Saturday, February 24, 2007

Views from a Tembeling River boat ride (photo-essay)


In September 2006, I paid a visit to
Malaysia's oldest national park. Established by the territory's British colonial administration in 1938, the then King George V National Park was renamed as Taman Negara (i.e., "National Park" in Bahasa Malaysia) shortly after Malaya, as Peninsula Malaysia was then called, achieved its political independence on 31st August, 1957.

With a total area of 4,343 square kilometers -- 2,477 square kilometers of which is in the state of Pahang, a further 1,043 in neighboring Kelantan and another 853 square kilometers in Terengganu -- Taman Negara also is Malaysia's largest national park.

What with nearly 75% of the country still being covered by forests and jungles (some 60% of which is virgin rainforest to boot) though, one doesn't have to get into Malaysia's national parks to catch sight of a whole lot of greenery. More specifically, as I hope will be evidenced from the photos below, the 3 hour boat trip up the Tembeling River (or, as per its name in Bahasa Malaysia, Sungai Tembeling), from the staging point at Kuala Tembeling to one of the official entrances to Taman Negara at Kuala Tahan, provided its share of verdant and interesting scenery.

The jetty at Kuala Tembeling foregrounded by
a twin of the narrow wooden boat
that I rode up the Tembeling River on


Yes indeedy re the Tembeling River water
being
very muddy brown in color!

However, as the boat winds it way up the river,
you'll find that there's plenty of more pleasant sights
to distract you from fixating on the murky water

...like a line of water buffalo
slowly making their way along a river bank
to wherever they wanted to go

...or curiously colored rocks and geological formations

...or the layer upon layer of varied vegetation

...much of which provided this shutterbug
with plenty of camera-clicking
entertainment plus enjoyment

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