From the Perhentians, we headed in minibuses to Taman Negara National Park. The journey should have been straightforward but it ended up full of hitches and much longer than expected. After lunch for some reason we were due to swap into a privately hired coach. Turned out the coach was broken down and we would have swap minibuses which were not big enough for all the luggage. After quite a wait, and a morning of maniacal driving, we ended up swapping buses at the road side with another full minibus heading the the other direction. We were assured that we were going to the park but after another 2 hours of driving we had stopped at a tour office and were having to change into another bus which would be going into the park. It was all very confusing as Pete had organised private transport as a quick and easy method to get to the park and avoid the faff. We transfered all our luggage into the coach, with the thermometer inside reading 42 degrees (the driver didn't seem to think there was a problem) and finally headed into the park arriving at our accommodation 11 hours after we left the islands! The final hitch of the day being that our booking was actually for a different hotel. Thankfully it all worked out and we have a full day to explore.
The Taman Negara claims to be the oldest jungle in the world at 130 million years old and it seems huge- there is green everywhere! The whole group walked to the canopy walkway. The walkway is hanging between the trees at about 50m above the forest floor. It was a lot of fun as the 50cm wide gangplank swayed from side to side! A not too strenuous morning was followed by lunch at one of the floating restaurants on the River Tembeling and a relaxed afternoon with everyone sorting arrangements for the next step of the journey.
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