The Beginning.....The Story So Far

Once upon a time in a land not so far away stood a very handsome man....... Sitting actually, in the shade at the back of my house close to the Cambodian border in Northeast Thailand  drinking an ice tea and downloading some stuff when I happened upon a website advertising positions for English teacher Mentors in Malaysia. It looked interesting and lured by the amazing beaches and coast I applied for a position (I hoped would be) close to some of the most beautiful coastline in the country.

"You got the job, now where do you want to go?"

"Oh, anywhere near a beach or on the coast" I replied hopefully.

"Hmm," they replied, "how about the middle of the jungle almost smack in the centre of the country." coastal positions pretty scarce then I thought.

And here I am. You didn't
really need a picture did you?

Anyway I'm here in a small town
called Jerantut, nowhweresville.
To be fair to the place it is the gateway to one of the national parks called Taman Negara.

Taman Negara is Malaysia's largest national park, located on 4,343km² of primary rainforest with its own mountain range that features the Peninsular's highest summit, Gunung Tahan (2,187m). Sharing its borders with three different states (Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu), the most popular entryway is through Kuala Tahan in Pahang, a small village across the Tembeling River from the park headquarters, closest to Jerantut town (67km away). An immensely popular nature destination, Taman Negara attracts visitors from all over the world, served by a good range of accommodation including budget hotels at Kuala Tahan and a boutique jungle lodge (Mutiara Resort) within the park. Yep, that's us!