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130 million years in the making, Malaysia's largest national park Taman Negara

It was with some trepidation that I boarded the creaky tin-roofed wooden long boat, along with about 15 others and all their gear.

It was with some trepidation that I boarded the creaky tin-roofed wooden long boat, along with about 15 others and all their gear. As each new passenger stepped in, the craft sunk a little deeper into the wide and muddy Tembeling River, until finally, barely afloat, the noisy engine at its rear roared to life and we were off on a three-hour journey up stream to Malaysia's largest national park, Taman Negara.

Literally meaning "national park" in Malay, Taman Negara spans three states – Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang – and protects 4,343 square kilometres of rainforest, thought to be 130 million years old. Far enough away from the glaciers of the last ice age to be unaffected by the cool climate they created, the Malaysian rainforest began evolving much sooner than others, awarding it the distinction of being the most ancient on the planet.

Declared a park in 1938, Taman Negara is home to 140 species of animals, including wild pigs, elephants, tigers, leopards, rhinos and monkeys, as well as thousands of kinds of plants and insects and hundreds of types of birds, snakes and butterflies. As our boat motored noisily up the river, groups of long tail macaque monkeys swung from the branches in the dense canopy and immense water buffalo bathed at the waters edge.

Taman Negara's resort is located where the Tahan and Tembeling Rivers meet, and here one can opt for luxury accommodation in the heart of the rainforest, just steps away from a myriad of hiking trails.

For a less manicured experience, just across the river is the Tahan Village, a small Malay settlement that caters to the park's visitors. The village is a unique combination of dirt paths, paved roads, rustic cabins, brand new hotels, a school, shops, lots of motorbikes, and many chickens that walk the paths with the same freedom as the locals.

The riverbanks are lined with thatch-roofed floating restaurants and the river is constantly abuzz with noisy long boats, the main mode of transportation. We were directed to our arranged accommodation, a colourful and inviting guesthouse with its very own squat toilet!

Of the many options for guided tours, one was a trip a few kilometres upstream to visit the Orang Asli settlement. The Orang Asli, literally meaning "original people", were the first inhabitants of the Malay peninsula, and many still live in primitive, hand-built villages in the forest. Our guide, a comical Malay who called himself Crazy Like Monkey, negotiated some river rapids in our flimsy wooden craft before we arrived at the village, slightly shaken and soaking wet.

Our group was led up the riverbank to the village while Crazy Like Monkey explained a few things about the culture of Malaysia's aboriginal people. Shy and gentle, these nomadic hunter-gatherers collect fruit and yams from the forest. They also hunt monkeys, squirrels and birds with handmade bamboo blowpipes that shoot darts laced with a poisonous concoction made from the sap of the Ipar tree. Because of their fear of the spirits of the dead, it is very important to them that the animals that they hunt feel no pain when they die, and when a death or serious illness occurs within the village they abandon it and relocate to a different area. Their simple but sturdy palm-thatched dwellings can be erected in as little as three hours!

The locals demonstrated their ability to start a fire without the aid of a match and showed us how to fashion darts from split leaf-stalks of the Arenga Palm. We all tried their primitive but effective weapon before departing. It was nearly dark as we left and Crazy Like Monkey blindly shot through the rapids with an expertise that suggested he had been negotiating this stretch of river for years. We were deposited back at the Tahan Village, which now seemed decidedly modern.

After breakfast at the simple floating restaurant the next morning, we paid the standard fare of one ringgitt (about 30 cents) to be ferried across the river to the park. The ambitious can take week-long guided treks through the jungle and up Gunung Tahan, the park's highest peak at 2,187 metres, or spend a night in one of the six wooden hides built on stilts overlooking salt licks and clearings, in hopes of spotting some of the forest's wild inhabitants.

Our modest goal for the day was to traverse the canopy walkway. Built in 1992, the walkway is suspended 45 metres above the jungle floor, allowing visitors to "safely" observe life in the dense canopy. At more than 500 metres long, broken up periodically by platforms built around tree trunks, and constructed out of chain link fence with narrow wooden planks serving as its base, it is the longest swing bridge in the world.

After darkness fell, Crazy Like Monkey guided a night walk through the jungle. As we trustingly followed him through the unfamiliar rainforest along a trail that only he could see, he pointed out some of the park's nocturnal creatures. Giant ants marched single file along tree branches and roots, intent on some unknown but seemingly industrious task. Large, mysterious mushrooms glowed ethereally in the darkness. Our guide managed to uncover even the most creatively camouflaged creatures, such as snakes, spiders, scorpions, moths and crickets, all unnervingly large.

And making the whole tropical rainforest experience truly authentic were the dexterous little leeches that were, unknown to us, expertly navigating their way into our socks and quietly satisfying their insatiable appetite for blood.

Waiting the next morning at the floating restaurant for the boat that would return us to civilization, we quietly absorbed the day unfolding around us. As usual, the slow, murky river was teeming with longboats noisily moving people and products and the locals were busy at their day's work. A cook at the neighbouring restaurant butchered chickens on a makeshift cutting board on the dock and tossed the scraps into the river. Not far away, a group of children bathed and frolicked in the same water. Young women donning the traditional Muslim headdress giggled together while waiting on tourists hungry for coffee and breakfast.

And across the river, beyond the modern and landscaped resort, lay the jungle, mysterious, unpredictable and ancient, where time had stood still just a little.

Go to Taman Negara: Visit www.taman-negara.com/ for current bus schedules from Kuala Lumpur, accommodation options, prices and package deals.