SATURDAY 17TH MARCH - MONDAY 19TH MARCH 2007

Got ferry & bus to kota baru - the stop off point for taman negara (National park). bus took over 2hours - could have got a 1/2 hour taxi but the 2other travellers goin our way refused to spend the extra 75p so we had to sweat profusely on public transport instead!never thought id meet anyone more stingy with cash than Gaz but low & behold hahaha!randmly bumped into espion & maline the 2 danes we met in bangkok & forgot to email! bit awkward at 1st but soon got natterin away! went to the cultural centre in the afternoon & watched traditional Malaysian music (mainly drums) & a dance ritual (sort of like a play act fight) - both were pretty cool. Then saw a spinning top match where they rapidly span tops from rope - hard to explain but was awesome. also saw 2really old dudes making intricate kites - was novel. went for a meal at night with the 2Danes & other girls they'd met travelling - Anna & Sophie who were nice. meal was gross but watched united beat bolton 4-1 so made up for it.

SUNDAY - up at 5am to get taxi to train station. got the jungle train to Jerrantut but there were no seat tickets left - standing only - FOR 8 HOURS! big fat i told u so to Gaz who made us get the train - would have been much easier to get the bus! Wasn't so bad though - ended up sitting all the way in the cafeteria so even bigger i told u so right back at me! serves me right for gloting. was beautiful though - much more scenic than the bus woud have been.arrived & got a bus to jerrantut centre then a 3hour boat to Tahan - he village we were stayng in. A VERY long day in all but worth it all the same.

MONDAY - Got boat over to the bational park & then trekked to the canopy walkway which is apparently the longest in the world (450metres). its a suspended bridge 50m over the rainforest & was pretty cool - even with gaz rocking and swaying it! we then trekked to Bukit Terresek to get a birds eye view of the forest. when we reached the top it was too cloudy to see much but the mist cleared within a few mins & the views were fantastic. we then trekked back, had the customary brew & walked to Lebuk Simpson - part of the lake u could swim in. After this we got a boat to the other side of the national park & trekked 6km to see a bat cave. I stayed outside having learnt my lesson from my last visit to a bat cave in khao yai. Got back around 4pm lookin like wet dos seeing as it had rained most of the day.got showered etc & then went on a night safari to the plantations in an open top jeep. Gaz being male and willing sat on the roof. It was pitch black except for the guides 2torch lights but we saw all orts - birds, snakes, a frog, owls, a silver cat, a leopard cat - even a domestic cat - how the guides ever spotted these things n the pitch black is beyond me - they really were fantastic.