Mr. Hafiz is a very
informative and knowledgeable person. Before the tour, he briefed us on the
species and how this non-synchronous species of firefly (contrary to the Kuala
Selangor firefly in which male and female light up at same time and also at
same frequency) communicate with the help of some chemical in their body, and
how badly light pollution can disturb their population. During the tour we were
totally amazed to see how the fireflies come from the mangrove onto the boat
when Hafiz was mimicking their communication signaling with his torches and
hand motions. Again he sent back them off the boat with some emergency signal.
It was really once in a life time experience when some mangrove trees suddenly
lit up under his command, and the blinking lights came directly towards us.
Well, you can not use your camera during this tour (even without the camera
flash) because that would distract the fireflies, and also affect their natural
mating behavior. So just sit back, relax and capture the moment in your memory.
While returning, it was high tide and we had to literally lie down in the boat
to save our head from crashing in the small bridge.
Travel Journal
Travel Penang
When you think of heritage in Malaysia or if you want to get
the real feel of Malaysia, two places come in mind; Penang and Malacca. Both
are famous historical states of Malaysia.
Penang is one of the artistic places I have ever been. We (8
friends) booked a car for 3 days tour to Penang. Must say the journey was very
tiring because it took 9 hours for us to reach there including few stops we
made while driving. That was a long weekend and for that reason we faced
terrible traffic till IPOH. So, while returning back we took toll free road
which was indeed very nice and no traffic at all. In fact, the whole road was
full of greenery.
We booked Hutton Lodge in Georgetown. It was a tough decision to decide where to stay in Penang, Batu Feringhi vs Georgetown. Then at last we finalised on Georgetown. You must be careful if
you go by car because there are many one ways in Georgetown. The lodge was
really better-quality than what we expected in such a budget hotel. The rooms
were very well maintained and the shared toilets were very clean and every
necessary things were available. Free Wifi was accessible from lobby and even
from the room. Complimentary breakfast was also provided by them and unlimited
times of tea or coffee.
Next morning, after breakfast, we went to one of the famous
attractions in Penang, the Penang Hill.
The train ride to reach there was very amazing and you will get the best view
if you sit at last while going up. That day, fog covered the place entirely. The
view was very beautiful from top.
From there we went to the famous Buddhist temple, Kek Lok Si in Air Itam which has the very impressive Pagoda of
Rama VI (opened in 1930). The Pagoda is one of the largest of its kind in whole
Malaysia. It also contains attractive garden and a sacred turtle pond. We
stayed there for some time and enjoyed the peaceful environment.
Then while coming down from the temple we found a good
Chinese restaurant to have lunch. I tried Penang Asam Laksa for the first time
and it’s good. After lunch, we roamed around the place and all of us shopped a
lot. You can buy the Penang’s well-known Tambun biscuit from there. You can
also get the handicrafts at cheaper price than KL Central Market. The
shopkeepers are very well behaved and one can negotiate a lot on the items. The
best buy was the street art magnets (10RM for 10).
After that, we went back to Georgetown and parked our car.
Our next target was to walk and view all the street arts. While we started walking we found beautiful rickshaws.
So, we booked rickshaw (1hr 40 RM) and I must say it was worth the value. You
can take a walk also. I personally experienced the best street arts ever and
all the arts were so very beautiful and alive. Then the rickshaw driver took us
to the watch tower and then the town hall.
We had some snacks near the sea side area and then headed to find the
best sea food restaurant in Penang. Finally, we found the Restaurant Teluk Kumber but a huge crowd was there. It was around
7pm. We waited for around 15-20 minutes and then we had lovely fishes (Tilapia,
Pomfret, Shells) with rice and Chinese Tea. After food, we spent some time in
the beach and then came back to the hotel.
We did not feel too sleepy and decided to go for a long drive. So, we
went to Batu Feringgi and it was 10pm almost, very dark. We did not get down in
the beach there and just drove. We were passing by a hill area and forest on a
side. It was very exciting and adventurous. We thought we could find some
animals but didn’t find any. After around 30km we found that we reached
Georgetown. We didn’t have to take a u-turn and come back. We all liked the
trip very much. We said enough for today and went to sleep.
Next day morning we again had our wonderful breakfast and
started our journey to Gurney drive. The beach was good. Then we went to view
the largest Sleeping Buddha nearby. There was also a very nice temple on the
other side. We went to Batu Firinggi again and relaxed for some time in the
beach. We found many monitor lizards of different sizes in one place. We had
our lunch there.
Cherating Beach, a Beautiful Beach in the East Coast of Malaysia
Long time we did not visit any beach in Malaysia and
we noticed that every time we travelled, we always neglected the beautiful East coast of Malaysia, where lies the most popular beaches in Malaysia. So
this time we planned for the beaches around Kuantan. Due to monsoon, the exotic Redang and Perhentian Island were out of the league. We did a
quick research on the popular beaches around Kuantan and Cherating beach
seemed to be the nicest choice.
We started very early, around 4am and after a hundred kms on the boring expressway, decided to make a detour from Cherating towards lake Chini. Tasik Chini, as it is known locally, is a manmade lake in the heart of a rainforest and the narrow road to the lake passes through several Malay villages, Kampung as they say. So you can see some traditional Malay style wooden buildings, and also the lovely Sungai Chini flowing side by side. There is only one accommodation in Chini lake, Tasik Chini Resort just overlooking the lake. Advance booking is necessary as the two times I visited the place, I found it was full house. You can opt for a boat ride on the lake and there is a small restaurant serving food to outside guests as well.
We started very early, around 4am and after a hundred kms on the boring expressway, decided to make a detour from Cherating towards lake Chini. Tasik Chini, as it is known locally, is a manmade lake in the heart of a rainforest and the narrow road to the lake passes through several Malay villages, Kampung as they say. So you can see some traditional Malay style wooden buildings, and also the lovely Sungai Chini flowing side by side. There is only one accommodation in Chini lake, Tasik Chini Resort just overlooking the lake. Advance booking is necessary as the two times I visited the place, I found it was full house. You can opt for a boat ride on the lake and there is a small restaurant serving food to outside guests as well.
After breakfast in the Chini lake resort, we drove towards Kuantan and crossing the town
proceeded towards Cherating beach.
We heard good review about MataHari Hut
opposite to Little Bali, Cherating
and decided to stay there.
There are few other budget accommodations in Cherating, like Payung Guest House, coconut inn,Tanjung Inn, Ranting Beach Resort etc and you can choose any from these as all are mostly same. On average, the accommodations at the opposite side of the road are cheaper than the ones located by the beachside. In most chalets you have options for attached and shared washrooms and aircon or fan. There are options for four bedded and double or single bedded rooms as well. In MataHari Hut, Cherating we had the provision to use the kitchen and along with free tea coffee anytime, we can also cook simple meals if wish to. There is a minimarket few meters away. There was also a refrigerator to use for.
The Cherating Point Surfing training center is run by the same family and for your information, Cherating is pretty popular among beginner surfers. After checked in, we went for a swim. The South China Sea looked to be calm despite the monsoon season, and the water was comparatively clear. You can swim, but look out for jellyfishes because people were stung by jellyfish on this beach earlier. Well, we did not find any during our stay. There were like millions of hermit crabs throughout the beach and we also noticed plenty of shrimps and glass goby and crabs.
There are few other budget accommodations in Cherating, like Payung Guest House, coconut inn,Tanjung Inn, Ranting Beach Resort etc and you can choose any from these as all are mostly same. On average, the accommodations at the opposite side of the road are cheaper than the ones located by the beachside. In most chalets you have options for attached and shared washrooms and aircon or fan. There are options for four bedded and double or single bedded rooms as well. In MataHari Hut, Cherating we had the provision to use the kitchen and along with free tea coffee anytime, we can also cook simple meals if wish to. There is a minimarket few meters away. There was also a refrigerator to use for.
The Cherating Point Surfing training center is run by the same family and for your information, Cherating is pretty popular among beginner surfers. After checked in, we went for a swim. The South China Sea looked to be calm despite the monsoon season, and the water was comparatively clear. You can swim, but look out for jellyfishes because people were stung by jellyfish on this beach earlier. Well, we did not find any during our stay. There were like millions of hermit crabs throughout the beach and we also noticed plenty of shrimps and glass goby and crabs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)