Visitors are picked up at the jetty of the Ulu Muda lake, a dammed lake created years ago as a water reservoir for the rice plantations in Kedah (connected to the nearby Pedu lake). The boat trip on local sampan (long tail) boats to the Kuala Labua forest camp takes almost two hours and can involve getting out of the boat and pushing if the water levels are low. Initially the trip proceeds across the Muda lake, later along one of the tributary rivers.
Although claimed to be an "unexplored nature reserve with over 500 kmĀ² of preserved rainforest" the reality is that the forest around the Kuala Labua camp (which visitors get to see) is mostly secondary rainforest with only a few patches of primary rainforest. As Hymeir (who is running the Earth lodge) explained, to see primary rainforest you must go much deeper into the reserve. In fact in the past the Ulu Muda reserve has been logged and still does not enjoy full formal government protection against logging.
A bit further upriver from the Kuala Labua camp there is a hot spring, where hot, sulphurous water flows in the Muda river. This would indicate some degree of geological activity in the underground.
01 Ulu Muda lake 02 Boat transfer to jungle camp 03 Muda river
04 Muda river at Kuala Labua 05 Muda river at Kuala Labua 06 Muda river 07 Muda river
08 Muda river 09 Afternoon wildlife spotting on boat 10 Three men in a boat 11 River bank
12 Hot spring 13 Hot spring 14 Hot spring 15 Hot spring
16 Long tail boat 17 Muda river at dusk 18 Ulu Muda lake 19 Ulu Muda lake
20 Sampan boat with tourists 21 Ulu Muda lake and jetty 22 Ulu Muda dam
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