Taman Negara Continued.

On our third full day in the park we decided to go for a longer hike; 17k (11mi) roundtrip excursion into the rain forest. We got up early and headed out just as the sun was coming up. We were able to see some interesting looking birds. I’m not sure the species, but almost peacock-esque? We saw different tracks for many animals, and some monkeys, way up high in the trees, and some huge flowers. This hike involved a waist deep river crossing to a final point where there were some small falls and rapids. We had packed a delightful lunch of pb&j and enjoyed it on the rocky shore; and afterwards took a mini nap while listening to the water rush by. After we had enough rest, we turned around and went back. We wanted to make sure to be back to our place for the afternoon rain, which we were able to do. When we got back to the main entrance area, we toured the park’s information center. Apparently Taman Negara, is home to many species of animals, including the Asian Elephant and even Tigers. (While it would’ve been pretty sweet to spot one of those animals, to be honest I’m glad we never did…as I’m not sure I’d want to try to figure out what my next move would be in that scenario, besides the obvious grab for the camera (which I’m sure is what I would’ve done), but then what, ya know?
But yes, after we made it back, we went to our bungalow, grabbed a shower, caught an early dinner and crashed pretty hard after our full days hike.

The following morning we caught an early breakfast and hopped on one of the long wooden motor-powered canoe-like boats for a 3 hour ride back through the rainforest to the jetty. It’s always a nice change of pace to travel by boat. It gives you a different outlook on the scenery. It was nice to see the park from the water, not to mention we were able to spot some wild cow along the shore. We made it back just in time to catch the next bus to a small town called Jerentut, which is where we wanted to hop on the 12:30 train to Singapore.