Taman Negara (28 - 31 Aug'11) - 1st Day

This was the day that will soon tell me that there was NO REGRETS in deciding to go on this trip at ALL! :)

Off to Taman Negara, Pahang!! Best of all? This would be my first ever trip, out of Penang with my best buddy, "Flamingo Legs"! Flamingo Legs and I have been friends for 15 years and we finally get to on on a trip together, just the two of us..YAAYYY!!!

Yeah, just two girls.. ehem...I mean ..two young ladies.. going on a trip to Taman Negara.. No other companions or bodygurads? Serious? Yeah! SERIOUS?!! Why not? Well, we both do get a little nag nag here and nag nag there from our family members and close friends (because we went during the Hari Ray Holidays , they are afraid there won't be any other visitors except the two of us and afraid we'll get lost in the jungle or kidnapped), but hey...with HUGE FAITH, BELIEVE, CONFIDENCE & a cuppa of ADVENTUROUS FEVER... OFF WE WENT! :p

Booked a 3D2N Full Board + Return Transfer from Kuala Lumpur package at NKS Hotel & Travel.

It costs us RM 550 per pax for choosing to spend the nights at Rainforest Resort on a twin sharing Deluxe room instead of other cheaper chalets / inn.

The bus that took us from Kuala Lumpur to Jerantut, Pahang.

We departed from Kuala Lumpur around 8.10am and arrived Jerantut town around 12.30pm.

We expected a little traffic congestion on the road due to the festive season but, it was a smooth ride all the way.

We were served lunch at NKS Cafe at Jerantut town. It's like home cooked food.. simple yet tasty..

Main course served with white rice: Soy sauce chicken with Ginger + Omellette + Stir Fry Chinese cabbage
Drinks & Dessert: Chinese Tea & two bananas..

After lunch, we board another smaller bus that transported us from Jerantut town to Kuala Tembeling's jetty. The journey was approximately 35-40 minutes.

Fom Kuala Tembeling jetty we have to sit in this little boat a.k.a. "sampan" to Kuala Tahan, Taman Negara. A 3 hours ride on Sungai Tembeling! But no complains so far..hehehehe..enjoyed the drone of the little boat's motor and the sound boat going through the water.. in fact, I dozed off a few times..luckily I didn't fell off the boat!

We have reached Kuala Tahan!!

Kuala Tahan - NKS Floating Restaurant cum Jetty - Pick Up/ Drop Off area

From here, we have to walk up a trail in between those greenery area you can see at the picture above and then wait for Rainforest Resort pick up truck to drive us to the hotel. When it's dinner time, it was also the breaking of fast time for the Muslims, so Flamingo Legs and I have to walk over to LBK Floating restaurant for dinner..Dinner served at 7.30pm, it was already 7.25pm when we realised we have got to walk.. Amazing how a hungry stomach gives you an extra boost of energy to walk so fast, we reached the restaurant at 7.35pm and dinner was not served yet.. Pheewww.....

The red arrows on the map above shows the walking trail we took from Rainforest Resort to LBK Floating Restaurant. The area marked "stairs" wasn't actually cemented stairs.. mind your steps :p Bring a torchlight at night! "Stairs" not visible without light..hehehehe..

Dinner.. buffet style..

Yes.. it doesn't look appetizing.. but I was too hungry and surprisingly, it tasted good!

Simple stuffs like chicken curry,& stir fry cabbage with oyster sauce.

After dinner, a video presentation on Introduction to Taman Negara was played on TV.

Our first activity on Taman Negara was a night walk on a trail near Taman Negara HQ and also within the vicinity of Mutiara Taman Negara Resort. From NKS Floating Restaurant / jetty, we took the boat to cross to the other side of the river.

Night Walk trail at Mutiara Taman Negara

Some kind of caterpillar

Spider..what was the name of it..hmm....Hunter Spider? Huntsman Spider?

Saw other species of insects and different types of mushrooms / fungi, saw a pair of Sambar Deer from afar too..didn't post it up here :p

The highlight of the night... a pair of Tapir waltzing by gracefully through the open area of Mutiara Taman Negara!! Well..of course the picture only showed one..coz the other Tapir walked in front, I was too mesmerized by the first and only managed to capture a picture of the second one ..hehehe...Hmm..I wonder if these Tapirs would be thinking.. "wow.. a bunch of weird looking animals they are (to us human)..." LOL!