Aisha was dreaming of relaxing walks through the jungle and idyllic boat rides when she suggested that we visit Taman Negara. It didn't quite turn out that way. Instead, we managed to exhaust ourselves trekking through the jungle, spelunking and walking through the treetops.

Taman Negara is the major national park in Malaysia. It is serviced by a local village called Kuala Tahan, which is a short boat ride (around 30 seconds and 1RM per person) across the Tembeling River. We stayed two nights in a dormitory at Aki Chalets in Kuala Tahan. Cold showers, bunk beds, a roof and rickety fans were all that was provided.

The afternoon we arrived, we decided we'd take a short walk of around 3km, finishing with a nice dip in the river. The jungle was hot, humid and hilly so our "walk" was not quite as relaxing as we expected. We planned on climbing Bukit Teresek (Teresek Mountain) during the walk, but halfway up Aisha got scared she'd fall and we gave up. All that effort and no rewarding view - how disappointing. The swim in the river at the end was fantastic, however.

The wildlife in Taman Negara was plentiful. During our stay of two days, we managed to spot:

• A large variety of insects, including many stunning butterflies
• Large monitor lizards
• Geckos
• Frogs
• A snake
• Monkeys
• Bats
• A squirrel
• Kingfishers, amongst various other birds

Funnily enough, although we went on a night wildlife spotting safari, most of the animals we spotted during our treks through the jungle.

Aisha made up for her anxiety attack on Bukit Teresek by joining me on the canopy walk the next day. Imagine a whole bunch of aluminium ladders suspended horizontally, end-to-end, 45m above the ground. Now place some planks on them, and you essentially have the canopy walkway in Taman Negara. Looking down from the walkway and realising there was only a plank of wood between oneself and the ground provided quite an adrenaline rush.

The jungle canopy at eye level was much more interesting than from the ground. Epiphytes grew from trees, fruits hung in the dense foliage and animals living the high life scurried along tree branches.

We were told of a cave called Gua Telingga that was only a few kilometres away from Kuala Tahan and was friendly for amateur spelunkers. On our walk to the cave, we stumbled upon a camp of some of the aboriginal people that live in Taman Negara. One of the children took a liking to Bluey, our kangaroo.

The cave itself was made from granite, with huge boulders littered everywhere. At times we had to get down on our stomachs and slither through tight spaces. Bat guano (or the bats themselves) clung to every surface we touched. A natural stream ran through the cave, home to some incredibly ugly frogs (or maybe they were toads).

Our trip back to Jerantut was uneventful, except for some locals trying to smuggle durian onto the bus. The stern faced ticket collector let forth a stream of rapid fire Malay and told them to put the smelly fruit down below with the luggage. I'm glad it didn't end up near my bag!

Location