Since the 1960’s, Kuala Tembeling is the entry point to Taman Negara, the National Park. Henry arranged our tour to leave Kuala Lumpur City Center, arriving three hours later by bus in Kuala Tembeling, where we awaited the longboat which conveyed us upstream to Taman Negara Resort, a camp owned by the state park. The two hour wait allowed us plenty of time to soak in the local “color” -- as Henry and I opted to have ice cream bars and tiny fresh bananas for lunch instead of the local cuisine served at the terminal’s restaurant. All the travelers converged here by boat going either upstream or downstream to the camp, or by bus shuttling travelers to or from KL.  The village of Kuala Tembeling has been important because of its location on the rivers. It connected the states of Kelatan and Perak by the Jalai River, and the state of Terengganu by the Tembeling River. Historically, this area was the site of a battle between the Malay warriors and the British Colonials on three dates: September 7, 1892, and June 13th and 14th, 1894. A grave believed to be that of an English officer rests on a hillock in the village of Kuala Tembeling.  I should have captured a funny moment in the village “general store”. Henry and I were eating our ice cream bars as we sat on bright yellow plastic chairs adjacent to the Internet cafe, when two 8 year old boys walked across the street, toward the store. One of the lads had his arm draped around the neck and shoulder of his friend. These “buddies” sashayed through the store three times, buying ice cream and candy two of the three times. The third time, on their final foray, one of the boys turned to me, smiled and gave me the biggest wink I’ve had in years! What a FLIRT! Cute.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1.The dock and departure point at Kuala Tembeling. 2.Long boats tied up along Kuala Tembeling’s shore. 3. Passengers loaded on the long boat which transported us to the jungles of Taman Negara. 4.  A view of the Tembeling River. Center, Top: Jourdan and Henry, comfortably relaxing in their seat of the longboat’s 3 hour journey upstream. Center, Bottom: On the river, a photo of the longboat powering upstream.  Right Column: 1. A view of the Tembeling River taken from shore, above the dock. 2. Our group of travelers: Henry, Jourdan, Hans-Peter, Margarit,and Suvarna, before boarding the longboat in Kuala Tembeling. We are American, Swiss, and Indian by nationality -- a global group!  3. Hans-Peter Klinger, from Switzerland, chatting with us during our travels to Taman Negara. 4. View along the river on our journey upstream.

Photo credit: Right Column # 2, with thanks to Dr. Dinanath Thakar who snapped a far better photo than I did!

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                        BACK TO MAP  PAGE