Taman Negara

There are far too many things capable of killing me in Taman Negara. Spending time in the rainforest should make you see how vulnerable you are to Mother Nature- I ended up asking around for advice about how to deal with various forest creatures, unfortunately resulting in me hearing five different ways to deal with leeches, so in the event one would attack I would have no idea which method is best to use.  

However the fact that none of the guides, experts or simply more experienced travellers are afraid to hang out with the Huntsman Spiders and Pythons puts you in a weird kind of comfort zone. That, and all of the people that fill the easy-to-reach parts of the jungle make it worryingly easy to believe you are just as competent here as you would be in the back garden.

But the truth is, yes that Slow Loris you saw is really cute and it is very exciting to see him climbing through the trees at night, but that same Slow Loris is venomous and his bite could potentially kill you! I am a little afraid of trekking in rainforests, but that is wise isn’t it?

The National Park has tried to make it very easy for ‘trekkers’ like me though to avoid getting eaten by leeches, snakes and all other nature by putting down boardwalks around the shortest routes. I found it really disappointing to find that my path and ‘trekking’ was so timid. Talking to the people who work here, I found out that in some of the villages on the outskirts of the park tigers are a real problem and people are attacked by the big cats. One man said I was welcome to go and stay in his village if I wanted to see what the real jungle was like.  This was a very tempting offer, as the promise of seeing more authentic jungle appealed to my adventurous side.

This offer is reaching more and more tourists who are sick of the ‘well beaten’ path, meaning that these villages will inevitably become the new places to visit, leaving the old ones where 80% of people survive off of the tourists struggling to cope. It seems to be an unshakeable trend, so is there a way to protect the communities that survive off of the tourist industry?

According to the experts, not really. Taman Negara, and in particular the town Kuala Tahan, really showed how worrying being reliant on one industry can be, especially one as fickle as tourism. 

The Perhentians

Long Beah, Pulau Perhentian Kecil

So, depending on who you ask, advice and reviews of the Perhentian Islands can be very different- my boyfriend described how chilled out it is, divers in South Africa raved about all the different types of Nudibranch and a local guy I met in Kuala Lumpur earnestly advised me “CAREFUL OF ALL THE DRUGS”.

Personally, I found all of these descriptions to be true. You can certainly feel the island vibe and get swept up in that way of life. Shoes? What are they? Monitor lizard in the shower? The more the merrier. Going to eat in a restaurant on the island is like going into someone’s home where they sometimes make food for people, which leads to friendly banter with the staff and up to a two hour wait for a stir-fry. You certainly won’t get away with being high-maintenance on this island and it is for only this reason, in my opinion, people don’t enjoy the place. People who are afraid of the frogs in the toilet and can’t accept the hose that hangs from the wall as a shower won’t last long here.

But that is a shame, I think. I am not worried about the ‘poor’ service and basic facilities because it is these things that help to give the island its charm. You only get electricity for 12 hours a day in most resorts, but not for lack of energy. The locals just don’t think that having electricity all day is necessary and so they switch it off. Who needs to charge their phone when they can go snorkelling with turtles? The sea has an average temperature of 30 degrees, so who needs a hot shower?

However, as the demands of tourists increase as more Malaysians and ‘flash-packers’ push up prices with their glamorous version of backpacking complete with hair straighteners and high heels, the islands will continue to change. Already, wifi is becoming more readily available, along with western food and there are even plans to build a bridge between the big and small island much to the disgrace of many of the people who live there. Expansion is in motion, and there isn't anything that can really stop it.

Having said that, I can completely see why people will keep going and I strongly recommend that everyone does. I spent at least two hours every day swimming very slowly in circles being followed by tiny fish like a really rubbish shark, just because the water was so warm and the sea so calm it felt difficult to leave once you were in. Not to mention the hundreds of amazing colourful fish, baby sharks, moray eels, sting rays and turtles.

So my review? You might grow gills you'll spend so much time in the water and that is totally okay. Take it easy.