On 18-20 March 2005, I organized a camping trip to Taman Negara for my brother and sisters and some of their children. My wife Beng Eng was also there. We had a great time exploring the oldest national park of Malaysia situated in the centre of Peninsular Malaysia.

We drove from Kajang in Selangor to Kuala Tembeling in Pahang early in the morning, parked our cars at the jetty and boarded a long boat for Kuala Tahan, the park headquarters. The 3 hour journey by a long, open, motorized sampan upstream of Sg. Tembeling to the confluence between Sg. Tahan and Sg. Tembeling was a very pleasant one and I consider it an integral part of the excursion.

Upon landing at Kuala Tahan, the first thing I did was producing my receipt at the park office and informing the officer there about our time of departure on the last day. This is essential as otherwise a boat might not be available for our return journey to Kuala Tembeling. I had earlier made all payments for our park entry permits, charges for the to and fro boat journey, as well as camping fees at Kuala Tembeling jetty and obtained a receipt for the payments.

Our campsite was within a short walking distance from the park headquarters. Facilities available included a kitchen, toilets and bathrooms, and camping equipment for rental. We had brought our own tents and we immediately chose what we thought to be the best spots to pitch our tents. The children enjoyed learning to pitch tents for the first time in their life.

We spent the rest of our stay trekking up Bukit Teresek, taking a boat journey upstream of Sg. Tahan to Lata Berkoh where we had a good time enjoying the cool and refreshing water at the cascade, trekking to Gua Telinga and the adjacent Orang Asli village, and taking a walk on the highest and longest canopy walkway in the world. It was a thoroughly exciting experience for the children and a rejuvenating experience for the adults being so close to nature.

We had most of our meals at the floating restaurants opposite the jetty. Its convenient and economical.

I had visited Taman Negara several times before. Once every few years the urge to make a trip there is felt and I will gather a few friends and relatives to spend a few days there. The National Park never fails to amaze me.