Terengganu is a state located east of Peninsular Malaysia. From KL travelling by bus, it took roughly 6 hours of road journey. Terengganu is far known for its islands like Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Lang Tengah. But, Terengganu actually has more than we knew that we often overlooked.
I revisited this beautiful state again after 4 years and discovered new places which worth to pay a visit. Here are my recommended things to do and places to visit when you are in Terengganu:
1. Swimming at Lata Kolam Air Deru Ecopark @ Besut
Lata Kolam Air Deru Ecopark is a camping site by the river at Besut. Besut is at the northern part of the Terengganu state and just at the borderline with Kelantan. "Be" stands for district, "Sut" stands for last. Thus, Besut is also known as last district of Terengganu. The infrastructure of Lata Kolam Air Deru Ecopark for the first phase was built since 2017 and opened officially to the public in March 2018. The place is at the Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve area in Hulu Besut.
There were 3 tiers of waterfall namely Pengkalan Suri, Pengkalan Dua and Pengkalan Raja. Pengkalan Suri is at the lowest tier with a shallow water level that suitable for family activities. This is also where the hammocks set up between the trees. The tents cater for 5 people at the same time are just next to it.
The top tier is known as Lata Kolam as shown in the first picture. It appears naturally in green-bluish colour during the hot day. One needs to wear a life jacket to get down for safety purpose. Nonetheless, this place is great for team-building activities like water confident and swimming.
They offer budget chalets and exclusive chalets for those who wish to spend a night there. Activities such as ATV ride, combat archery and obstacle course are available at the site too. I will update more on this place in details later.
2. Dipping your feet at La Hot Spring @ Besut
Going out from Lata Kolam Air Deru Ecopark, 5 minutes drive away is the La Hot Spring. I have gone to Hulu Langat Hotsprings before, and this is the hottest among all. As recorded, the water in La Hot Spring achieves 100 degrees Celcius that is percolated through fractures in the bedrock.
The entrance fee for adult is merely RM2.
It was quite packed with the locals when I was there. The water in the pool is hot. It was not easy for me to get down immediately since it is hot like boil water.
The local said one should not move your feet inside the pool as doing so would make you feel very hot. Bathing or dipping at the hot spring is great for health, especially for better blood circulation. If that's a hot spring near my house, I would like to come every weekend too!
3. River cruising @ Besut
An hour-long cruise that takes passengers along a scenic 5km route on Sungai Besut is a big hit with locals and visitors from Kelantan. Launched on Aug 14, the cruise starts from the fishing village of Kampung Payang here in this district. The cruise operates daily from 9-6pm.
This business is operated cooperatively by the villagers. Interestingly, they use their own experience to build the cruise, all by themselves. The passengers are charged RM120 per trip for a cruise that could cater a maximum of 12 people at the same time.
While on the cruise, one can pre-order the Terengganu authentic cuisine to enjoy onboard. They served Terengganu's satar and otak-otak. The extra charge for the food was estimated at around RM70.
I heard there were a few routes for passengers to choose from. The first takes them to Kampung Cawat where they can observe village life, including fishermen mending fish cages, while the second route takes them around an islet to view fishing villages. The third route takes them to Kampung Tanjung Lali where they can see an old palace, a mosque made of eggshells and other historical buildings. For us, we actually stopped at Desa Ukiran Kayu Istana Tengku Long, Kampung Raja. Here, Desa Ukiran Kayu Istana Tengku Long, Kampung Raja is where one can see the delicate craftsmanship of the wood carving at the traditional houses.
4. Nightwalk at Gunung Tebu @ Setiu
What more adventurous was night walk at the jungle of Gunung Tebu beside Peladang Setiu Agro Resort. The walk is within an hour inclusive a short briefing in total darkness in the jungle. The jungle night tour is the best way to experience the nightlife in the rainforest. The exciting part includes the unique sights and sounds of the nocturnal plants and animals.
We saw a frog named Katak Demam, Fever Frog. The nature guide said it's the frog name but it was not sick.
A short while later we spotted two cave centipedes. It did not look like the usual centipede as we saw. The body was not too long but the legs were like a spider. The guide said it was poisonous and we should not touch it at all.
A spider on a piece of leaves became a spotlight too. Generally, you need to be equipped with torchlight, insect repellent, a pair of long socks and shoes before stepping into the forest. The whole tour was fun and exciting.
5. Visiting the local fish farm @ Setiu
I never feel tired when visiting a fish farm. Terengganu is famous for its seafood as well since it is located in the coastal area facing the South China Sea. Setiu is a district at the south of Besut. With the size of 23,000 hectares, Setiu Wetlands is the largest natural wetlands in the East Coast region of Peninsular Malaysia, combining various ecosystems including freshwater, seawater, brackish water and a 14 km lagoon.
To visit the fish farm, one have to board the speed boat at the jetty of Setiu Wetland.
We managed to watch how the fishermen feed the fishes in the farm. And he even caught a big grouper (Long Fu Ban 龙虎斑）for us for photographing purpose. Look at its mouth, isn't that look scary? This grouper is one of the expensive fishes and normally supplied to the Chinese seafood restaurant. According to the owner, they will send the fish alive daily to the restaurants and buyers. Once the fishes found died during transportation, they will replace it. This is to ensure that the customers could have fresh grouper on the table.
I was a bit regretful as I did not buy any grouper from the fishermen there. I guess the price would be cheaper as compared in KL market. Maybe I should carry the icebox together for my next trip to the fish farm. LOL
6. Finding "lokan" at the mangrove area
Lokan is known as Marsh Clam in English. This large, heavy bivalve formerly known as Geloina expansa is found buried in the stiff mud of the landward fringe of mangroves. It is well-adapted to this habitat, being able to tolerate long periods of low tide, and has the ability to resume filter-feeding rapidly when inundated.
After a short brief, we were told to wear a pair of socks and walked to the mangrove area to find the lokan. The lokan was not seen on top of the mud but they were hiding about 1-2 inch below the ground. Thus, to find it, we need a knife to scratch the mud randomly. I will explain more in a video later.
In a very short time, I able to find 5 lokan (not bad for a first-timer, right?) My pants, feet, legs and hands were filled with mud but my heart was filled with a great satisfaction That's an unforgettable and happy experience.
The first thing we did after getting out of the water was to cook the lokan. We could not wait anymore to try it as that's from our hard work. To know how we cook and the taste, stay tune for my vlog :D
7. Pay a visit to the local handicraft centre @ Setiu
What're the local women do at home when the husband going out for fishing? Well, they did not waste their time away. Instead, the local women started up a handicraft centre that use kercut to make different kinds of handicraft. The centre is established by Kumpulan Perkembangan Wanita (KPW) Kg Beris Tok Ku with the aim of helping the local community to increase the family income and improve the quality of life.
The bag that I carried was made of kercut. Beside me, inside the vase is the dried kercut. Kercut is scientifically known as Lepironia articulate which is a type of weed easily found at the mangrove area along the coastal area. Kercut has been fully utilized by the local community to be made into various products such as a handbag, purse, bottle sheath, placemat, souvenir and even serves as a home decoration purpose.
We had been shown how to process the kercut before use. It must be rinsed with the clay and dried under the sun. This process is important as the kercut-made products would easily be broken into pieces after wear. The clay added is to strengthen the whole structure.
After dried, the kercut would be tied up in a bundle. Next, the women knocked it with a big heavy wood stick to flatten it.
After that, the kercut was ready to be used. It was amazing to see it myself how fast the old mak cik weaving the basket just within 30 minutes. What's more? She is handicapped with only one eyesight and mute. If you happened to be around the Setiu area, why not pay a visit and buy something to support them?
8. Visiting the Rumah Botol (Bottle House)
If you are at an old age, what would you do? I recently met an old uncle aged 75 having a unique hobby of collecting threw glass bottles at the seaside. Until today, he has collected more than 7000 bottles at his house. His name is Pak Ali. He started to collect the bottles when he found out a number of drifted bottles being disposed along the beach of Kampung Penarik and Kampung Mangkuk. He felt sad and worried about the safety of visitors on the beach as the drifted bottles on the beach was deliberately broken up into pieces which at the same time also polluted the sea.
As the collected bottles became more, his wife suggested him to build a bottle house to put all his collections. The first bottle he collected was a burnt bottle without any crack. His precious collection was found along the Dead Sea in Egypt when travelling there in 2013.
He explained enthusiastically his story to all the visitors. The blue bottle at the left was gifted by his son last year when travelling oversea.
He is an unusual man that I have seen. But what he did was for the benefit of the local community. I really hope the bottle house could continue for years as a reminder for the community to keep up the effort of protecting our Mother Earth.
9. Stay at the Malay traditional houses aged more than 100 years @ Terrapuri Heritage Village
I always wondered how's Malaysian life 100 years ago. Perhaps one could find the answer in Terrapuri. Terrapuri (The Land Of Palaces) is a conservation and restoration project of Terengganu Malay Classic house. Its feature 29 antique hundred years old Classic Houses.
The layout of the resort is inspired by the 17th century Terengganu Palace and its surrounding. Terrapuri consists of 20 exclusive restored villas, a gallery and a beach house. The weed behind me is kercut as I explained above.
The houses were built entirely of Cengal wood. The walls, doors, windows and gables consist of separate wood panels which are fitted together using wooden joints held in place by pasak from penaga wood. It can be dismantled and reassembled anytime. The owner bought over the traditional houses from the local Malay and transformed them into a resort.
Terrapuri Village is definitely a recommended place to stay when you come over to Terengganu. Till here my sharing of the list for top 9 interesting things to do in Terengganu. I will update more on this beautiful state in coming time. Please tell me too (in comment) what do you think about this place after my sharing.
To view my previous travel experience in Terengganu:
Have not explore much of Terengganu other than went to Redang for my honeymoon many years ago. Would love to bring kids to aterengfanu especially Redang.
ReplyDeleteI wish you can repeat it soon :D
Deletei hope one day i can go to Terengganu..
ReplyDeletethe place quiet beautiful too
Yup quite beautiful
DeleteI'm really miss Terengganu. Dah lama tak pergi...
ReplyDeletepergilah kan dekatje
DeleteYou're welcome
ReplyDelete