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Hi there,
we`re going to Taman Negara NP in July for about 3 days and I would like to know how it works there. Is it possible to do any tours on our own or is it necessary to book a tour? What is a must to see there???
How do we get to Kuala Lumpur from there?
Does anyone have an experience goint to Taman Negara NP from Langkawi???
Thanks for your ideas.

Hi Suryas...in 2005 we travelled from KL to Taman Negara, we caught a direct mimi bus from chinatown to a place called Jerantut. Dropped off at some hotel/tour place were we booked a boat trip (2-3 hours) into taman negara.... I think we also booked a couple of tours with them. Jerantut seems to be the main transit point for TN im sure you will be able to sort something out...you will enjoy it our kids loved the canopy walk. Jim

Ok. It IS very easy to take a bus from KL to Jerantut, which is the biggest city/transport center in the area. From there, you have TWO options.

The first is a very charming river voyage that lasts four hours. Wear your sunblock or wear long pants and shirts for this journey. It gets hotter than you could think.

The boat docks, and from there you find a place to stay.

Or, theres a bus from Jerantut, which I took on errands to and from town. It's half as long, hot and sticky, but it gets your there for cheaper. The boat ride IS a nice intro to the area.

Now, once you get there, there are two sides. One side is the poor mans side, where there are cabanas for rent in many places. My favorite, and I stayed there for a month, was the cabana place just by the river overlooking the river barge restaurants. I asked for a good long term rate, and they gave me a remote cabin which was just fine. Its to the left of the docks just as you get off them, very close to town.

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Things to do:

1. Theres internet.

2. I recommend the tubing trip on those hot days. I also recommend not even wearing a tube and going down in your life vest. Its as much fun or more, and as safe, well, until you hit the bumpy rocks part, and they bump you on a tube anyways.

3. There are 3 day jungle tours available sold from the floating restaurants, but ask around to find the best ones.

4. Take the half day jungle tour first, before you commit to walking for up to 5 days in the jungle. The first 4 hours are about the same as the next 72. Hot, sticky,muddy, possibly buggy, and damp. Oh yes, they'll be constantly pointing here and there saying Snake, iguana!. You'll be lucky to see one of these marvels, the animals are so well camouflaged.

You can't go without a guide, and its not recommended anyways. If you get lost, you get really, really lost.

If you have some serious money, I recommend the jungle hotel on the government side. It is some very civilised living next to the jungle. We once saw a Komodo dragon on that side. It was fascinating. The ferry fee is fifty cents each way, more or less.

Note> Stay away from the half tamed monkeys. Never feed them. Whoever let them go there really made a big mistake, because they like to steal things from people and sometimes threaten them. If you feed them, they pester you for more, and get aggressive.

In the town theres a food restaurant with the best hot and sweet malaysian fried noodles I've ever had in Malaysia.

The food in town is cheaper, and often better than that of the floating restaurants, unless you crave a never ending Ice tea or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Sitting on one of these floating restaurants with a drink, watching the neverending display of the Nature Cable channel is very pleasant and rewarding, watching the river flow by.

Hint. The bugs WILL bite you, but no one I know ever died of anything by it. There is no malaria in this area, or was no malaria in the area. So, go to the store in town and get more than a few containers of genuine tigerbalm. Between the Menthol and eucalyptus oil, and what ever else it has, it pretty much wipes out the nighttime itchies, and the bites go away in a few hours.

The worst times to be out are at sunrise and sunset, by the way.

In the jungle, there seems to be no best time, sometimes.



Hope this helps.

I must say that my time in Taman Negara was one of the best times I ever had travelling, period. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.