Taman Negara or the National Park is the most extensive protected area of pristine, lowland, evergreen rainforest in Malaysia. The stated purpose of Taman Negara is to utilise the land within the park in perpetuity, for the propagation, protection and preservation of indigeneous flora and fauna. Taman Negara is one of world’s oldest tropical rainforest which has a lot of attraction as the park is a perfect getaway from the city where nature and tranquillity awaits every nature lover in the most unique setting. Located in Kuala Tahan, Pahang, the Rainforest Resort Taman Negara is surrounded by lush tropical greenery with a rumbling sound of the river nearby, providing natural background music. Last year a day or two before and after Malaysia Day, 28 of us from Mahindarama & MBMC Yogis visited Cameron Highlands. To strengthen the bond of our Dhamma family again, from 14 September to 16 September 2014 Malaysia Day, 26 of us had a memorable and mindful trip to Taman Negara. The weather was very kind to us in the sense that before and after our activities, it was raining, but during our activities, there was no rain at all! During our 2-night stay, there were many activities to do in the park like night jungle walk, Tahan Hide with nature guide (insects and animal observation), jungle trekking, canopy walk, boat ride to visit Orang Asli village, rapid shooting, boat trip to Kelah Sanctuary to feed the fish. During the night jungle walk, we had the opportunity to listen to the soothing music of nature’s orchestra, but for animal observation, no animals dared to come out because of so many humans! The adventurous one of course is the famous Taman Negara canopy walk which is a 510 meters long suspension bridge between high treetops (arguably the longest in the world). Not for the faint-hearted, all of us mindfully walked over it and enjoyed spectacular views at heights of over 45 meter. On the way and after visiting the Orang Asli (Batek tribe) village, we experienced an enjoyable bumpy boat ride by shooting 7 major rapids. All of us were drenched (even though most of us wore the rain coat) because of the manipulation of the 12-seater boat itself and also another 2 boats manipulating skillfully to make us felt “young again” with splash of water all over us. After the briefing about the traditional life of these indigenous people and demonstration on how to use the blowpipe to hunt wild animals, we donated cash to the Batin, village headman. We also distributed chocolates and sweets to the shy children with their mothers around. A few took a dip into the cool shallow river before going back. After returning to our chalets, there was a heavy downpour. Overall, it was a wonderful, enjoyable, fun, educational and eye-opening trip for us. We had set foot at Taman Negara by leaving our foot prints there and capturing mainly wonderful group photographs for our Dhamma family album. If we travel to see the scenic beauty of the national park, then we should meditate to see the inward beauty of the trained mind.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 21:53:17 +0000
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