Taman Negara, Part 3: How we left
Part 3: How We Left
Prologue
Em and I are walking (unusually briskly) through the hot (and not unusually sweaty) jungle. We've been keeping our mind off our exhaustion by reminiscing about NT and Queen's through the last seven years. We're making good time. We'll be back earlier than expected and actually have time for a real lunch (i.e. not more crackers and PB) before I/we head off to explore caves for our last afternoon. We're actually enjoying the hike. And Em hasn't mentioned beaches in over two hours.
Then an idea hits me (Em calls it 'The most brilliant idea Titus has ever had') - I realize we can book it back to the trailhead in time to catch this afternoon's riverboat out of the jungle instead of tomorrow's... and gain one full day at our next destination, the beaches of the Perhentians.
The Saga
So it was a great idea in theory. When we got back to park headquarters we ran to the camping store to return our rental gear and grab the miscellaneous crap from our locker. Then saw a sad sign telling us the store was closed for lunch and wouldn't reopen until 3 pm, too late to catch our 2:30 boat. What basically followed was us running back and forth trying to find various people who worked at the park, trying to find various boat tour people to see if anything was flexible, and basically discovering that no one worked ANYWHERE in the middle of the day because it was a Friday and most Malaysians in the area are Muslim (Jumu'ah, a congretational prayer, is held Fridays after lunch). We felt very clueless, and helpless.
Sitting down to a calming popsicle, we reconciled ourselves to a shoddy plan B which involved taking the much-hated minibus later than night and spending more hot and sweaty time in the jungle in our hot, sweaty and bloody clothes.
However, after the lime/icecream infusion, our refreshed minds started concocting a riskier but potentially very satisfying plan. We would buy riverboat tickets, I would take the ferry back to the camping store at 2:15 in the hope than our guy had returned early from his break (someone had mentioned this possibility to us), Emily would stay at the riverboat and plead adorably with the driver and other passengers to wait an extra few minutes, and if she and I were both successful, I would run across the park and down the steps with our 50 pounds of gear, bribe the ferry dude to take me straight to Em, she would see me coming and reassure our riverboat people, and no one (and no one's stuff) would be left in the jungle!
It worked of course - and after many smiles and thanks and smiles again to the guys who helped us make it work (camping guy, ferry guy, riverboat guy.. who all thought we were nuts), we jumped into our riverboat laughing gleefully. (There's been a lot of gleeful laughter this trip it seems... that's what you get when you stick us together with no outside calming influence I guess).
The boat trip was relaxing, windy and cool, had a beautiful view (minus one young boy's full moon and then full frontal to us from across the river - actually, he was small enough for it to be cute), and the only slightly unpleasant part of the whole episode was having to pee very badly for the second hour of the trip. Well worth it, I say.
The jungle was adventurous and new, but sometimes leaving can be just as exciting.
-the long-winded storyteller side of Alyssa.
Prologue
Em and I are walking (unusually briskly) through the hot (and not unusually sweaty) jungle. We've been keeping our mind off our exhaustion by reminiscing about NT and Queen's through the last seven years. We're making good time. We'll be back earlier than expected and actually have time for a real lunch (i.e. not more crackers and PB) before I/we head off to explore caves for our last afternoon. We're actually enjoying the hike. And Em hasn't mentioned beaches in over two hours.
Then an idea hits me (Em calls it 'The most brilliant idea Titus has ever had') - I realize we can book it back to the trailhead in time to catch this afternoon's riverboat out of the jungle instead of tomorrow's... and gain one full day at our next destination, the beaches of the Perhentians.
The Saga
So it was a great idea in theory. When we got back to park headquarters we ran to the camping store to return our rental gear and grab the miscellaneous crap from our locker. Then saw a sad sign telling us the store was closed for lunch and wouldn't reopen until 3 pm, too late to catch our 2:30 boat. What basically followed was us running back and forth trying to find various people who worked at the park, trying to find various boat tour people to see if anything was flexible, and basically discovering that no one worked ANYWHERE in the middle of the day because it was a Friday and most Malaysians in the area are Muslim (Jumu'ah, a congretational prayer, is held Fridays after lunch). We felt very clueless, and helpless.
Sitting down to a calming popsicle, we reconciled ourselves to a shoddy plan B which involved taking the much-hated minibus later than night and spending more hot and sweaty time in the jungle in our hot, sweaty and bloody clothes.
However, after the lime/icecream infusion, our refreshed minds started concocting a riskier but potentially very satisfying plan. We would buy riverboat tickets, I would take the ferry back to the camping store at 2:15 in the hope than our guy had returned early from his break (someone had mentioned this possibility to us), Emily would stay at the riverboat and plead adorably with the driver and other passengers to wait an extra few minutes, and if she and I were both successful, I would run across the park and down the steps with our 50 pounds of gear, bribe the ferry dude to take me straight to Em, she would see me coming and reassure our riverboat people, and no one (and no one's stuff) would be left in the jungle!
It worked of course - and after many smiles and thanks and smiles again to the guys who helped us make it work (camping guy, ferry guy, riverboat guy.. who all thought we were nuts), we jumped into our riverboat laughing gleefully. (There's been a lot of gleeful laughter this trip it seems... that's what you get when you stick us together with no outside calming influence I guess).
The boat trip was relaxing, windy and cool, had a beautiful view (minus one young boy's full moon and then full frontal to us from across the river - actually, he was small enough for it to be cute), and the only slightly unpleasant part of the whole episode was having to pee very badly for the second hour of the trip. Well worth it, I say.
The jungle was adventurous and new, but sometimes leaving can be just as exciting.
-the long-winded storyteller side of Alyssa.
posted by alyss at 9:54 PM
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