Pahang, Malaysia - Taman Negara National Park, home to the world’s oldest tropical rainforest estimated to be 130 million years old. Looking for my next adventure I came across a 2 day 1 night jungle hike deep into the inner jungle of Taman Negara that consists of a 20km trek through dense forest and a night inside a huge ancient cave. Along the way keeping a look out for the critically endangered Malayan Tiger, Black Panthers, and wild elephants, all of which call this jungle environment their home. A group of friends and I took a flight from Singapore to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and then began a 4 hour drive to Kuala Tahan which is the entrance to Taman Negara National Park.
Day 1:
- 0:35 Meet our guides in the morning to pack our bags for the journey ahead. Each of us need to carry 3 bottles of water, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, food, cutlery and other supplies, this is in addition to all the personal items we’ve brought with us. As a result our bag was somewhere in the range of 15-20kg. There is a list of everything you should bring at the bottom of this description. The guide gives us a safety briefing before we head out.
- 1:35 We climb into speedboats for a 2 hour journey to the hike starting point, on the boat ride over we eat a packed lunch. A few times during the ride we went through rapids that soaked everyone in the boat.
- 2:20 The boats drop us off at the hike starting point and we begin our 11km trek through up and down terrain, crossing over fallen trees, streams, and patches of heavy mud.
- 3:34 After 5 hours of intense hiking we arrive at a massive cave deep in the middle of Taman Negara. Here we setup our sleeping gear and settle in. The guides collect our food rations and start to cook dinner.
- While waiting for our dinner, the group heads to the nearby stream for a jungle shower. For obvious reasons I did not film this as part of the video. A few people in the group discovered leeches stuck to them during the shower.
- 4:39 Back in the cave some hot tea was served to the group followed by chicken and vegetable curry. The group spent some time sitting on the cave floor and chatting over dinner, everyone super tired from the days hike.
- 5:02 After dinner everyone goes to sleep to the sounds of bats and strange jungle noises.
Day 2:
- 5:10 We wake up in the cave, not having slept very much and begin to pack up for another day of humid hiking through the dense jungle. On Day 2 it will be alittle short distance compared to the first day, covering about 9km over 4 hours.
- 5:40 Throughout the trek we run into creatures like millipedes, termites, ants, and huge Hornbills in the sky. The entire time we continually dodge leeches that are crawling towards us at every turn.
- 6:07 Finally the end of the trek is near and all of us are exhausted as we finish to a beautiful view of the river. Here we stop and eat the instant noodles we have been carrying for 2 days.
- 6:13 On the way back we stop at the Canopy Walk where we are suspended nearly 150 feet above the jungle floor, an anxiety causing but cool adventure to end off our experience in Taman Negara.
- 7:19 After 2 exhausting days we drive back to Kuala Lumpur for a well deserved Durian Feast.
LINK TO HIKE:
tamannegaratravel.com/tour/2d1n-real-inner-jungle-keniam-trail/
WHAT TO BRING:
1. Torch Light / Head lamp / Flash light (Either one)
2. Trek shoe / Sport Shoe / Boots (Either one)
3. Slipper
4. Swim Suit (Optional)
5. Insect Repellent
6. Rain jacket (Optional)
7. A small backpack with 35L - 45L (Not too small)
8. Toilet paper / Tissue / Wet Tissue (Either one)
Guide will provide but you need to carry:
1. Sleeping bag (150 gram)
2. Yoga Matt (30 gram)
3. Some food (1 cane food, instant noodle, some vegetable and others)
4. Mineral water 1.5L x 3 bottle
5. Spoon and plate
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Tiktok/IG @certified_gmo
EQUIPMENT:
Iphone 14 Pro
Insta360 X3
MUSIC
Song - Heading South Music by www.free-stock-music.com
Any questions feel free to reach out in the comments. Thanks so much for watching.
Thanks,
GMO