Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

12/31/2004, Malaysia trip day 5: Teman Negara Jungle - arrival

Friday was mainly a travel day.  We caught a bus in the morning to the town of Jerantut, which is the gateway town to the Teman Negara Jungle national park.  We stopped in an internet cafe and encountered the one and only Japanese-speaking Malaysian for the whole trip.  He worked at the internet cafe, but had lived in Japan before.  He seemed grateful to have somebody to practice Japanese with, if only for a few minutes.

In the town of Jerantut, we negotiated the details of our trip into the jungle.  First, we went to a travel agency on the recommendation of our guide from Kuantan.  They wanted to sell us a package deal of two nights at "Nusa Holiday Village" with a couple short hikes, all meals included, and stuff like that.  But, it seemed watered down to me.  It seemed like a lot of time to spend for only about 5 hours in the jungle, over 2 full days.  After a little negotiating, we worked out a deal where we could hire a guide for an entire day (150 Malaysian ringit, ≈$41.67, ≈¥4167) and stay in a chalet (a small cottage), for 50 Malaysian ringit per night (≈$13.89, ≈¥1389).  It was very clear that every penny we spent would be passed down the line with everybody getting a little cut.  The agency would get a cut, and our guide in Kuantan would probably get a cut, too.  Interesting economy, I think.  She wanted to sell us her transportation package into the jungle for 80 Malaysian ringit each way.  We thought we could do better.  With a little haggling with the taxi drivers, we got it down to 60 Malaysian ringit each way, or 120 Malaysian ringit (≈33.33, ≈¥3333) round-trip.  (Interestingly enough, Akemi later expressed sincere gratitude for my bargaining on this point.  She tends to haggle for things, so she saw a strange sense of chivalry in my doing the job for her.) The taxi ride into the jungle took about an hour and a half each way, and the guy was really, really nice.

Akemi took this nice picture of our little cottage in the jungle.  The jungle generally doesn't have sidewalks.  This area had been cleared away for a lodging area.

The place we stayed had wonderful atmosphere.  It wasn't excessively touristy, beyond just being comfortable.  The people were great.  There was an old Japanese man who stays there permanently.  The story's a little interesting.  This man (Mr. A) had helped another man (Mr. B) in some significant way in the past.  Mr. B was good friends with a Chinese man (Mr. C) who goes to the lodge frequently and is good friends with the owner of the lodge (Aki).  When Mr. A fell into poor health, his family did not provide him with adequate care.  Mr. B asked Mr. C to find a way to help Mr. A.  Mr. C talked to Aki, who agreed to let him stay at the lodge permanently.  Aki provides his meals, cigarettes, and everything else he needs at no charge, simply out of friendship with Mr. C.  I found it really amazing how these folks help each other.

By the way, I did take some more pictures of the lodge which are on the page for January 2, 2005.

We didn't do anything real special, but we spent New Year's Eve in our little cottage in the jungle.  It was nice and cozy.

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