3rd Day Part II (9th March 2008) in Taman Negara -- Ear Cave

10th Mar 2008 (2)

After lunch, a boat ride was taken to expedite our hike to Ear Cave. I was told by our guide that it got its name as its shaped like a ear...from within the cave at least.

A good 45min walk was required to reach the cave from our boat drop-off point. The hike through the vegetation was so muddy and undulating at certain spots that my track shoes went crocodile. Sandals were a no-no ---esp for the some sliding actions within the cave later--unless your feet have the hide of buttress roots.

Despite the ordeal of moving through the mud, the walk rewarded me with sights of mature Koompassia trees. Koompassia is a genus of legume in the Fabaceae family occurring in southeast Asia. They are tall tropical rainforest trees; K. excelsa is one of the tallest tree species in the tropics.

Entrance of the Ear Cave looks ominous enough to hold back quite some visitors. My advice is that one should not enter the cave if he / she suffers from claustrophobia (abnormal tendency to feel terror in closed spaces), or physical impairments that limits one from stretching and squirming within the cave. I remember telling my wife in the cave that I felt like a snake during the maneuvre within the place.

Environs of Ear Cave

It is unthinkable to suffer injuries that immobilizes one within the cave. Due to the tightly enclosed nature of the cave, evacuation of a casualty would be tortuously slow.

Some of the cracks one have to patiently and carefully squeeze through

One usually don't have to worry about mosquitoes within or near the cave. The thousands of bats have taken care of them.

Most of the thousands of bats in the cave are inactive during daytime.

I was told that the bats move in swarms through the limited spaces and small gaps within the cave during nightfall--without bumping into each other.

A few bats in action

This is one of the interesting part of the cave trip...where one need to hold on to the rope (lying on floor) and slide down in a squatting position

This (see pic above) is a part where one has to dextrously step on the almost fully submerged stones -- while in a crouching posture -- or risk wading knee deep in the obscure water. The guide said that he was disappointed that he didn't see any snakes in the cave this time...

My wife climbing out of the cave unaided!

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3rd Day (9th March 2008) in Taman Negara -- Abai Waterfall

9th March 2008

Morning Hike to Abai Waterfall

After yesterday's encounter with leeches during the hike up Heritage Mountain, Jan was in constant trepidation of the bloodsucking worms with segmented bodies. The hike this morning witnessed her jogging and jumping to evade the crawling and leaping creatures that also lie waiting among the paths.

Part of the journey took us into a pleasant meet-up with a topless male Orang Asli (See picture). Even without stepping out of his hut that lies beside the path, I could sense his health in its excellence via the small ways he conducts himself...the gleam in his eyes, the genuine smile, and his white teeth...He is by far the closest epitome of robust fitness and health of the human species that I've personally encountered!

En route to the waterfall, our guide showed us the drum trees that one can hit to signal for help when in trouble; trees that produce oil for painting; and rocks for natural make-up


Drum playing by pro guide


Drum playing by amateur


Tree that produce oil for painting

Rocks for natural make-up

Abai Waterfall

Abai Waterfall was dissapointingly mini...especially after trekking through leech-infested terrain and several river and stream crossings (actually i enjoy maneuvering across and along the rivers) in a good morning sweat.

Nevertheless, this mini waterfall was more than I could easily handle. The water was frigidly cold even around the 10am sun, and I will be lying to you if I'm not afraid of jumping off from the top of the waterfall.

Please don't rashly imitate my jumps from the Abai Waterfall from what you see in the video unless you've scanned the environment and ascertained the safety precautions. I swam to my expected drop site to check out the depth and scan for danger zones before venturing the first jump.

Environs of Abai Waterfall



Strong current from the waterfall


Scaling the waterfall's side for the jump


I was afraid to jump. So I asked my wife to count to 10



I finally jumped after a couple of min up there!


My subsequent jumps were more confident ;)

Waterfalll giving me a good powerful watery body scrub

Continue to the next part of our trip here!

2nd Day (8th March Noon onwards) in Taman Negara

9th March 2008 (Noon)

Our dining area in Nusa Camp overlooks the local roaring Tembeling River. The river is a majestic companion during our mealtimes, despite its mud-yellowish appearance

After rest from morning hill climbing + lunch, we took a boat to reach a treetop walk within Taman Negara.

Unlike the HSBC treetop walk in MacRitchie reservoir of s'pore, this treetop walk in Pahang is a more adventurous swaying bridge (a safety distance of a few meters need to be observed between 2 people on the bridge). Another reason for a more naturalistic authentic feel to balance and move on the bridge is that thick buttressed trees are used to support the infrastructure.

However, its a shame + pity that some sections of the bridge were under maintenance when we were there :(

Continue to check out the next part of our journey here