Foreword
This vacation made possible by my good friend -Ah Ming , together we bring along so many of his fishing kaki(local word for fishing enthusiasts) and gila-gila gang of mine.(fun crazy gang)
We departed from Tampin and Kajang respectively before we met up at Kuantan, a long distance from our home to our holiday destination- Kenyir Lake.
DAY 1
(3/6/2011 FRIDAY)
8.30PM We started out by pick up 'malay girl'(nickname due to her appearance) at Puchong followed by 'Kit' at Ampang. Journey to Kuantan was delayed due to the traffic jam at Ampang and also Karak Higway . The reason was due to tomorrow being a public holiday so everyone has a plan will go 'balik kampong/back to hometown' or makan angin/holiday break.
DAY 2
(4/6/2011 SATURDAY)
2.00am By the time we reach at our meeting point at Gambang is already 2.00am in the morning , we continue travelling another 200km before reaching Kuala Berang town. Followed by another 50km uphill.
6.00am Reached Pengkalan Gawi(Jetty)
We've reached the largest man-made lake in South East Asia. After long journey we continue to endure the hours of anxious waiting. We're so frustrated when we see others holiday makers being pick up by their host while we were still waiting someone for the last six hours. Everyone started to grumble when will the boathouse owner send someone to collect us. I guess the guest reluctant to leave on time.
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| All smiles at last when our receptionist has come by speedboat to get us to the floating hotel |
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| Someone did not sleep well last night or maybe when the wind blow on her face makes her sleepy |
12.ooam Finally the speedboat came to collect us in two separate speed boats. Our floating hotel cum boat or boathouse is parked just inside of Taman Negara. The boathouse is basically modified from fishing boat and provide a basic house facilities which are 8 guest rooms , a kitchen, toilet two units, bathroom with shower facility and a TV Room(Entertainment room by day turned staff sleeping quarter at night). On the way there our guide has to slowdown for refueling twice and also help someone to restart their boat engine but to no avail.Travel time about 2 hours.
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| It seems like the ABC Tv drama, my first impression is like "Da Plane,Da Plane" but here I should use "Da Boat,Da Boat" |
I was expecting the boathouse will be old, ugly and dirty boathouse as mentioned to me by Ah Ming but to my surprise the owner has just changed his boathouse six months ago.
Lucky for us and seeing how wonderful the brand new boathouse have let us forget about the waiting ordeal. The boathouse owner was there to greet us when we arrived and we are surprise to see this owner (Mok San) is 78 years old but does not aged much. Has time stands still here which prevent aging?
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| Me and the boathouse owner |
Peaceful and calm serenity make Lake Kenyir the perfect getaway from everyday hustle and bustle everyday hectic life .Maybe this is the Shangri-La everyone dream about.
Ah Ming didn't mention to him we want to visit the kelah fish sanctuary ,so he did not apply for a permit and change of plan ensue. Instead we go for a boat ride to Sungai Cacing.This river was once a popular fishing site but it is now not allow as this is protected for fish breeding purposes.
He was so eager to start fishing and go straight at the back of boat house and do warm up by catching 'lampam fish' which are plentiful .This fish will not likely end up on our dinner plates as it ate our shit! No indah water septic tank here so most likely end up in fish belly.Yuck!
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| Shh..Don't tell anyone I didn't caught this fish! |
5.30pm All the food is prepared by his Malay worker and Mok San will do the cooking. He usually go out fishing to get his fresh river fish away from here and will be back before seven. His cooking is unbelievable tasty and what surprise us more is he has no training as a chef!
I reckon his cooking is on par with some of the fancy restaurant I go.What is his secret recipe? According to him the foods must be fresh and one important sauce is a particular soya sauce he got from Tampin.
Otherwise can it be we are so hungry as we only had maggi rebus/instant noodle in the early morning at a small town called Kuala Berang.
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| Delicious Dinner Dishes cook by Mok San |
NO HANDPHONE COVERAGE AT THIS AREA
I guess this will be good as your mind is at peace and give you a solid reason for not answering their call but be prepared for a lot of missed call when you return.
DAY 3
(5/6/2011 SUNDAY)
9.00am Breakfast served- fried noodle with teh tarik .(Malaysia famous tea drink by successive pouring from one container to another)
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| No argument about it, the best fried noodle(kway teow) I have ever tasted-Looks ordinary but taste not ordinary |
Another dissapointment as the waterfall we want to visit is too far from our place ,so instead we visit BEWAH CAVE only .
To get to the cave we need to go up the stairs quite a distance before reaching. Upon reaching we visited the mini museum on prehistoric man history before proceed to the dark cave .We need to used torchlight to find our way inside , previously there are some lights using solar power but not working anymore.
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| So this where Flintstones used to live |
While exploring the cave , OKL found a snake on the platform hand rail but thankfully he managed to avoid touching it.
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| Prehistoric Bewah Cave |
2.00pm Reached back to our boathouse, with nothing to do we went off down river using the motorboat provided- this boathouse owner has 7 single engine boats for his guests, more than any boathouse you can find.After a few tips from Fam another good friend of mine, I have finally managed to learn how to steer the single engine boat around nearby river .
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| Fun to steer a motor boat |
If you move the tiller to the left the boat goes to the right and move the tiller right the boat will goes to left. It's easy right? You need to brainwash your brain for a while as you need to adjust how you normally would drive your car.
3.oopm Another boat ride to a nearby river ,where we stop and play around floating with life-jacket. How to relax your body? You can when you rest your back and lifting your leg to allow buoy takes over. After having lessons on floating we move upper shallow river which we need to paddle with our back hand as props due to propeller cannot be use for fear of hitting the rocks.Upper stream river current is stronger where we enjoy playing floating on your back when rapid river ride. Rain came down unexpectedly and we have to rush back with everyone's soaking wet . Mok san was waiting to serve us with Tong Shui/Red Bean sweet dessert soup.
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| Rapid River Ride |
DAY 4 (6/6/2011 MONDAY)
3.30am Woke up by the passing boat wave which causes the boat to rock slightly. I wanted to accompany Ah Ming which is alone fishing at the front of deck of the boat but end up felt asleep on the observation deck.
5.00am Woke up this time not by the passing boat but the commotion downstairs, it seems a large snake estimated more than10ft swam pass by our boat and circling around the area. Wasn't sure from far as we can only see a creature head and neck rose up above the water, looking as if it was hunting for morning meal. We were convinced at what we had seen due to one of us who happen to saw it from short distance.There is no doubt it was a snake but what kind of snake was that? Not anaconda but could be python?
After this snake lurking in river, the fish sense something is not right and no fish were caught afterwards-all hiding presumably. Fish also have the sixth sense that we have?
7.00am Start boathouse engine for journey back.
8.00am We all had our breakfast fried noodle on the front deck of the boat due to engine is at the back of kitchen and you could not enjoy it quietly. While having your breakfast there allow you to enjoy the breathtaking scenery which is enjoyable and we chatted with Mok san and listen to his story. Our journey back let us take a closer view of the surrounding areas as the boathouse has slower speed. It takes about 5 hours to reach jetty. My only regret is that we did not discover about this wonderful place sooner as Mok san is not getting any younger. We are afraid that in future will there be a successor as he has no male children, all four are daughters. I joked about Ah Ming should take over Mok San boathouse as he has almost all the requirements to run a boathouse business but Mf argued she also want but first she has to cope with sea sickness.
Also what worries me is whether environment cleanliness have done enough for the future generations to enjoy
MALAYSIA SHANGRILA
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| End of our trip, now back to civilization! |
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| Group Photo- Everyone say Cheese! |
