some interesting specimens. One tree, in particular, caught my eye. The roots of the tree we very large and protruded out of the ground. They resembled massive walls and formed conical curves into the trunk of the tree. It was explained to me that if you hit one of these roots with a stick, the resulting echo is loud and carries on for quite a while. Aboriginal families on the hunt use these trees to communicate with one another to announce where they are.


Another fascinating flora was the giant bamboo. Here I am standing below it to give it scale.


After my hike, I returned back to my cabin. I showered, ate dinner and then joined up with a tour to go on a night safari. We all piled onto the back of this pick up truck (a bit primitive) and we were driven into a Palm Oil Tree Plantation. The clear night sky, the warm air rushing past me, the ominously illuminated palm trees that surrounded the secluded dirt road made me relaxed and at ease. But I was also on the seat of my pants ready to catch a glimpse of the possibly game we might see.


The safari ended with some pretty reasonable sighting. We saw leopard cats, barn owls, and pythons that, had we been anywhere outside of the truck, would have swallowed us whole. As an added bonus, I got to eat some of the palm tree nuts to taste the oil. It was very high in fiber and that is all I have to say about that.

The following day began with my raison d'etre for coming to this park: the canopy walk. A canopy walk is a massively long, massively high up suspension bridge large enough for one person to cross at a time that hangs from the tree tops giving it's viewers pristine looks on the tops of trees. The canopy walk is 400 meters long and rises 40 meters about the ground at its highest point. It's a thrilling alternative to hiking through, or should I say on top of, the jungle.


After the canopy walk, I had one of the most memorable encounters in all my time in Asia. I left the main touristy area of the jungle and took a long boat with a local guide. The guide pulled the boat up to the river bank and we made our way to the top of a small hill. Here, there lived a local aboriginal village that welcomed foreigners to view their way of life. This was about as primitive as one could get- they wore traditional clothing, lived in Tiki Huts with no electricity or running water, and hunted and gathered all their food. The people were nomadic and their village is designed to be dismantled at the drop of a hat and moved elsewhere along the river.


Upon entering the village, we were met by two young boys (the remainder of the males were off hunting). The two boys demonstrated how to make a fire with only wood and bamboo (that's right, even more primitive than flint and tinder). We were informed that the boys were not considered men until they were able to start a fire. After a few failed attempts, the two lads got it going.


Afterwards, we got blow dart lessons! The blow dart guns were made out of long bamboo reeds and were probably twice the size of me. I held out the gun, aimed it at my target, and shot my dart straight and true. It was stunning how fast the darts whizzed off and how accurate their trajectory in fact was!


After blow dart lessons, we got to fraternize with the locals a bit before heading off. Returning back, I took a bus ride home to the train station and hopped on an overnight express back to Kuala Lumpur.


From The Horror! The Horror!, Michael.