The journey to Taman Negara national park, Malaysia
- Nhu
- Mar 31, 2025
- 5 min read
This was a memoir from my journey to Taman Negara national park, Perak, Malaysia in August, 2016
Despite the enjoyable fear obviously covered up during my individual trek, I'm pretty consent by putting trust on my instinct, didn't ask for how long my trek is going to last but for more than 5 hours started at twilight till the sky transformed into the only darkness surrounding, to finished 10km heading to the hide Bumbun Kumpang deeply inside the jungle of Taman Negara, Malaysia. The journey to have butterflies accompanied me, lost a few times but somehow found the way accidentally whenever I looked up to butterflies' flight direction, like a blue star shining bright showing the way for three kings to the baby Jesus in the holy night. And to hopefully reach the peace and courage for my collateral soul.
Woke up around late 10am and started to pack my backpack to get ready for the journey to Taman Negara (National Park), Malaysia. Learning from the trail to Gunung Brinchang Mt., Cameron Highland, I decided to leave my “monster” - 55L backpack at the guesthouse, to make sure my luggage was as light as possible. After having breakfast which Roti and Curry, I took the bus and around 1:45 pm, arrived at the Wildlife Department and Park Centre for entrance registering and to get more supplies such as water and lighter (thought that I've not used it during the whole trip), from then ready for the trail around 3pm.
PRE-OBSTACLES
I was tired and exhausted not just because of the long trail but it seems that there are no sign board or direction (except small pieces of yellow metal nailed on the trees which I hope some of them had gone missed somehow) guiding the direction to the hide that clearly I was following my instinct to the path of which undefined destination. Trekking up and down through many grooves and streams, tripping and sweating like a drowned rat, trees fallen covered the path like the sign of flood passed by recently, made me even more pissed off and swearing and grumbling to everything I faced. I kept asking myself, what the hell am I doing out here (!) but turned out all of the answers that I found most welcomed with this situation is "just keep going, don’t turn back", kept telling my heart to be no fear, prayed to god and tried to think about the achievement that I’m approaching, tried not to let my mind bothered by dying thoughts which I had been put through with since the beginning, all the feeling to this trail of loneliness hurt me like never ever in my life that tough and to learn to adapt this emotional human weakness.
INTO THE WILD
In just a few minutes, I thought that I’ve luckily found the way or been chosen to the hidden world of Narnia, definitely the most memorable part of this journey. Have been suffering from mental pressure on finding the way out of nowhere for many times before arrived here, It was a blessing moment for me in a strange way that I was able to see my imagination actually came real and how much it's meant to be so special that I'm full of happiness and cheerful feelings to experienced this. It's a very old canopy hook up for so long that it nearly ruined but seems to remain under-maintenance due to no one using it anymore, totally one of the main reasons I'm sure for. So I crossed the ruinous canopy and just a few meters away, I faced the Tiger (!) for the first time in the wild. Definitely not Aslan as I did hope that it could have been but getting with a wild tiger definitely not my expectation for this unsecured situation at the moment, alone in the jungle with no help available. However, it seemed it wasn't my time yet, the king of jungle wasn't in the mood for dinner, somehow it's sleeping. Literally, I was freezing from inside to my body for moments, I looked back and no doubt that there's no way I can turn back because it was too late and the sky getting darker every then. Slowly step by step, lightly and as fast as I can, followed the small path to walked out of the place and no more stopping or yelling, like an un-wishing miracle, my legs worked more effective than ever before, no matter what I faced, there seems to be nothing can shake my will and 100% goal to the "hide" myself in the safety hide somewhere at the end of this fucking path which still unidentified since (no sign board along the way showing the hide direction but only one at the jetty that normally tourist will approach by boat via the river). So I considered myself as the luckiest person during the time been, crossed the wild tiger while it's sleeping but its snoring sound has been obsessed with my mind all the time since.
“It was my third time on the lonely trekking and the second time through the darkness of the jungle and I've always appreciated myself for being a fool and letting myself get lost. Because the best university is your life, your homework is its challenges.”
So I arrived at the hide around 8pm and met a group of tourists, 2 guys from Switzerland, a married couple from Poland and one local tour guide. We shared space and had dinner together, though they might have been pretty tired all the way through caves in the north to make it here. The local tour guide cooked our dinner and it’s the most welcomed dinner I ever had since I survived after risking myself out there. Thought I must be the last person who was crazy enough to make it here through the night but it’s not. About 1 hour later, a group of 3 Chinese arrived via another trail which crossing one river, two young adults, Dave who soon to become a researcher and professor in biology then he will start working in Beijing, and "Chew Lin jin" (or /e:/) working in psychologist study with previous project targeting on the young married couple and currently is old married one, she will apply for taking MD class in USA next year and her brother who have just graduated from secondary school. Nice people with a cool spirit as nature lovers, especially Dave. We talked a lots things regarding to culture, nation, education and young generation etc. Thanks to him, I have even more consolidate understanding that in every story always have it’s opposite aspect and "to be able to discover it’s truly fact, one of the best choice is to let yourself freely immersed into the battle", listening and seeing by your own eyes to give out your own best point of view and take responsible for that. The fact that Chinese actually know that they’re being over controlled by its government, to be blinded by their national leaders and even more fallen backward from the modern world but to be trapped in the feudalism construct. However, I do think it's going to stimulate a sustainable preservation for this long history country in somehow that they remain who truly they are.
So the 2 days-1 night journey to the jungle of Taman Negara has never let me down. Every time, I've always learnt something new for myself from the world, the people and culture movement that can’t never be truly absorbed through book and paper or some line on the internet can never fulfill your curious mind and desire to release your thirst of knowledge and to understand the problem deeply hiding under it's small surface. I’m grateful to have all capacities to exploring and seeking for challenges on my own way to be washed and to be fulfilled again.
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