After a few months of planning, our adventure to the Royal Belum Rainforest finally occurred recently.
Early Saturday morning, my older cousin Nicholas and Uncle Lionel picked my mum and me up from home and sent us to KL Sentral.
At KL Sentral, we met other cousins, aunties and uncles. After gathering at the Electric Train Service (ETS) train lounge, we walked to the train platform and boarded the train to Kuala Kangsar. The journey took three hours.
When we arrived at the Kuala Kangsar station, we discovered that my older cousin Amanda and Uncle Jerry were missing. The train door closed before they could get off. Everyone panicked, especially my mum.
After calling them and discussing with our two drivers, 10 of us headed to the Pulau Banding Jetty in one van. My mum and other relatives would go to Taiping Station to pick up Amanda and Uncle Jerry.
It took two hours to reach the jetty from Kuala Kangsar. We would be staying in a floating boathouse for the first time.
Auntie Joon showed us the rooms. Four of my cousin sisters would share a room while Nicholas and I were with our Uncle Alvin, who joked that he snores and hoped we brought earplugs.
Once the other van arrived, it was time to sail to the interior of the Royal Belum Rainforest. Our guide, Bakri, briefed us on the wildlife, flora, and fauna and said we would be cut off from civilization for three days and two nights without internet access and telecommunications service.
After a long day, we went to bed early, but halfway through the night, I had to put on my noise-cancelling headphones to block Uncle Alvin’s loud snoring!
After a hearty breakfast, we split into three groups and took speed boats to Kampung Klewang and the Jahai Orang Asli settlement.
Their houses were on stilts, with bamboo walls and thatched roofing. We packed a few boxes of instant noodles for the families and sweets and biscuits as treats for the children.
We then took speedboats to Sungai Kooi. Due to the rain the night before, we took our time tracking and helping one another up slippery slopes, rocks, roots and fallen trees up its famous waterfall.
Bakri stopped and explained about the trees, birds and insects. Once we reached the top, we saw a beautiful waterfall.
We were admiring the magical surroundings and taking photographs when suddenly, we heard Auntie Ying Ying scream.
There was a bloodsucking leech on one of her legs.
Luckily, I had a small bottle of salt and quickly sprinkled some on the leech. It detached itself from my aunt’s skin and rolled off.
We then returned to the boathouse for lunch. After our meal, we took the speedboat to Sungai Papan to look at salt licks. It was an easy hike compared to the waterfall.
Bakri pointed out the different trees, plants, animal footprints and elephant dung. He showed us a salt lick puddle of water with a pungent smell like rotten eggs.
There were animal footprints around it, and Bakri explained that they lick the water for mineral supplements.
After Sungai Papan, it was free and easy for the rest of the evening at the boathouse. Nicholas and I kayaked in the lake while my cousin sisters sat on a long bamboo raft, chatting and watching the sunset.
On the last morning, we squeezed in a short trip to Sungai Ruok waterfall from the boathouse. We took a 10-minute speedboat ride and a 10-minute walk to the waterfall to indulge in its cold water.
We swam and took photos until my younger cousin Emily found a leech stuck to her foot. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring the salt, so our Orang Asli guide helped to pull it off her foot.
While we were walking back to the speedboat to go back to the boathouse, I stepped on a muddy path and slipped and fell. Luckily, I was not hurt.
We returned to the boathouse for lunch and to pack for our return to civilization. I had a great time, made new memories with my cousins, and we all hope to go on more holidays together.
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