Jom! Nature’s inner sanctum
A landscape of lush wilderness and extraordinary natural beauty, Taman Negara is Malaysia’s largest national park. Zulkifly Ab Latif goes on an unforgettable inner jungle tour
“WE Are bArely 3km inside,” Answers TAm, A freelAnce nAture guide for TAmAn NegArA KuAlA TAhAn when I Ask him how much further to our destinAtion.
He looks At me with A fAint smile As I chug down whAt’s left of the 1.5-litre minerAl wAter in my hAnd.
Obviously TAm is quite Accustomed to the tropicAl humidity of TAmAn NegArA’s jungles while the rest of us Are not.
The four of us Are on A 2D1N Inner Jungle Tour, orgAnised by Wild TrAvellers Sdn Bhd, A trAveI operAtor bAsed in KuAlA TAhAn.
I chuckle And shAke my heAd thinking About the 6km we still hAve to cover.
The tAll rAinforest cAnopy towers Above us while the Air buzzes with All mAnner of insect sounds.
Our destinAtion is guA KepAyAng BesAr,
A grAnd cAvernous limestone cAve thAt cAn only be reAched by A boAt ride up SungAi Tembeling to KuAlA KeniAm And followed by An 8km hike.
LocAted deep in the country’s oldest nAtionAl pArk, the cAve is nAmed After the KepAyAng tree thAt produces A fruit thAt is deAdly when rAw but is used for food when cured properly.
According to TAm, the chAmber of the cAve is Almost the size of A footbAll field And cAn host Almost 300 visitors.
CArved And sculptured by the elements And the pAssAge of time, this limestone cAve is perhAps one of the more Adventurous And chAllenging spots to visit within the nAtionAl pArk.
It mAkes sense then thAt the pAckAge to visit the cAve is mArketed by TAmAnNegArA operAtors As the Inner Jungle Tour.
ReAching the cAve of KepAyAng BesAr After the long hike, TAm tells us to unloAd All the supplies And items hAnded to us
At KuAlA TAhAn neAr the beginning of the journey.
Emptying my pAck And spreAding them out on the groundsheet lAid on the cAve floor, I see food items, minerAl wAter, eAting utensils, cAndles, sleeping mAts And sleeping bAgs.
Utilising whAt dAylight is left, TAm proceeds to prepAre for tonight’s dinner with help from the group.
Lit by the wArm glow of cAndlelight And heAdlAmps, dinner is A humble but delicious spreAd of steAmed rice, chicken soup And fried eggs, All of which tAste more sAtisfying knowing thAt we helped cArry them through the jungle.