Hanging bridges across clear water streams provide scenic experience for visitors at Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak.
FROM afar, all jungles look beautiful and enchanting.
However, I know from experience that once you walk into one, it can be so challenging that it’s hard to focus on the beauty of the jungle.
Gritty and adventurous people may enjoy jungle trekking, but for many, traversing jungle paths with leeches, centipedes, scorpions, thorny and even poisonous plants is mighty scary.
This was why when I visited the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, I was bowled over by the kilometres of well-made, well-maintained boardwalk through the dense forest.
I was ready with gear to thrash through a jungle, but there was no need for that.
It was, in every sense, a walk in the park. I walked for hours on the boardwalk and never perceived a single missing piece.
A wide network of walkways that is well maintained allows visitors to focus on nature appreciation, rather than worry about safety.
Anyone with any level of readiness to enter a dense jungle could do so there and immerse themselves in all of Mother Nature’s tropical glory.
In truth, I felt a little envious because Sarawak evidently has a better grip on eco-tourism than Penang.
There are boardwalks here and there in Penang National Park, but we have to keep an eye on the path because there are boards that are loose, rotten or even missing.
I regularly tackle Penang’s nature trails along the Penang Hill range.
After the movement control order was relaxed and we could trek through the hills again, the trails had nearly disappeared, covered with fallen leaves and branches while bushes had started growing along them.
Hikers had to clear their beloved trails themselves.
Over at Gunung Mulu National Park, I could feel the love and care exerted by the caretakers. Everything was so well kept.
Have you seen the state of Penang National Park’s toilets at Pantai Kerachut?
It is bad enough that some Malaysians have “bad toilet habits”. Once you add that factor to sub-standard maintenance, you get a slum-like public toilet.
There are signs of these “Malaysian problems” in the Gunung Mulu park, too.
Instead of conscientiously bringing their trash out of the park, visitors feel it is good enough to just throw their trash into the provided bins, even when those bins are already full.
Granted, Sarawak has a much greater degree of natural resources to give the eco-tourist plenty of breathtaking experiences.
However, it is the degree of care taken that enhances visitors’ experiences in these national parks.
Penang National Park, as the smallest park in the country, should easily be able to transform into the most people-friendly park. Shouldn’t it?
Admittedly, some things at Gunung Mulu National Park are a little expensive.
My friend and I spent RM50 for kolo mee, fried rice and coffee, but hey, that’s tourism.
My kolo mee was RM8; this bowl of noodles would just be RM3 or RM4 in any Sarawak town.
But I enjoyed the meal in the woods, next to a gurgling brook, using an Atip Nao, a bamboo four-pronged fork that looks a little like chopsticks. The utensil is an innovation of the Penan tribe.
In the Mulu jungle cafe, you can kick back and enjoy a strawberry milkshake, but it will cost you RM14. And for me, it was worth paying for the experience.
Yet I could not stop thinking of the missed opportunities at Penang National Park when I was in Gunung Mulu National Park.
I could not stop thinking about how, if the Penang National Park stepped up its maintenance and facilities, visitors to the island could enjoy our World Heritage Site in George Town, hawker food and nature reserves – just like at Gunung Mulu National Park.
