Expedition in the Malaysian Jungle | Part 2

Kuantan - Taman Negara National Park/ Kuala Tahan - /MERAPOH - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore

🎥 Video for the blog post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkKKrWvvOcI&feature=youtu.be

According to Google Maps, Kuala Tahan and Merapoh are not even three hours apart. But for us, the whole thing turned into an odyssey and we needed two days in the end. First by boat, then by mini van to the bus station in Jerantut, and then a long wait for the bus to Kuala Lipis. Luckily, there was a laundromat right next to it, so we could spend the time doing laundry. 😄

But then our bus didn't come, the one we were waiting for, because it had broken down. Great when there's only one bus per day and it breaks down. Well, apparently this happens often, because there are always taxis waiting there. Since it wasn't just us, we shared the taxi with two other people. When we arrived in Kuala Lipis, we stayed one night in a hotel because the train we wanted to take to Merapoh only runs twice a day, once in the middle of the night and once in the afternoon. So we waited for the afternoon train. Apparently, this doesn't happen often here, because people looked at us very strangely, but they all greeted us very friendly.

Finally arrived in Merapoh, it turned out that the guide we wanted to meet wasn't even there. So we went on a search to find someone who could help us. Luckily, the first woman we approached was a hit. She called the guide and even had the keys to the accommodation. But Merapoh consisted only of a few houses and our accommodation was still a bit far away. We were alone in a house with thousands of ants, so not really alone but in a huge shared flat. Well, that wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't also been in the bed. 😑 It was clear to both of us that we would only stay here for one night.

But our guide "E", who took care of us, and Sabree, who did the cave tour with us, were super friendly and helped us with all our questions.

But the reason why we went to Merapoh were the caves, because we wanted to do a cave tour and not many people do that, so there were hardly any tourists here.

The cave tour was a really great and exciting experience. We were on the road for about three hours and were allowed to follow a river upstream through the cave until we came out on the other side in the jungle. We had to climb (because there were two big waterfalls), crawl, swim, and sometimes make ourselves very flat to fit through. And in doing so, we had the pleasure of grabbing bat droppings over and over again. Well, what can you do, we were walking in the water all the time, so we could always wash our hands. We were also able to observe many bats, even during mating. But in the cave, there were not only bats but also other animals to observe, such as huge spiders, a snake, fish, giant toads, and a millipede.

It was a real adventure!

So for the tour, you should be slim and athletic. But the guides also said it was one of the most challenging cave tours they had ever done.

An amazing experience that was worth the 54€ per person.

Our next plan is to plan what comes next, and for that, we have booked an apartment on Airbnb in Kuala Lumpur for the next week. We are really looking forward to it.

From the jungle to the big city!