TAMAN NEGARA PAHANG - THE UNDERESTIMATE

I'm very new in blogging. Others might treat their blog like diary...telling everything about their daily activities. Mine is different...I only blog whatever things that I love to do. No wonder it's been almost a month since the last posting, eventhough i've gone through a lot of interesting, though hectic phase in my life.Some of the interesting past events on top of my daily routine at the office:

1. Emotional Intelligence Course at Cyberjaya

2. Being an usherette for VIP during MMU Convo...(this is my first time and hopefully the last)

3. Managing funeral of an international student who died of an unidentified cause in Melaka.

However, last weekend, I managed to spend time doing what I love to do...TRIP to Taman Negara Pahang.

14th August 2009, Friday

Only 4 of us i.e. Azmir, Izham, Bob (last minute) and I were able to go. Faizol cancelled last minute due to health problem. At around 6pm, pick up Bob at his house and headed to Cyberjaya to pick up Izham (the long lost outdoor enthusiast). We had our dinner at Sri Kembangan...(Ir. Izham yang belanja).

Dinner at Sri Kembangan. On my left is Ir. Izham...makan nasi goreng ayam utk mengelak kejadian bakso berulang...hehe..

After dinner, headed straight to Jerantut via Karak Highway. Exit at Mentakab & Temerloh and at the first traffic light after toll, turn right to Jerantut. The journey was very smooth.

We reached Jerantut at around 2 am(if i'm not mistaken). Had some hot drinks and 2 sets of Bob's roti bakar at a 24hr Mamak restaurant. At that time, all eyes were very tired...in our mind, next thing to do is to find a decent place to sleep...yeahhh, budget hotel. After some late tour at Jerantut town, we finally found our place to sleep...Inderapura Hotel (this is the best hotel in Jerantut I guess). RM88 a night for a room with 2 queen-size beds....that's good enough for us and the room did not disappoint us. My mind shut down as soon as I closed my eyes.

This is the best hotel in Jerantut I presumed...but it didn't disappoint us.

15th August 2009, Saturday

Woke up as early as 9am (tido balik lepas semayang subuh) and got prepared. Check out from the hotel and took our breakfast at the same mamak restaurant. After breakfast, moved straight to Taman Negara. To go to Taman Negara from Jerantut, we can either take a boat from Kuala Tembeling Jetty for a 3 and a half hour ride to Kuala Tahan, or, drive for about 1 and a half hour to Kuala Tahan. The way to Taman Negara from Jerantut is very easy since there are a lot of signboards along the way....it shouldn't be a problem.

We reached Kuala Tahan Jetty at around 11.30am. Personally, when I reached Kuala Tahan jetty, the scenario was different from what I expected. I didn't know that we have to cross the river to get to Taman Negara from Kuala Tahan. Anyway, it is just opposite the jetty. You can easily find many boat operators to get you to the opposite side of the river at RM1 per head.

This is Kuala Tahan Jetty...Taman Negara is just across the river.

RM1 per person to get across the river...what a profitable business.

Across the river, we have to register ourselves at the info counter and pay a minimal charge of RM1 per person for entry permit. They also charge RM5 for a camera. If you want, you can hire a guide to guide you to the many interesting places in Taman Negara. Among the interesting places to go are, canopy walkway, bukit teresek, lubok simpon, lata berkoh, kelah sanctuary, rapid shooting and so on. Before going there, I planned to go for canopy walk, lata berkoh, kelah sanctuary and rapid shooting. However, we were told by the officer that all boats that will take us to Lata Berkoh, kelah sanctuary and rapid shooting are fully booked for that day. So, we had to make do with only jungle trekking and canopy walk. It was quite frustrating for me.

Before going there, Iwe thought that all these places are at one place i.e. near to each other. That's why we did not prepare anything before going there. We didn't bring any food, water and some of us even wore jeans. I myself wore jeans at first, but I changed to track bottom at the beginning of the trekking. However, Bob did bring some chocolates, bread and water but just enough for himself only. Before starting our trekking, I bought 4 bottles of mineral water at RM3 per bottle since the officer said that there'll be no shop whatsoever along the trekking. But later on we found out that it is still not enough.

The Underestimate...all of us wearing jeans.

Still wearing jeans...except Bob.

I changed my jeans to a more comfortable track bottom.

The trekking was very easy at the earlier stage. We were busy taking pictures along the way. Our first destination was Canopy walkway. It is 1.5km from the info counter. At a later stage before reaching canopy walkway, the trekking involved a lot of stairs climbing which made it quite taxing. Pity to Izham who expected that the trip was a leisure trip. He struggled a little bit during the trekking although not as struggled as he was during the Kinabalu hike. It seemed that all of us had underestimated Taman Negara...again!!!.

Bang, jauh lagi ker bang?..Dekat sudah.

We reached at the canopy walkway around 12.30 pm. There, we saw some people queuing to get their turn to do the canopy walk and some people were just sitting at the benches. Since there is no written instruction telling us what we are supposed to do, we queued up. We thought that the people sitting at the benches had done the canopy walk. Later on, we found out that we have to register first and make payment (RM5 per person) and wait until our name will be called out by the officer for our turn. The canopy walk was very interesting though it's quite challenging for those who are afraid of height like *** (hehe..sape tu?). However, half of the canopy walkway was temporarily closed for maintenance at that time. Mineral waters and some soft drinks are also available here.

Here, we must register first for canopy walk, then they'll call our name.

At the canopy walkway...Bob, be careful!

After that, we headed to Bukit Teresek. Azmir and Izham didn't want to go since they were not feeling comfortable to trek wearing jeans. Moreover, our stomach is already making its sound. Only Bob and I went there. I reached Bukit Teresek but I was confused whether it is really Bkt Teresek since no signboard indicating that the place is Bkt Teresek. Some of the pictures of Bukit Teresek that I found on the internet showed that there is a signboard and a hut there. Maybe the signboard and the hut are no longer there.

Is this the real Bukit Teresek???

Then we proceed to Lubok Simpon...another 1.5 km from Bkt Teresek. The weather was getting dark at that time signalling that the rain will come down anytime. We reached Lubok Simpon before 4pm. The view at Lubok Simpon was very nice..suitable for swimming, relaxing, camping and barbequeing, but the weather did not permit us to stay long there. After taking some pictures we moved back to the info counter..about 500m from Lubok Simpon. On the way back, the rain started to fall down. We reached the info counter at 4.15pm...prayed at the surau and headed back.

At Lubok Simpon...can swim here.

Just came back from "Tahan".

Conclusion and advice:

1. Even it is Taman Negara, never underestimate it.
2. Do some preparations and research for whatever trip you are going for...or else, ask people who have been there.
3. We've got our group name..."The Underestimate"

For those who read this posting, I hope that you will not make mistakes like we did.

Happy fasting.