DAY 1 - Royal Belum -Temenggor Forest Reserve

Breakfast of dim sum....

The prospect of getting the chance to get back to nature for my break or holidays always appeal to me greatly. So, this time when my family travel group suggested Royal Belum National Park, I had no hesitation of agreeing to this trip. To me, though the cost was a little high but it is really unavoidable as the rising cost is one factor that plays the index of tourism industry in Malaysia these days. Sure, we could have easily gone overseas for such a cost but the thought of being back to nature and spending time with great families swayed the decision easily. First and foremost, I must thanked Robin & Jaclyn having the ultimate patience and heart when it comes to planning the outing for this trip. It all started innocently enough during our casual meet after church service and then, Robin & Jaclyn mooted the idea of going to Royal Belum National Park. 

The information board.....

As usual, everyone was excited and pumped up but there weren’t any concrete plans and so on. This dragged on but soon, the burning desire to travel ignited and after much effort and much nudging on each other, the trip finally materialized and the costing were revealed. Sadly, two large families had to decline as it would have been quite a burn in the wallet though and other commitments. I must admit it wasn’t an easy decision and we would have been very happy together as a group, actually. Anyway, finally 4 families including mine decided that we will go to Royal Belum – Temenggor National Park or sometimes known as Royal Belum –Temenggor Forest Reserve.

Yeah. do not assume..our ride is the one on the right

For the benefit of those who do not know about Royal Belum-Temenggor National Park or sometimes known as Royal Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve, it is located in Gerik and it encompasses an area of 117,500 hectares complimented by its diversity of flora and fauna. It is approximately 130million years old and it is the oldest rainforest in the world and according to the fact sheet, it is four times bigger than Singapore! ( Jeng! Jeng! Jeng! ). Anyway, Royal Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve is nature’s best kept secret and among the very last remaining virgin forest in Malaysia. Royal Belum–Temenggor Forest Reserve has the largest concentration of large mammals ( dwindling though over the years ), ten species of the hornbill bird and fascinating rich variety of freshwater fish from the Giant Snakehead ( Toman ), Sebarau, Tenggalan, Kalui, Baung and Kelah. It is also a treasure throve for over 3,000 species of flowering plants including the three species of Rafflesia, the world largest flower ( Rafflesia Kerrii, Rafflesia Cantlyii and Rafflesia Azlanii ). This is the place for nature enthusiasts and nature lovers paradise. 

Our boathouse ride to Belum Eco Resort....

Back to my travels, as I had plans to travel to Penang for my short break, plans were hatched for Robin, Jaclyn, Fook Meng, Joo Li and Sophia Joy to meet us in Penang while Capt Edwin, Lorna and Ethan would travel from Kampar and meet us at Royal Belum Jetty on Sunday, 11 August, 2019. I was really excited about the trip and I know deep in my heart that this is one good trip indeed. I did not get much sleep on Saturday night as there was a lot to do and preparation prior to the trip. Sunday morning came and the excitement ensued incredulously. We ( Robin, Jaclyn, Fook Meng, Joo Li and Sophia Joy ) met up at Chaw Choon Restaurant in Raja Uda for our dim sum fare before we headed towards Kulim and then to Grik. The dim sum tasted good indeed! Our damage bill for stuffing our stomach that morning was RM 63.00 for 8 of us! I have to thank my sister, Lee Lee for bringing us there for breakfast as we say our goodbye to her as she departed for some early morning marketing that morning.

Chill out in the boat....FookMeng, Joo Li, SYuen, Edwin & Lorna

Stomachs filled and spirits up high, we headed towards Kulim, Grik and Royal Belum Jetty. Along the way, my trusted companions, SLing and SYuen were rocked by comforting sleep and waking up only for toilet break and unscheduled stops. At about 11.30am on Sunday, 11 August, 2019, we arrived at Royal Belum Jetty and there to warmly greet us was Capt Edwin. Lorna and Ethan! They had arrived earlier after starting their journey early from Kampar. The view of Banding Lake from the jetty was lovely indeed. 

Chill out in the boathouse....SLing, myself, Jaclyn & Robin...

My heart leapt with joy knowing that we will be spending some lovely days in this beautiful park/forest reserve. The jetty building was impressive with the required information of the forest reserve fashionably portrayed via the pillar art decor. The information pillars and board were impressive and tastefully done but the jetty is an engineering nightmare especially the very slopey ascend/descend of the jetty steps and the foundation. 

Joo Li, SYuen & Jaclyn....

Within 30 minutes of our arrival at the jetty, we finally got to meet Mr. Steve Khong, the proprietor and owner of Belum Eco Resort. My first impression of him was that this was a seasoned adventurer, naturalist, idealist and very committed nature lover. A bespectacled, dark skinned (tan), slim, elderly but one fit fella spoke with much authority and humour as he briefed us on the position of his pontoon catamaran boathouse. What? Wait! Did he mentioned boathouse? Cool, right? So, we trudged along the steps and with bags over our shoulders and lugging along our luggages, we looked like out of place urban bumpkins! But yunno what? Who cares! We are alright. If we can get through motherhood, fatherhood, nagging and over-protective parents, we definitely can survive this! 

The gang on the boathouse....

Steve laughed aloud when there were “oooohhhs” and “aaaahs “ when we saw the bigger houseboat at the lake. Everyone was in awe and amazement when we saw the bigger boathouse. Steve then broke our dream bubble when he said, “ No guys, not that one,la. It is the one beside the big one!” as he pointed to the smaller white boathouse. That got us all laughing our heads off for our own assumptions! Like they used to say in CSI Investigation TV show , “ Never assume anything. Just the facts!“ There was a lot of laughing that day and what a start indeed!  Steve’s boathouse is really really nice, cosy and comfortable indeed. That day, we met with Steve’s wife and resort worker, Borhan who took care of our bags and made sure that everything was in order. 

Chillin'......

During the 45 minutes ride on two 15HP Yamaha boat engine, we moved slowly but surely along Temenggor Lake and the view was breathtaking indeed. We chatted with Steve and his wife along the way and it was a real good time of fellowship and information gathering. There was so much laughter and fun along the way which was good, I must admit. It was also good to get some history lesson and some passionate concern about nature conservation from Steve. Listening to him, you know that this is a nature enthusiast, adventurer at heart and one true blue passionate nature buff. This is hard core and you hardly could find people like that anymore. The other thing is that he is very good at PR and I can understand how his resort does well among the tourist.

Belum Eco Resort...our home for 3 days

The resort pontoon.....

Lunch is served.....

Upon arrival at Belum Eco Resort, we were really glad and happy seeing the resort. Looking at the architecture and the landscape around the resort, it is no mistake that this 8 acre resort was born out of passion and respect for nature. Perched high on the top was the resort café overlooking the beautiful Temenggor Lake. 

Checking out the view of the deck and kalui.....

The view was simply marvelous and relaxing. The cobble stone flooring and the double lookout terrace makes this café building truly towering and magnificent. You get a good panoramic view of the lake and the landscape around you. That was truly captivating indeed. However, the flight of steps up the café from the boathouse pontoon can be challenging for the physically challenged people. The steps are quite strenuous as we found out in the later days after our waterfall hiking adventure! 

Lunch consisting of fried bee hoon, curry chicken and fruits awaited our arrival at the resort. Rumblings and hunger pangs in our stomach were truly filled and satisfied by the really good tasting fried bee hoon and curry chicken. 

At the cafe....

Bak chiu stamp liao!

A good short rest after that was all we needed after a long journey that morning. Robin and I then went down to the pontoon area and started taking out our fishing gear for some fishing action. I must say that the live frogs had been a real nuisance throughout the night at my sister’s place and in the car as they can really croak, man! So, it was time to put their croaking to test by tempting the big & fierce Giant Snakehead ( Toman). It was like telling the frogs, “ Yeah, froggie, it was now time for you to sing and get those fishes around you, you hear? “  After setting up and putting frog bait in the water, we waited for some time but no action came by. As always, prior to putting the live frog in the water, I prayed to God that He would bless our stay and bless our fishing that we ( Robin & I ) would get some fish. That’s my usual practice before fishing. Yeah, sorta putting out my bait of live frog with expectations and hope for the best!

Evening cruise round the lake...

Soon, it was time to do our first activity which is bird watching and lake hopping activity. All 11 of us boarded the boat and with the steady hands of Borhan, we moved steadily across the lake and engulfed the beauty of nature around us. We did not manage to see much animals nor birds but we get to engulf the beauty of nature around us. We get to speak and get to know Borhan, a Bangladeshi who had worked about 5 years at the resort. It was a good relaxing evening as we cruised along the lake.

Evening cruise round the lake...

As the sun begun to mellow down for the day, the view was breathtaking especially the setting glow of the sun that day. We had met another group of people – mixture of Mat Sallehs, locals and Chinese family who were talking enthusiastically, loud and muddied as they ended their day from an outing at Royal Belum waterfall and so on. I wondered if we would be like that tomorrow….hhmmmmmmnnnnnnnn.  What a day! Moving back to the room (A10 ) which was a good 150m away from the café was kinda “long walk” but satisfying as the simple lodging was nice and the view was fantastic, really. What could one have asked for more ; with a hut by the lake with a superb lake view in the evening and morning. What a life! What a view! 

With our boatman & resort worker, Borhan.

Welcome to Belum Eco Resort, Royal Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve, Gerik, Perak, DR! 

Day 1 , DONE !