MALAYSIABook your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotels PENINSULAR INTERIOR •• Taman Negara
12 people), plus a RM100 fee for each night
spent out on the trail. Guides who are licensed
by the Wildlife Department have completed
coursework in forest flora, fauna and safety
and are registered with the department.
Often the Kuala Tahan tour operators offer
cheaper prices than the Wildlife Department,
although there is no guarantee that the guide
is licensed.
Sleeping & Eating
Guest houses are listed here in south-to-north
order. Arrive early in the day or book in ad-
vance since the better places fill up quickly
and there’s invariably a nightly collection of
lost souls searching for rooms in the rain.
For details on staying at a hide, see p487.
Yellow Guesthouse (%266 4243; dm/d RM10/80;
aiW) Up and over the top of the hill
from the NKS floating restaurant, this quiet
new place is cleaner and in better shape
than most of the others. The big rooms and
dorms have brightly painted walls and new
mattresses and the owner is super friendly
and helpful.
Tembeling River view Hostel (%266 6766; ro
[email protected]; dm RM10, r RM35-50) Straddling
the thoroughfare footpath, folks stay here to
be close to the action, not for privacy. There
are some pleasant communal areas overlook-
ing the river. Rooms are lodge-basic.
Liana Hostel (%266 9322; dm RM10) Has bar-
rackslike, 4-bed dorm rooms and nonexistent
service.
Agoh Chalets (%266 9570; d/f RM50/80; ai)
Chalets here are made from concrete mod-
elled to look like logs and all surround a shady
garden in the middle of the village. The inte-
riors are ageing but are in better shape than
many other places.
oTahan Guesthouse (%266 7752; dm/d
RM10/50) Far enough from ‘town’ to feel away
from it all but close enough to be conven-
ient, Tahan Guesthouse has excellent four-bed
dorms and colourfully painted bright rooms
upstairs. The whole place feels like a happy
preschool with giant murals of insects and
flowers all over the place.
oDurian Chalet^ (%266 8940; dm/d/f
RM10/40/50, A-frames RM25) About 800m outside
the village between rubber and durian planta-
tions, this forest hideaway has a 6-bed dorm,
microscopic, rustic twin-sized A-frame huts
with bathrooms and large doubles and family
rooms. All options have fans and mosquito
nets, there’s a simple restaurant and you can
pitch a tent for RM2.
Mat Leon Village (%013 998 9517; dm/chalets
RM15/60) Supreme forest location with a view
over the river (swimming possible) from its
restaurant, clean four-bed dorms and ageing
chalets (with shower). Has free boat pick-
up from the Mat Leon floating desk at the
Kampung Kuala Tahan jetty. Walking, it’s
about 500m onwards along the road and a
forest trail from Durian Chalet.
Malay food (dishes around RM3 to RM10)
is available from barge restaurants and at a
couple of places attached to guest houses.
These restaurants tend to come and go but at
the time of research the best was Mama Chop
(meals around RM7; hbreakfast, lunch & dinner) at the
far northern end of the strip, which serves
Indian vegetarian banana-leaf meals at lunch-
time. Kuala Tahan is dry, so if you’re after a
beer you’ll have to cross over to Mutiara Taman
Negara Resort (%266 3500; beers RM8), where you
can also dine on overpriced Western food
(RM17 to RM55).Getting There & Away
Most people reach Taman Negara by tak-
ing a bus from Jenatut to the jetty at Kuala
Tembeling then a river boat from there to the
park, but there are also popular private mini-
bus services that go directly to/from several
tourist destinations around Malaysia directly
to/from Kampung Kuala Tahan. You can also
take a bus from Jerantut direct to Kampung
Kuala Tahan (see p486 for details), but by
doing this you miss the scenic boat trip.BOAT
The river jetty for Taman Negara-bound
boats is in Kuala Tembeling, 18km north
of Jerantut.
Boats (one way RM35) depart Kuala
Tembeling daily at 9am and 2pm (9am and
2.30pm on Friday). On the return journey,
boats leave Kuala Tahan at 9am and 2pm (and
2.30pm on Friday). The journey takes three
hours upstream and two hours downstream.
Note that the boat service is irregular during
the November-to-February wet season.BUS & TAXI
For details on buses and taxis from Jerantut to
Kuala Tembeling, see p486. A public bus from
Kampung Kuala Tahan goes to KL (RM26)
every day at 8am via Jerantut. NKS (%03-2072489