Back To Nature in PERAK

Back To Nature in PERAKText Amierah Noor IbrahimJuly 28, 2011 | 0 comments

If you crave to be surrounded by lush greenery and great outdoor experience, why not take the train from KL and drop off at Ipoh and then head to out-of-city destinations like Kampung Dew and Kampar River? Gaya Travel team did just that and we were truly bowled over by what Perak has to offer when it comes to eco-tourism. 

As part of the on-going efforts to promote Perak as an eco-tourism destination, Tourism Perak recently invited Gaya Travel Magazine, together with other selected media organisations, to embark on a trip that brought us back to nature that is located about 200km away from Kuala Lumpur. Courtesy of Electric Train Service (ETS) , we firstly headed to Ipoh, the capital of Perak state, departing from Kuala Lumpur Sentral by rail. We didn’t even feel like it was around two hours train ride because we were busy admiring the quaint out-of-town sceneries that we passed by.

As we arrived at Ipoh railway station, the organisation Tourism Perak enthusiastically welcomed and ushered us into the bus to take us to our first stop, which was Taiping Golf Resort. During the journey, introduction session was held in the bus to give us the opportunity to break the ice among the participants of this trip, comprising not only representatives from media organisations but also Tourism Malaysia.

The following are the attractions that we believe will surely entice nature lovers to visit Perak:

Fireflies at Kampung Dew

Upon our arrival, Encik Khairul Salleh bin Ahmad, the Secretary for Firefly and Matang Mangrove Eco-Tourism, welcomed us and gave very informative and educational briefing about Kampung Dew. We were then taken to the charcoal factory, which has been operating since early 19^th century, where Encik Khairul organised a treasure hunt as the means for us to learn more about the workings of the traditional charcoal factory in Kampung Dew, now designated as a heritage site. The fun-filled hunt continued till late evening. We then headed back to Kampung Dew, where Kampung Dew Village Committee feted us with wonderful spread of traditional dishes for dinner

Our itinerary at Kampung Dew has not finished since we had one more thing to do: watching fireflies at Sungai Kg Dew. Firefly-watching service is run by Kg Dew community using fishing boats. The cruise, which lasted for 45 minutes, took us deep into the mangroves where we could observe the fascinating spectacle of fireflies flickering brightly like fairly lights. Fireflies also called Lighting Bugs, are the attraction at Kampung Dew. They shine in the night like fire to attract their sexual partners.