Taman Negara - Pictures



The dock where the longboat left from



The view from the boat of the river ahead

Some water buffalo along the shore

The view of villiage we stayed in from across the river



our day of hiking though the jungle begins!



hello ali!

big tree :)



largest leaf ever!

Walking up the steps to the Canopy Walkway

there were so many ants. The line extended as far as we could see up and down the hill!

Finally made it to the Canopy Walkway! (a series of bridges that lead through the top jungle canopy)

What is looks like below the canopy - we were pretty high!

View of the canopy from the walkway

Walking back to the hostel we saw some really cool fungi :)

almost blue in colour....

Interesting plant

so pretty :)

An up-rooted tree - this picture shows how large the basic root system was

Some sort of unusual fungi on a log

More unique plants

This jungle is FULL of huge creatures! This ant is bigger than Ali's ring!

Monkey spotted!

Biggest leaves!!

 

 Under the giant leaves :)

 

 The Durian Chalet Dorm Rooms

Our dorm room (the left side of the hut) - there were 6 of us sleeping on the left side, 12 total in the hut

Taman Negara National Park

In our visit to the rainforest of Taman Negara National Park we were transported back in time, and surrounded by vegetation that exists today as it did millions of years ago. Not having been touched by the last two ice ages, this rainforest is a time capsule, a window to the past. It allows a rare look at the world as it was 150 million years ago. Throughout this time it continuously prospered and evolved, making it the most biodiverse forest in the world. Entering this rainforest is humbling, awe-inspiring, and makes you sweat more than you ever have in your entire life. Having been dirt-covered, tree-planting, crusaders of the forest from May-July, Caitlin and I really appreciated exploring a forest as beautiful and old as this, especially since old-growth forests are becoming a rare commodity on this planet. My visit here offered another gem, as I received some unexpected and wise advice from a local man.

The gateway city to Taman Negara is Jerantut, and the most scenic way into the park is by river boat. Upon arrival to Jerantut, we stepped out of our bus, were herded into a mini-bus (large van), and transported to a local travel agency faster than you can say "tourist trap". The tour bus to the river boat terminal was leaving in twenty minutes, we were informed by the Malaysian lady working the desk, and we had to make a quick decision about which purchases we wished to make. Did we want a hotel booked for us "Were we interested in the packages for a guided night walk through the jungle" Overwhelmed, we opted to purchase a one-way river boat ticket, and explore our options upon arrival to the park. In no time at all, we were zooming down the road to the boat terminal.

I would never have guessed that sitting on the bottom of a wooden river boat could be such an enjoyable ride. It took three hours to boat from the terminal to the docks at Taman Negara, and when we arrived I was terribly disappointed that the boat ride was finished. The murky brown waters of the river cut serpentine through the rainforest, the banks spotted with small grass-hut villages and herds of cows. As we wove through the waters, Caitlin and I lounged in the sun, took pictures, and read books. It was heaven. The only "snag" we hit along the way – pun intended – was when our boat driver accidentally ran the motor through a fishing net. He cut it free, and we continued onward, leaving me wondering what the fisherman who owned the net would think when he pulled it from the water the next day and realized that it had been ruined.

We arrived at dusk, Caitlin and I still needing to find a guesthouse to stay in. On "Lonely Planet’s" suggestion we decided to stay at the "Durian Chalet", a small guesthouse nestled at the bottom of a hill next to a durian fruit plantation. We got two beds in a six-person dorm room, and by the end of the night all six beds were full. Our roommates were two bird-biologists from Portugal, and two midwives from Germany. We hit it off with the German girls, Mira and Anika, and ate dinner with them every night.

Our guesthouse ended up being well worth the money (which by Canadian standards was nearly free). It was a nice little place, with friendly owners. Surrounding the property was a lush garden, filled with tropical flowers and fruit trees. The owners would pick fruit for us and leave it on the picnic table outside our room. My favourite is the rambudan fruit.

The fist night in Taman Negara, we ate at "Wan’s Restaruant", a floating patio on the river. Over a meal of freshly caught fried fish with rice and vegetables, Wan himself came over and chatted with Mira, Anika, Caitlin and I about the rainforest. Once upon a time, he was a guide in the jungle for many years, but as soon as he lost his awe for the jungle – "no longer got goosebumps" as he put it – he knew his time as a guide was through. He taught us about tiger behaviour, and gave us some simple, yet wise advice about trekking in the jungle.

He explained to us that many people come to the jungle and don’t truly take the time to appreciate it. "They try to climb the hills quickly, and can hear their hearts beating in their ears the whole way", he said, "what you need to do in the jungle is take your time. Stop. Listen. Smell. Do not rush. And really think about what is surrounding you, and take your time". Although this advice was simplistic, it truth rang clear. I knew that the next day in the forest Caitlin and I had to explore with all of our senses, and above all, take our time.

Our day in the forest was amazing. After paying for our park and camera permits, we followed a trail that led us to a canopy walk. Once we were into the thick of the forest the air became quite moist and dense. My pants began to stick to my legs, and my shirt to my back. I didn’t really care though, I was too busy looking at all that surrounded me. The flora consisted of green leaves and blue leaves, vines covered with inch long thorns, palm leaves three times taller than Caitlin, and long spindly twigs webbed with leaves like the foot of a frog. Mushrooms of all sizes and shades grew in large clumps, flowers of many different colours blossomed, large bamboo shoots shot towards the canopy, and roots littered the pathway like tangles of angry pythons. So many things were decomposing, creating staging grounds for new life. Mould spurs seeped out of the rotting corpses of giant felled trees, feeding on the decomposition. Small saplings grew out of stumps, struggling to find the light dampened by the impenetrable canopy far above.

The canopy walk itself was a great experience. In the tops of trees, we walked slowly across bridges constructed with thin wooden planks and rope. The bridges were so thin that they were only wide enough for one person to pass at a time. Everyone had to walk ten meters apart, to prevent too many people from being on one bridge at the same time. Large wooden platforms high in the tree tops sat between each bridge, allowing a momentary opportunity to stop and take in the surroundings, before continuing on.

Caitlin and I really took our time during the rainforest hike, heeding Wan’s advice. We stopped when we felt it necessary, took many pictures, and used all of our senses to appreciate the rainforest that surrounded us.
When our time in Taman Negara came to a conclusion, Caitlin and I were sad to go. I felt honoured to have seen such an old forest. It is an ancient snapshot of the world as it was, and is demanding of our respect. I have travelled across the world to wander one of the oldest natural wonders on this planet, but in the grand scheme of things I was just another animal making my way through the forest.

Tioman Island Pictures



The spider we discovered in our bathroom the first night

 



Me trying to kill the spider with a shoe...



The beach huts at our resort - nicer outside than inside haha!

 

We woke up for the sunrise and took some photos

Sunrise over Salang Beach



Monkey on the beach - it went though a German girl's bag and she freaked out!

Seashells on the beach

Fancy BBQ dinner at a nice beach restaurant -
the restaurant was also showing a movie (Avatar) on a big screen in Thai



Our BBQ dinner - so good!

Sunset on Tioman

Another picture as the sun goes down

Ali and I rented a kayak - this is the view of a nearby Bay from the kayak

A small island just offshore had tons of sea birds on it - this was also taken from the kayak

We had a two-person kayak - I was in the front



Collecting shells later that night on the beach





Tioman Island

August 16 – 19^th 2010

Getting from Singapore Island to Tioman Island turned out to be a bit of a hassle. We got to the long-distance bus station in Singapore, booked the 10am bus to Mersing (the town where the ferry to Tioman Island was), and killed time by chatting to a couple of middle-aged sisters from England. All was going well until we were told the bus leaving wasn’t the one we were supposed to be in when it fact it was. Subsequently, we missed the only bus leaving for the next 10 hours. To top it all off we were denied a refund as the ticket attendant claimed we "had a miscommunication with the driver and it was our fault we missed the bus" (even through the driver looked at our ticket and told us not to get on the bus, so it really wasn’t our fault at all). After an hour of arguing and a call to bus company’s head office, we finally got our money refunded. We then jumped in a taxi to the local bus station, and caught a city bus to Johor Bahru (the Malaysian city just across the Singapore-Malaysia border). We figured we could catch a long-distance bus to Mersing from Johor Bahru instead. Luckily, we got to Johor Bahru safely, the border crossing was problem-free, and we were able to catch a bus that afternoon to Mersing. We arrived in Mersing around 3:15pm that afternoon and were quickly herded from the bus into a travel agency to book a ferry ticket to Tioman Island. We were in luck, the last ferry was leaving in 15 minutes! We quickly booked tickets and a beach hut, and then literally ran across town in order to catch the ferry in time. Exhausted and sweaty we stumbled onto the ferry and grabbed our seats for the next couple hours.

Tioman Island is a fairly popular tourist destination. The island has several ports for ferries, and we had to decide which jetty we wanted to be let off at. Ali and I decided to get let off at the last port – Salang – as we were told it was the backpackers area and it was where a lot of the cheap accommodations were. We ended up being very glad that we chose that port as we think it was probably the best location on the island. There were nice beaches, good snorkelling and decent restaurants.

By the time the ferry landed at the jetty and found our resort, it was around 7:30pm and dark out. We spent our 4 days on Tioman in a little beach hut. It was kinda sketchy, not too clean and very basic, but we had it to ourselves and we, thankfully, had sleeping bags with us. That night we discovered there was a hole in the bathroom floor and that hole meant that animals, including spiders, often made their way into our bathroom. We discovered the hole when we discovered the spider. Ali went to the washroom that night before bed and came running out telling me there was a huge spider in there and that I had to kill it! It turns out the spider was about 10-15cm in diameter (pretty big in comparison to Canadian spiders). We spent about 5 minutes chasing the spider with a running shoe until I eventually smacked it and killed it. Ali had intended to help me kill it but after about 10 seconds she freaked out and jumped on the toilet and was not helpful at all. haha.

Our 3 days on Tioman Island were spent lounging in the sun, kayaking, snorkelling just off the beach, and eating ice-cream and pancakes. The island was very relaxed and we enjoyed our time there. Unfortunately, there were a couple rainy afternoons which meant less snorkelling and hiking than we had wanted, but it was still enjoyable and we were glad we went. We stayed until August 19^th and then decided to move on. We jumped back on the ferry to Mersing, caught a bus to Kuantan and made our way over to Jerantut and Teman Negara National Park.

Random Thoughts on Singapore

Singapore was a great place for Caitlin and I to start our travels. It is very modern and westernized country. The city itself reminded me of Toronto. It was multicultural, clean, and safe. English is also the first language of this country. Coming here was not a huge culture shock for us at the beginning of our journey.

The people of Singapore are very friendly. It was really easy for us to go up to people on the street and ask for directions to where we were headed. Often, these people would even give us some random information about their city on top of their directional advice. One time, Caitlin and I didn’t know which direction to head in and we were looking around aimlessly when a lady came up to us and asked us if we needed help. The people of this country are also very proud of it. They would tell us why they loved their city, and why they thought it was great, but in a modest and polite way.

The laws of Singapore are very strict. It is even illegal to chew gum there, or have it at all. Gum is not sold anywhere in the country. Harsh penalties are also handed out for breaking laws. For example, trafficing drugs in Singapore lands you with a death sentence. The people of this country are not willing to risk the consequences of petty crime, and because of this, it is very safe in the city. We walked around at night to take pictures of the city skyline, and we were perfectly safe. Singapore is also very clean because it is illegal to litter – you practically get thrown in jail for even thinking about it. Maybe Canada needs harsher penalties for breaking the law…

The "Merlion" is a symbol of Singapore. It is on the edge of a bay in a busy part of the city. It has the head of a lion and the tail of a fish. Water spurts from its mouth and into the bay. It was built as a way to welcome all those who visit Singapore. The Eiffel Tower is to France what the Merlion is to Singapore, the CN tower to Canada, the Statue of Liberty to the US.

The transit system of Singapore is very good. It is an example and envy of other big cities around the world, which strive to model their public transport to be like Singapore’s. While waiting for the public train to arrive, a large neon sign counts down the time until its arrival. As the seconds run down and finally hit zero, the train is right in front of you, the doors opening. There are also foot print painted on the ground for you to stand on, and the doors open precisely where you are standing.

Singapore - A Few Photos!



Ali and I at Marina Bay during our night walk,
the newly constructed Marina Bay Sands building is behind us





View of the City from the Merlion



The Singapore Merlion



Singapore Night Skyline



Singapore

August 14-16^th 2010

We arrived at Changi International Airport in Singapore late on the night of August 14^th. After flying for over 19 hours (and travelling for over 30 hours) we were tired and could not wait to find our hostel and sleep in a bed! We took the MRT (the subway) from the airport to Aljunied Station where we got off and began our search for our hostel. "Wow Hostel" was located on the third floor of a building about 2 blocks from the MRT station – we were glad it was so close because it was night when we arrived, plus our packs were heavy! We got there around 10:00pm, checked-in, unpacked a bit, and hung out in the communal area with other backpackers for a while. Sitting in the living room, we ended up talking to a guy from Germany – Stefan – who had been travelling for a while now and knew the city a little better than we did. Thus, we decided to spend the following day with Stefan. We woke up early the following morning, ate breakfast at the hostel, met up with Stefan, and decided to walk towards the Singapore city centre. It turns out the city centre was kinda far from our hostel, but we were exploring and didn’t mind the walk too much. We walked past local fruit stands, pet stores (with tons of birds!), and even a preliminary Formula 1 Racetrack (Singapore is hosting a Formula 1 race soon). Eventually, we made our way toward the Singapore Flyer (a giant ferris wheel), and Marina Bay. At Marina Bay we took a whole bunch of pictures of the city skyline. Stefan then pointed out to us the giant "Lionfish" across the bay, and we decided we wanted to walk over to see it closer up. It turns out that Singapore was hosting the Youth Olympics (the first one ever!) while we were there. Thus, as we walked around Marina Bay we saw a huge Olympic touch, people setting up for a concert, and staging areas for the different sports. Finally, we made it across the bay to the "Lionfish" (in reality the "Lionfish" is called the "Singapore Merlion", haha!). We took some group photos with the Lionfish because we were so happy to see it J After the photo session, we decided to keep walking towards some local markets to get some lunch. On the way we stopped and got some icecream at a cart – the icecream was an icecream + rainbow bread sandwich. It was pretty unique. The icecream helped to cool us down a bit since Singapore was so hot. Eventually we made our way toward Burgis Market. The market consists of a whole bunch of tiny stalls of clothes, juices, and food. We each got a vegetarian lunch for S$2 (The exchange rate is about $1 CAD = $1.30 S (Singapore Dollar)). It was a good meal, and very cheap which was good because Singapore is kinda an expensive city. After lunch we decided to walk back towards the hostel and get some fruit on the way back. We got some pears, apples and a Durian (to try it!). The durian ended tasting almost as bad as it smelled haha! Finally back at the hostel we relaxed for a couple hours and rested our feet for a bit. It turns out our walk that day around the city was 17km!! Even though we had been walking so much we decided to go out again at night. Thus, after a couple hours of relaxing we headed out to the city again. This time we caught the MRT instead of walking, and decided to take pictures of the city skyline at night. We got off the MRT at Marina Bay and took a bunch of pictures on the bridge and pier. There was a concert and fireworks going on because of the Youth Olympics, so we enjoyed some of the festivities for a while before going back to the market for a late dinner. We then went back to the hostel and went to sleep (we had to get up early the next morning to catch a bus to Tioman Island). Thus, after less than 48 hours, our time in Singapore was up and it was time to move on to Malaysia…