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JANUARY 2015
Interesting and Educational Eco tourism
Gan Kwang Chun
Master of Science
August 2014 Convocation
What started as an ordinary mail from the Department of Alumni and Placement in my mailbox, had signed me up for a weekend packed with eye opening experience. My two close friends and I had signed up together for the trip, to make up a total of fifteen people for this leg of journey. Although the attendance for this trip wasn't enough to fill up the big bus, yet this granted us the space and freedom to mingle and get to know each other well. I would say this was not the average group of people who would sign up and travel together, but we all come together for the same purpose, to explore the Northern Perak.
It was about 300km away from Kuala Lumpur and we started early in the morning. We departed from PJ UTAR campus on time. The opening introduction and welcome speech were given by Mr Lee WP and Mr Lim SJ respectively, also distributed the goodie bag to the participants.
Firstly, we visited the Heritage House Museum in Gopeng, which many of the similar vintage items I used to grow up with at my grandma house were on display, brought back many of my childhood memories. After a short breakfast, we continued our journey northwards towards Kuala Gula.
The Heritage House Gopeng, house of all these vintage items
At Kuala Gula, we learned about how 'belacan' or shrimp paste and salted egg were produced. We also visited the Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary. The thriving wild life was really an eye opener and at any random given time, you could easily spot an eagle or a crane soaring atop finding food near the seashores. The tour guide showed us how they made their daily catches on crabs in the mangrove swamp and how the soft shell crabs were produced. We also got the chance to scoop-up the clams from the seabed. What is a seaside eco-tourism near the fishing village without a seafood dinner? Though I am extremely allergic to seafood, it was a great to see the varieties of the seafood dishes being served.
After dinner, we headed to Taiping Zoo for the Night Safari. Honestly speaking, it was an uninteresting and kind of a ripped off excursion from the zoo operator. The PA system was not clear and the tram ride was going too fast. In addition, the dark surrounding was not lit bright enough to see the animals which were supposed to be the utmost priority for any night safari. However, with the variety of animals, it should be great to visit during day time. After a full day of travelling, it was time to sleep as we checked in to the Tune Hotel in Taiping for bed.
After a good night sleep and a satisfying breakfast, we checked out and headed to Taiping Lake Garden which seemed much more to offer during day time. Being the historical capital and administration centre before Ipoh, it was really a scenic place where you could see century-old huge trees, flying eagles, mountains and lake at one glance. It was also a very good place for morning walk and jogging where lanes for such activities were specially provided. We took our own sweet time to stroll around the lake and enjoyed the Sunday morning breeze. We also visited The Perak Museum and the historical house of Orang Kaya Ngah Ibrahim which were nearby and you could see the artifacts and exhibits which really refreshed us of the past history.
Historical visit to Perak Museum and Muzium Kota Ngah Ibrahim
Our next stop, which was the nature walk in the dense mangrove forest, was the 'Hutan Paya Bakau Matang' in Kuala Sepetang. The tree arrangement at the entrance looked really nice and neat.
After an-hour walk, we visited the charcoal factory. Right at the doorstep, a 'warm welcome' of the choking pungent fumes which was released from the charcoal-making process made our tears came out and coughing. It seemed like a 'direct assault' to the senses and almost made us run for our lives! Anyway, we now know how the charcoal in our barbeque session was produced from the mangrove wood. The final stop of our journey was the seafood restaurant in Kuala Sepetang, which we had a really good view of the sunset from the restaurant. In conjunction to school holiday, the journey back took more than 4 hours just to get through Sungkai, caused by the unexpected traffic pile up along the highway. We reached PJ around 12.30 am, and went our separate ways after that. I hope everyone had enjoyed the trip as much as I do, I really did learned a lot from this trip, and until next time, take care.
The Hutan Paya Bakau Matang visit
The charcoal kiln in the factory
The Fishing village in Kuala Sepetang
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