I was at the Belum-Temengor Rainforest area, or better known as the Royal Belum State park for a visit recently. It was a short trip and as with any trips, the journey or process of getting there is sometimes more than the fun of the destination itself. Our drive up north the state of Perak bordering Thailand took us to Sauk, a small town along the way, before hitting Grik and subsequently Pulau Banding at Belum Rainforest. Idyllic and nostalgic of yesteryears indeed.
Due to budget constraints and the apparent absurdity of losing a limb or two just to step into this 130 million years old national heritage, I’ve skipped the Belum rainforest venture altogether. Instead, I just visited the surrounding nature’s offerings and popped in over at Kampung Semelor, an orang asli village, about an hour’s drive via 4WD through logging trails deep in the jungle.
This beautiful and foremost, neat looking village as per my first impression was due to a need to keep clean and tidy as a mosquitoes prevention measure. A villager whom I spoke to told me this. I was also especially attracted to the fact that every household has a small hollow logĀ bees hiveĀ for their supply of honey.