Fast forward a few days and I'm still in Kuala Lumpur.
I'm sure some of you may think spending anything more than a few days here, when not working, is excessive. And you're probably right. However, I've been quite content to relax most days, try different foods and just soak up the way of life here. Call it easing myself back into travelling, if you will.
My first few days were spent being a good tourist - getting up early and spending most of the day out and about; taking pictures, wandering around, doing a little shopping. I've been perusing some of the bookshops, where there's quite a decent selection. I've read Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' and have got a Salman Rushdie - 'Midnight's Children', that I've just started.
I have gotten used to the humidity, more or less accepting that my t-shirt is going to stick to my skin most of the day with sweat. I'm also getting less laughter from the locals when I eat with chopsticks - practice pays off!
So, to break up being a lazy so-and-so I ventured out to Taman Negara (translated as National Park), which is apparently the world's oldest rainforest. I went on a recommendation by the hostel owner, who was probably keen to get me our of her sight for a few days!
Normally I'm not at all one for package tours, where everything is organised for you and all you have to do is get on the bus in the first place. I usually find it can be more rewarding (and give you a smug feeling) to organise it all yourself, to wander past all the large pockets of tourists gazing absently at the tour-guide, to pick and choose what you want to see, do, hear. And go at your own pace.
I decided to have a break from that mentality, give it the benefit of the doubt and see if I'm not just being overly sceptical(sp) of organised tours.
And so the hostel owner, Suzie, booked everything for me over the phone one evening and I was picked up the next day from the hostel at 7.30am on a Tuesday morning. From there I was taken to Central Market, where a full-size, air conditioned coach was waiting.
I paid in cash at the office (RM350 / £70~ / AU$115~) for the basic '3 days 2 nights' package. Dorm room with fan, 7 meals and a string of activities. I packed light - mp3 player, book, camera and batteries, one change of clothes and some water.
Refreshingly I was the only English person on the bus, so that was a good start. The rest were Belgian, Norwegian, Spanish, Austrian, a French-Canadian and a Czech. I got a seat near the back, plugged music into my ears and gazed out of the window as we left the hustle and bustle of the city.
The coach leg of the trip was about 3 hours, with breaks here and there. The scenery along the way was a mixture of hilly landscapes, blankets of treetops and small towns and villages.
We had a change of transport and a wait of almost an hour at the Kuala Tembeling Jetty (paying for a camera + park license while we were there). I'm not sure what the kind of boat we changed to was called, but it was long, was two seats wide and had a noisy engine at the back. The river seemed to me a little 'Apocalypse Now'-esque.
We were in the boat for a solid 3 hours, taking in the beautifully lush green and dense trees that lined the river's edge, drifting in and out of sleep. The persistent noise of the engine soon became a distant hum in the background. I can't imagine how long this same trip must've taken before the propeller engines came along.
The ride was pretty uncomfortable after a while, but thankfully I wasn't sharing my seat with others so I could spread out and change my position.
At long last we reached our destination. We were given a brief greeting and explanation of the activities and were issued with a book of vouchers and leaflets. We were then taxied off to our respective hostels and hotels. Our's, Persona Resort, was a mere 2 klicks from the jetty. I was fortunate enough to have an empty dorm room to myself, with the exception of a couple of geckos, and a swarm of as yet out-of-sight mosquitoes. I showered in the grim, under-lit, shared bathroom at the end of the corridor, where such luxuries as mirrors and toilet paper... even a hook to hang your clothes on were unheard of. I wasn't too fazed though, we were on the doorstep of the jungle in any case! We had less than an hour to gather ourselves before getting driven back down the hill again for dinner.
Dinner was at the company HQ, where we'd arrived earlier, which also doubled as a floating restaurant. It was an acceptable, but mundane meal of rice, chicken thighs, veg and salad. We were later to discover that we'd be having this exact same meal for the coming days. It turned out to be one of a few things that didn't go in the company's favour.
That evening's activity was the 'Night Jungle Walk'.
We met our guide, Amal, at the floating restaurant after dinner and had our first look inside the rainforest, on the other side of the river. Despite a few words of advice about wearing trousers to avoid leeches and a coat to keep off the rain I went in what I'd worn all day - shorts, shoes and t-shirt.
Rainfall was pretty sporadic as the trees acted as an umberella for the most part. Still, you either got wet from the rain or from the humidity.
Guided by torchlight we made our way along the wooden walkways, Amal keeping ahead with a watchful eye for any snakes and the like dangling from trees. Amal was a good, friendly guide, who had plenty to talk about. It was just unfortunate for him that there wasn't much wildlife for him to point out during our walk. The sum total was a couple of stick insects, a scorpion, a brief appearance of a porcupine and some deer. Then there were various trees and vines, both with and without thorns. Of the slim pickings, the scorpion was the most impressive as Amal showed it to us in ultra-violet light, where it glowed a illuminous green. Using a twig he mimicked an insect walking infront of the scorpions lair, and the scorpion would run out, claws grabbing. No doubt this poor scorpion would be subjected to this on a nightly basis. Who knows, maybe it's on the payroll.
We continued on our way, hoping for something more substantial, but it never came. Our night walk ended at around 10 pm, when we were driven back to our rooms for the night. It was a pretty tiring day of mainly being moved about, but still we were all quite tired. I remained optimistic and looked forward to tomorrow's ventures.
