Taman Negara

25th January

Chatting last night with the other people in The Cave hostel I realised I had an email from my next hostel stay that I hadn't read. I was to be travelling to the Taman Negara National Park which has one of the oldest rain forests - around 130 million years old - and is about a 4 hour transfer from Cameron Highlands.

So the place I was supposed to be staying 'Wild Lodge Hostel' had sent an email telling me they have an age policy - 18 - 40 years only - Very strict! no exceptions (but offering a refund) - but of course I hadn't read it properly. It had come through Booking.com, who send so many emails when you book somewhere, and I suppose - naively once again - I didn't for-see any issue. I had paid my money and had confirmation.

Some people at the Cave were also booking Wild Lodge and one of them - Laura from Austria - said, "Oh its very strict! 18 - 40 only....." On hearing this, my heart sank and on the way on the bus I was wondering how to handle the situation. I had missed the deadline for a refund by three days. Zeus, an American guy at the Cave, who was also planning to go to Taman Negara joked that I should just go in with a hoddie and say I identify as 39! I thought maybe the host would take pity on me if I played it nice - so I sent an email saying I was sorry I'd only just read the email and could I possibly still stay as I was over 40 but young at heart! This was his reply: 

I appreciate your message and understand your situation. However, I must inform you that we have a strict age limit policy of 18-40 years old for our hostel. Unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions to this policy . Reservation was made on the 20th of Jan which is about 5 days ago .
I understand that sometimes people did not pay attention to the policies , thats why i always send a auto generated message to remind them . But still not bother to read

so, as it didn't sound like he would back down and - not wanting to be left with no-where to stay - I booked another place. It was the 'Tahan Guesthouse' - a little more expensive but I had my own double room and bathroom.

The journey to Taman Negara was indeed quite long. There was one minibus to an office in Jerantut, where we had a stop for lunch and they informed us about the rules of the national park. 

You have to have a permit to walk in there and to take pictures which you buy from the office when you arrive. (Its 5 ringgit for the walking permit and 1 for the camera licence so not expensive and lasts one month) They also try to sell you tours which I didn't book as I wanted to wait to see what the score was when I got there.

Transfering to another minibus we arrived at Kuala Tahan. 

On the way we had driven through many fields of palm plantations - I'm guessing for palm oil. It was sad to see these which was a stark contrast to the lush rain forest of the national park.

Again, I felt sad when I think what we humans are doing to the planet but couldn't help feeling that I too was adding to the problem by travelling around........but I suppose, only by visiting these places, can you get a real sense of what is happening - like the loss of the glaciers in New Zealand......

I checked into the guesthouse and went to see the host at 'Wild lodge'. 

There was a group of young dutch lads checking in and I did think , maybe it was good that I wasn't staying here - but then that's me being judgemental too! I also spotted a lady of around 60, sitting having a beer.

The host, Jason, seemed troubled. He said he couldn't refund me for the first night as it was too late to re-advertise the bed, but he refunded the other two nights. If he did manage to fill it he would give me the money back for that night too. He said that in the past he had older people staying who refused to take the top bunk and then refused to pay him so he had got fed up and made the policy. In the past he had made the exception for the odd older person, but he had younger girls complaining that there was 'an old man' in their room, and that they had only booked there because of the age policy......I  did sympathise with him. He said he appreciated how I was handling the situation........I felt sorry for him to be honest!......and he would have let me stay in the end, he said, but never mind!

I have noticed this with some young girls (listening in to their conversations and then hearing this story from Jason- they are uncomfortable with 'older men' even though they know they are booking a mixed dormitory, and the old man isn't doing anything to them.)

I sat for a while and chatted to the older lady who wasn't staying there but liked to sit there in the afternoon as it was one of the few places that sold beer. She was Hanne from Norway and had been travelling for 10 years! She gave me some good tips for travelling in Asia etc. 

I crossed to the other side of the river to the National Park, and where the office was for the permit, and then had a wander around some of the walks - which you could do alone as long as you stuck to the boardwalks. There were monkeys in the trees and some strange birds with blue heads, called Great Argus.

There are many trips and excursions you can book, but also, and as Hanne had said, there are lots of walks you can do alone, without a guide.

I was developing quite a headache despite the nice walk, so I went for some dinner at a cafe - run by a sweet family. Mum cooking & taking payments, Dad making drinks, daughter serving and the young son running errands. The food was good  - fried noodles - 'mie goreng' Mamak.

I had an early night but still had a bit of a headache in the morning. I asked the reception for some hot water to make coffee and feeling slightly better, I found a nice spot to update my blog.