[advaitlele]

I have completed century of posts and being lazy to write down anything and post photos etc. have not posted any travelog from numerous travels that I did over last 3-4 years. Thanks to Chevy_Lover, MX6 and number of other people who take pain in penning down in detail about their travel, resizing and uploading photos etc. I thought its time for me to start a new thread about my visit to Taman Negara. Hope you enjoy the travel to jungle. This is a national forest in Malaysia, about 4 hrs from Kuala Lumpur.

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I saw Taman Negara brochure in the MATA Fair. MATA fair is a travel and tourism fare which have almost all the travel agencies, airlines, hotels and everyone else in tourism and hospitality industry present in KL PWTC – Putra World Trade Center – for 3 days. I had gone there to book my Penang and Langkawi tickets. I got that brochure home. And this is what happens on a lunch table.

Me : Tu he brochure baghitale ka? (Did you see this brochure?)
For convenience of others rest of the text is translated in English.
Wife : What is that?
Me : This place is called Taman Negara. Malaysia’s national forest. A typical rain forest experience. We should go there.
Wife : three of us? You mean you want to take our baby there?
Me : What’s the problem? It’s a nice place and we can book good place there.
Wife : No way. I am finding it difficult to get good veg food for him and me anywhere outside of KL. And you want me to come with you in jungle? Forget it and have lunch. Neither we are going nor you are going. (you guessed it, she is pure vegeterian)
Me : But look at this. Do you think we can go there once we are back to India?
Wife : Hmmm…Have lunch.
Me : But…
Wife stares at me and I think white flag is the best thing now. So no more discussions on that over lunch; let peace prevail. I tried to speak next month; and month after; and the month after that, all in vain.
So, its decided. I will not be able to go there. Life is not so cruel after all...or is it?

Read on, till that time here are the photos.
1. Malaysia Map
2. Taman Negara poster photo
3. Scorpion photo
4. Wild cat photo

[Chevy_lover]

Hey Advait, great to see your travelogue. The only thing I remember about Malaysia are the Genting Highlands and the Petronas Towers!!!

Eagerly waiting to see more and more pics!!! Bring it on, Buddy!

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Hey Advait, great to see your travelogue. The only thing I remember about Malaysia are the Genting Highlands and the Petronas Towers!!!

Eagerly waiting to see more and more pics!!! Bring it on, Buddy!

Malaysia has more to offer. Most of us think only of mainland malaysia and that useless genting (except for the fun cable car ride), or max the beaches.
East Malaysia requires separate permits to enter and that's home for the famed and threatened Orang-Utans! It's got some beautiful tropical rainforests! I once planned a trip to that part. Unfortunately, had to leave Singapore a month before that could materialise.
Will go someday.

Thanks Advait. I'm happy to be inspiration to people! Wait till I roll off my US/ UK/ Europe and asia pacific sojourns.

[ikoneer]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Hey Advait, great to see your travelogue. The only thing I remember about Malaysia are the Genting Highlands and the Petronas Towers!!!

Thats the city part. Malaysia has many beautiful islands and great forests.

Penang, langkawi - islands and Cameroon highlands and Sepang racing circuit, afamosa resorts.

Sabah - though not explored much has many wonderful sight seeings.

[advaitlele]

Thanks CL.

MX6, ikoneer - you are absolutely right.

We normally associate Malaysia with Genting, Petronas Towers and Langkawi/Penang. But there are so many other places to be visited. East Malaysia is nature lover's paradise. Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo Island has so many places worth seeing. Sarawak Chamber and Mount Sarawak, I so desperately wanted to visit these places but could not.

My Taman Negara story would continue. Till then, a few more photos.

[ambivalent_98]

Nice pix Advait !! Waiting for more. Do you work in KL,Malaysia or you are on holiday ?

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by advaitlele

... a few more photos.

Excellent pics, advaitlele

Which camera do you use? The plane of focus for the wasp photo is perfect.

[MX6]

The Wasp is mindblowing. Pity it's looking the otherway. Else it would have been even more amazing. Fine Macro on display.

[amit_3306]

Those are just awesome snaps.Please continue.

[advaitlele]

Thanks all for reading the log and appreciating photos. This one journey is so close to my heart; I so much wanted to visit this place and was like a dream come true.

Part 2
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The life is not so cruel after all. As per the initial plan; we were supposed to relocate in June end. All set, travel plan done, tickets issued and wife happy to be going back to Pune. Me, well, I would not be able to go to Taman Negara. I had been longing to visit this place and Sarawak to climb up mount Sarawak and visit Sarawak chamber. Since Sarawak due to distance and cost was not possible, Taman Negara was in reach; so near yet so far.

Just about 2 weeks prior to our departure, my plan got changed. Extension in the work meant I had to stay back for a couple of months more. My wife had to come back as planned for some family engagements. Is that an opportunity in disguise?

Yes, it was. As soon as I said bye-bye to wife and kid on KLIA; straight away headed to the tourist office and booked 3D/2N package for Taman Negara. With this log, I am trying to relive those 3 wonderful days. I wrote this as a habit after my visit. Some additions / updates to the text are done from the original writing.
Date of Travel : 11th Sept to 13th Sept
Traveller : Advait Lele
Mode : Bus + Ferry Boat
Travel Time : To Taman Negara – 8.30 am to 1.30 pm
From Taman Negara – 9.00 am to 2.30 pm

Taman Negara literally means National Park in Bahasa Malaysia. It’s the oldest national park in Malaysia, and preserved the same way for last 120 million + years. It is a rain forest park spread across three states of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, with the area of 4343 sq. km. It is situated in the center of the Peninsular Malaysia.

Though this is the oldest park, not many visitors go there, probably, because it’s a forest, with no amusement park, rides, movie theaters and malls. The setup is very basic with a few hostel accommodation and a few A/C hotels. For connoisseurs, this is not the best place to be. Local food varieties like Nasi Lemak, Mee Goreng and other rice items (mainly non-vegetarian) are available, and a few basic vegetarian items like veg-fried rice and fried noodles. So, if one wants to enjoy rides and good food, luxury and comfort, this is definitely not the place.

But this is THE place to be, if you are a back-packer. If you care for nature and if you want to get really close with animals, creepy & crawly creatures, birds and forest greens. If you are really not bothered about food choices, if you are really not afraid to venture out in the forest in night to see snakes and owls, if you are really not bothered about the comfortable accommodation of the hotel, Taman Negara offers to be a great destination.

Some History Lesson
Let’s get our history lesson before we get closer to the forest. Taman Negara was declared for conservation in 1938 and has become Malaysia’s largest national park. Taman Negara was originated from the Pahang State Legislation in 1925 in the district of Jerantut. Over 1300 sq km of jungle in its natural state was designated at that time to be a national park. When Sultans of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan set aside the present area of 4343 sq km. and declared it “King George V National Park” in 1938, this was designated a national park status. After independence of Malaysia in 1957, it was renamed as “Taman Negara”.

Next to come - My journey to Taman Negara.

[srikanthpotluri]

Good going! please continue!!!

[advaitlele]

@ ambivalent_98 - I was in Malaysia for close to two years for my work. So made full use of that time in seeing the country. Places like Cameroon Highlands, Pangkor Islands, Taman Negara which are not usually THE tourist destinations when we think of Malaysia, and of course typical hotspots of Genting, Langkawi, Penang etc. made my stay there quite unforgettable.

@ Blue Thunder - I have Sony H-7. Now discontinued I think.

@ amit_3306 and srikanthpotluri - thanks. The story will continue in a short while.

@ MX6 - I am uploading couple of more macro shots. Same flower, different angle, one with flash one without. The result is, well its there for you to see.

[DKG]

Beautiful !! Looking forward to more pictures of the rain forest.

[MX6]

Another mindblowing travelogue in the making as I can see.
I generally avoid flashes on Macro mode especially on flowers. The shiny texture on the flower throws back unwanted flash all around.
Waiting for more macros to come up.
And the road is a nice capture. I loved the roads of Malaysia. So many coconut trees on either side. Replace those fantastic roads with poor single lane highways and you'd feel that you are driving through Kerala!

[sudev]

Glued in...nice pictures and a teaser of start!