Two good friends, two long years in the making, one intent to experience the oldest rainforest in the world which was not far home in Singapore.

Taman Negara in Malaysia is estimated to be 130 million years old, similar to Borneo island rainforests. To put that in perspective, the Amazon is 55 million years ago. Taman Negara is spread across 4,300 square kilometres across three Malaysian states: Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu. That area is Tokyo + Delhi combined or 3x of greater London

Getting There

Kuala Tahan is the most popular and common entry point to the park. It’s a small town with a handful of places to stay and a few floating restaurants along the river. Only a couple of travel companies run buses to Kuala Tahan, connecting it to Jerantut, Kuala Lumpur, the Cameron Highlands, and the Perhentian Islands. Their service, prices, and timings are identical. There’s also a boat service that runs from Jerantut to Kuala Tahan.

From Singapore — or really from almost anywhere — the sensible plan is to fly into Kuala Lumpur and catch one of those buses. We intentionally chose the insensible but experiential route: an overnight train from Johor Bahru Sentral to Jerantut on the aging but iconic Jungle Railway

Here’s how it went. We made our way to the Woodlands checkpoint in Singapore, cleared Singapore immigration and crossed the bridge on a bus. On the other side we cleared Malaysian immigration and boarded the train at 8:30 PM. We reached the small town of Jerantut by around 4 AM, then took the NKS minibus at 8 AM, arriving in Kuala Tahan at about 9:30 AM.

That 4am to 8am gap in Jerantut was objectively inefficient but subjectively fun! (that is original, not AI generated). We hung around the station scanning the sparse train schedule. By 5 AM the station was completely empty, not even an official in sight. We watched the dawn break and when the mosquitos were getting the better of us, we walked to the main street towards the minibus operator’s pickup point. Only a few modest breakfast options were open at that hour. We ate the classic one- Roti Telur (egg roti canai) & Teh Tarik (tea with milk)

We were dropped off at the empty bus stand of Kuala Tahan by 9:30 AM. We aimlessly strolled around for a while. A few stores were open and not much activity. Our hotel booking only started around 2 PM. The host, who was meant to pick us up from the bus stand, politely told us it would take him a couple of hours to get there.

So we did the only sensible thing. We headed straight for the whole reason we’d come — the national park.

Crossing Into the Park

Kuala Tahan sits on the banks of the Tembeling River, and the national park lies on the opposite side. No bridge. The crossing is on a small shared boat that ferries people for two Malaysian ringgit.

On the park side, we saw two groups setting off with their guides. At the park office, we learned we could do a self-guided hike. The park office kindly agreed to hold our bags, we paid a small entry fee, studied the map for a few minutes, and set out.

Into the Rainforest

The trail started along another branch of the river — the Tahan River. The first stretch was underwhelming. It was a raised boardwalk, the kind of thing we’d walked plenty of times back in Singapore. I guess we were impatient, expecting something instantly wild and rugged. Things changed fast. These photos and this reel tell the story.

Back Across the River

We caught the same little boat back across the River Tembeling and had lunch at one of the floating restaurants along the bank. By 3pm we made our way to the place we’d booked – Tamu Rimba. It is a newly constructed place that is owned and operated by a couple. A little away from the village but that makes it nice and quiet. The rest of the day – we showered, we napped, we talked long and crashed early to sleep.

Day Two: Upriver to Lata Berkoh

After breakfast, we zeroed on Lata Berkoh, a cascade along the banks of River Tahan deep inside the forest.

We were driven to Tebing Guesthouse. The morning was already in full swing with groups ready for the day’s plans. There was some confusion on exactly what we had signed up for, but it got sorted out quickly.

We jumped on a motorized wooden longboat, the kind that seats four or five people, one behind the other. It was just the two of us in this ride.

The boat took off fast through the shallow waters. The boatman seated behind us managed the speed and direction. The one in the front was steering clear of the rocks. I love water bodies and in particular shallow streams of flowing rivers- biophilic kind of calm & utterly blissful. This reel attempts to capture the experience.

Getting Back

The next morning, we clicked a photo with our host who dropped us to the Kuala Tahan bus stop. We took the minibus to Kuala Lumpur with a brief stop in Jerantut for a lunch break. From KL, we boarded the pre-booked bus back to Singapore through the Tuas checkpoint. My friend’s past living experience in KL came in handy. I didn’t have to do much, just follow his lead.

Conclusion

Malaysia and I go back a while. First visit was in 2011. After that came a series of work trips that introduced me to the people more closely. Chinese who can speak Tamil? Check. More personal travels — Cameron Highlands in 2017, and Kota Kinabalu in Borneo in 2022. It’s also where I first drove a car outside India. In my experience, Malaysia is naturally and structurally multi-cultural Asian country. This trip added one more beautiful memory to the Malaysian collection.

We went this trip 5 – 8 Feb 2026. All photos are by Anil and me.

If you are reading this, you know how to reach me. If not, @rajspace & Instagram