Exploring Ancient Wonders and Natural Beauty of Lenggong Valley

Introduction

We were treated to a pleasant surprise when school declared 3 days holiday in conjunction with Hari Raya Haji. This means it’s an opportunity to get the whole (well almost, missing one family who’s not in the country) gang together for a short get together. Initially, we were all feeling sluggish and a 1 night trip was floated, but as the planning gained momentum, everyone voted for 2 nights instead. 

We dusted off Lenggong Valley, one destination that we planned to explore twice before, and even managed to finally secure a spot at Kuak Resort. 

Lenggong Valley is a UNESCO world heritage site located in the north of Perak, sandwiched between two mountain ranges, ie the Titiwangsa Range on the east and the Bintang Range on the west. It’s an area that has profound level of archaeological value, both discovered and undiscovered. It is where a nearly complete skeleton of Perak Man was unearthed and is also said to contain evidences of the oldest humanoid settlement outside of the African continent. Sadly, the little time we spent in this area showed that it has not gotten much attention nor interest from Malaysians. Dilapidated buildings, undeveloped attractions & tired attractions lie scattered across the area. There’s so much potential that can be unlocked, and it’s depressing to see that this potential is left mostly untapped. 

Departing Penang  

Our drive from Penang to Lenggong routed us through Alor Pongsu exit, passing through some smaller towns before cutting across the Bintang Range. The journey was unexpectedly picturesque, and the twisting road as we ascend and descend the mountain range was also a fun drive. We even managed to take a quick stop to take in views of Air Terjun Tebing Tinggi thundering down the cliffs. Kids were asleep, so we could just soaked in the view from the car.

Archeological Caves of Bukit Kepala Gajah Complex

We kick started our exploration of the valley with a guided tour to 12 caves within the Bukit Kepala Gajah limestone massif, led by our guide Eleng, Ah Yin & Mak Yie. We were blessed to be able to secure Eleng & his team, as things usually slows down during Raya Haji (as usually the case in most smaller towns). While waiting for the last family to arrive, we slathered on some Minyak Cap Kapak, an eucalyptus oil based ointment proven to deter leeches, which we would like encounter along the trail (since it rained the day before). After a quick brief, we headed off to our first cave, Gua Memerang.

The next cave, Gua Asar has a photogenic Kembang Semangkuk tree right at the mouth. We also spent some time trying to spot Cicak Batu, which is endemic to Lenggong Valley, but failed. We could only spot some old eggs shells packed tightly within the narrow cracks along the walls at the back of the cave.

We stopped by another huge Pokok Kembang Semangkuk Jantung, where we were thought how to signal an SOS (3 times, with a pause in between) if ever we got lost in the jungle. Struck properly, the hollow sound emitted as it travels up the trunk will travel a few kilometers.

The striations seen on walls of Gua Ngaum indicating the area would likely be submerged in water many millenials ago. We unfortunately needed to skip Gua Ngaum as a phyton was recently spotted inside.

Fun fact: during our hike, we learned from our guide that there were 2 major catastrophic incidences which caused a major change in where and how the early hominid lived. Firstly, a meteorite landed in a flat plane nearby, displacing the early settlers (pre-stone age) to seek shelters in the cave complex. Second catastrophic incident was the eruption of Mt Toba in Sumatra, with the ashes blanketing even this valley, causing the stone age settlers to once again seek shelter in the caves. During the 1940s, this area is also a stronghold for the local communist army, with weapon cache being discovered in certain spots as well (ie Gua Tiga Lapis).

From Gua Ngaum, we headed to Gua Ular the 4th cave we visited thus far. As we hike through the cave, we were accompanied by the high pitched call of bats high overhead, disturbed by our presence.

We arrived at the next cave, Gua Batu Hijau. On the greenish walls, Eleng pointed out pictograms by early 20th century Negrito farmers. Aleng also tells of the beautiful crystals inside the cave, which we can no longer access/view as the entrance has since collapsed.

Navigating from cave to cave is actually not too difficult, but some section requires a little bit of flexibility, As we headed to our next cave, we needed to scramble up a slippery slope, and carefully making our way across a shaft. The kids naturally made it look easy, while us adults were left carefully threading our way across.

By now we have passed the halfway mark, and we stopped for a breather at the next one, called Gua Pentas. Gua Pentas, looks more like a shelf than a cave, with a flat stage like platform towards the back of the cave. Coupled with the gentle cool wind blowing across, we can understand why this is a favourite resting spot for locals tending nearby farms. I can also picture such spots as this being used by Jesus as he preached.

We finally arrived at Gua Teluk Kelawar, where the Perak Woman was found. There were many excavation pits left uncovered in front of the cave. Evidences found tells of this being a major marketplace for the land tribe and water tribe to meet and barter. Sea shells, river snail shells, batu pelandas (ie a chopping board made of stone) were left in the open by the archeological team, to allow visitors like us to appreciate the discoveries here.

By now, we were running a little behind. Instead, we quickly bypassed some smaller caves, as we retraced our steps to take the other branch towards Gua Puteri. Gua Puteri is a beautiful cave, but sees many signs of recent human presence (graffiti on wall, missing rock features, etc). Local legend tells of a newly wed prince & princess being cursed as a rock guardian of the cave (the princess like head is no longer there as it is suspected to be recently stolen), and Gua Puteri is the resting place of this tragic couple.

On our return journey, we took a “shortcut” through Gua Kajang, to our starting point. Gua Kajang was where a couple more skeletons and stone based tools were unearthed.

Right beside the entrance of Gua Kajang, is the entrance to Gua Gelap. Its a short small caves that allows you to get really close to bats!

With that, we concluded our “caving” expedition. We quickly washed up, and checked for leeches. Mei-mei (she seems to attract them) and I picked up a couple of bites each, while Che-che & Mommy had none.

Lunch & Lenggong Archeological Gallery

I initially estimated a generous 3 hours to complete the caving hike, but we ended up taking 4.5 hours instead. It was really late by the time we said our thanks and bade our guides goodbye, & the immediate order of business was to tend to our growling tummies since it was nearly 3pm, way past lunch time. Restoran Tasik Raban thankfully still had food when we called ahead. 

We quickly wolved down our meal, and satiated, we debated whether to head to Lenggong town to look for dinner (yes we think of food all the time), or to cover the archeological gallery nearby. We knew we were not going to be able to cover both as it was past 4pm by then, (we were reminded multiple times by the resort that the last 4wd is at 5pm) so we decided to split up. Our family went to the gallery with a few others, while the rest went to Lenggong town to look for food. 

The Gallery was disappointing to say the least. The main gallery was still under renovation (I wonder since when), and only a small temporary gallery was available to tourist. There’s a replica of the Perak Man skeleton, some info boards, and some other replicas of tools discovered in the valley.

Up to Kuak Resort For The Day

We quickly dashed into our cars as it started raining by then. Thank God the downpour was a short one, stopping when we arrived at the Kuak parking site. We were just in time, arriving 10mins before the last 4WD.

Checkin was relatively quick, and we jumped into the pool as soon as we dropped our luggages. The pool water was greenish but clear, as it is fed by river water.

The group that headed to Lenggong to look for dinner came back empty handed, so we all ended up ordering dinner from the cafe. Dinner done, we sat back and chit-chat over chilled Soju, before adjourning to the stage for karaoke. We sang our voice coarse belting out songs from our generation. 

Apit, one of the on ground crew handed us a box of fireworks to usher in Hari Raya Haji. He even strung a 2m long “ang pao” from the awning of the Cafe that we were to light at the stroke of midnight. Our plans to bed down by 11pm just went out the window.  

River Play at Amazing Camp Legacy

The next morning, sunrise was a slightly muted affair as thick clouds blanketed the horizon. Breakfast onsisted of simple spread – nasi lemak, some kuih, cereal & bread. As usual, we “opened” our own cafe brewing variety of coffee while enjoying toasted sourdough.

Before we knew it, it was time to head down for our scheduled trip to Amazing Camp Legacy, a nearby campsite along Sg Danglang. Dato Rashid who owns and operates the camp is a retired police commando who headed the task force to repel the Lahad Datu incursion back in 2013. His campsite is also known as VAT69, as his team consist of other ex commandos, some of whom were also involved in the 1969 incident.   

A short van ride later, we arrived at the camp grounds. The usually busy campsite was devoid of crowd, I guess because of Hari Raya Haji holidays. It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy exclusive use of the place. The river cutting through the campsite is formed via many interconnected streams. We slowly made our way upstream by scrambling across the many boulders and rocks lining the riverbed, we periodically need to maneuver our way through some rapids, some more challenging one required us to go on shore, before getting back into the river.

The dark clouds which was slowly covering the skies, eventually dumped it’s contents and we all carefully worked our way back downstream. Timing was good as our lunch was just delivered a short while ago. 

Dato Rashid put together some delicious Raya themed dishes which included rendang daging, ayam kurma, sayur londeh, ayam goreng & telur dadar paired with lemang & nasi impit. The rendang daging especially was so good that we sopped up every single drop of the rendang.

Once again the downpour didn’t last very long. While waiting for Dato Rashid to pick us up, we tried our hands at crawling across a nearby rope. 

Back Up to Kuak for More Fun

All of us were lazy after lunch and decided to head back to Kuak Resort to chillax. Since we were in our swimming suits, we jumped into the pool. The water was much colder than yesterday, likely because of the recent downpour.

After dinner, we were looking forward to round 2 of karaoke, but this time the kids took over the mic & belted more recent tunes. The adults meanwhile sat down for more nighttime tipples. To end the night, we pulled out a deck of cards and did our usual pre-scribed method of light-hearted big-small to decide who gets punished (usually involves needing to finish leftovers).

Exploring Kuak Resort

The next morning, we were greeted with thick low clouds blanketing the foothills.

Once again, we “opened” our pop-up cafe serving coffee & sourdough. Our initial well thought out, carefully discussed (intense 1.5 hours discussion the day before) plans to head over to Lata Kekabu was vetoed by the kids who wanted to play in the pool. Oh well, us adults were more than happy to just kick back & relax. I took the opportunity to do some exploration, firstly heading to a trail at the back of the resort, and secondly heading down towards the river running parallel to the road out from Kuak Resort.

Delicious Lunch at Lenggong Town

Time flew quickly by, and we rushed all the kids out of the pool and headed down. 

We drove over to a nondescript restaurant in Lenggong Town called Chat Sook Restaurant, located “behind” the main road (ie Jalan Besar Belakang). Two not to be missed dish whenever you are in Lenggong is the “Sei Dou” (ie wolf herring, or ikan parang) fishballs paired with bird-eye chilli (ie cili padi) sauce, and steamed fresh river fish. Quite a few of us were also fans of sambal fried pucuk paku (ie ferns).

A (Not So) Short Coffee Break

With a full tummy, we went hunting for coffee before making the drive down to Kuala Kangsar. Google map showed a promising coffee kiosk a short 10 mins drive away. We were expecting Pio Coffee to be just a simple kiosk by the roadside, but little did we expect that it is nestled amongst the beautiful grounds of Sumpitan Glamping. A quick pit stop became a lengthy coffee break instead. We had to drag ourselves to leave, as we wanted to arrive at the Masjid DiRaja Ubudiah Kuala Kangsar before the Asar prayers. 

Touring Kuala Kangsar

The decision to leave proved timely, as rain began to fall. We rushed to our cars and finally drove southwards towards Kuala Kangsar. As it was late (and raining), we skipped Victoria Bridge and headed straight to Masjid Di Raja Ubudiah. ETA shows we will arrive around 425pm, giving us barely half hour before the devotees would stream in for prayers.

It was disappointing to see some of the more popular tourist attractions like the Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery, and even the beautiful Istana Kenangan Museum closed to public. We drove past the gallery, and around the palace, while we could only stop for photos in front fo the museum.

The first & oldest rubber tree in Malaysia can be found here in Kuala Kangsar. Looking pretty similar to the other trees lining Jalan Tun Razak, this tree is said to be close to 140 years old.

Dinner & Saying Our Goodbyes

The hot humid weather called for a round of ice cream. We circled around Kuala Kangsar before landing at Simida Snow Ice. It was a very comfortable venue, and more importantly was big enough to comfortably fit our large group. We ended up ordering dinner off the menu for the kids, while us adults found another restaurant nearby serving Nasi Kerabu & Nasi Ulam.

We bade our goodbyes and the gentlemen (jokingly) promised to continue our adventures on the special (non existent) 12 midnight fire fly river cruise at Nibong Tebal. As usual, we parted our ways with a heavy heart, unforgettable memories & boat load of laughters. Till our next adventure!

TLDR

Places of Interest

• Chat Sook Restaurant: Restaurant that serves a wide variety of delicious dishes. Located off the main road, it is popular for its “Sei Dou” fishball & steamed river fish in ginger (lots of it).
• Amazing Camp Legacy : A nice campsite by Sg Danglang. Many pangkin (ie platforms) by the river available for rent. There are also other lodgings (command tents) available at main building area.
• Bukit Kepala Gajah Cave Complex: Limestone Massif with many caves that you can explore. Easily accesible, some of the more popular archeological caves here include Gua Kajang, Gua Teluk Kelawar, Gua Ngaum & Gua Asar. Other interesting caves here includes Gua Puteri and Gua Batu Hijau. Gua Gunung Runtuh, where Perak Man was discovered is also located in the vicinity, but am told that the trail is a little bit more challenging. Contact Eleng via facebook to arrange.
• Other Cave complex includes Gua Harimau and Gua Badak. Gua Harimau was where eleven skeletons, pots and bronze tools were found in the cave in the 1980s and 90s, the tools proof of the existence of an early Bronze Age in Malaysia. Gua Badak rock face are where petroglyphs (not the work of the early man but by aboriginal orang asli) can be found. Contact Eleng via facebook to arrange.
• Simida Snow Ice: a cafe spealizing in bingsu (Korean shaved ice). Also serves simple cafe meals like spaghetti, fries, etc. Great place to cool down especially in hot weather
• Masjid DiRaja Ubudiah : Arguably one of the most beautiful mosque in the country. Located on Bukit Chandan close to the Istana Iskandariah. Welcomes guest & visitors.
• Istana Iskandariah: I believe it is open to public only during special occasions (Raya open house). On normal days, you will only be able to circle outside the grounds
• Istana Kenangan: Closed when we visited in July 2023 (for renovations).
• Galeri Sultan Azlan Shah : Closed when we visited in July 2023 (unknown reason).
• Malaya First Rubber Tree: The first rubber tree planted in Malaysia, estimated to be over 140 years old, is now said to be worth almost RM200,000.

Lodging

• Kuak Hill Resort: a resort offering villas (different sizes, smallest sleeps 2) and tents (sleeps 4, with option to add 2) for rent. On ground there’s a pool filled with river water, mini rabbit petting farm, & bird aviary. You will also be able to participate in ATV rides (RM150/machine), jungle hiking (RM50/pax), orchard walks, etc. Resort lies around 250m above sea level on the slopes of Kuak Hill, and offers a panaromic view of Banjaran Titiwangsa
• Sumpitan Glamping: Ran by Zack, this campsite sits right beside a river. It has limited (I counted 8) Arabian glam tents & rooms. Grounds is beautiful, with many spots (tables, platforms) scattered over the large grounds for you to hang out at.

Misc Tips

• Besides Minyak Cap Kapak, other pungent oils like Yu Yee oil is also effective against leeches. FYI, Eucalyptus oil is known as Minyak Kayu Putih which can be commonly found in your friendly neighbourhood pharmacies.
• Kuak Resort Cafe can be slow, especially if you have many orders. In our case, eventhough we pre-ordered our dinner, it took them more than an hour to complete our orders, one reason being they cook 1 set of order at a time. If you are here with a big group, compile your order to a single bill, and focus on similar choices, so that the kitchen will be able to prepare quicker.
• Contacting Kuak via whatsapp can be a frustrating experience. Drop a mail to their sales department requesting for them to call you instead, if your attempts are not successful.
• Remember to call ahead especially if you are travelling here on major holidays. Its a small town, and its generally laid back, with business potentially shutting down as well.
• Dato Rashid & runs motivation and team building activities here in the campsite
• Nash, a local guide who operates Rumah Tiang 16 homestay partners the community to offer an immersive experience in Lenggong. Reach out to him, as he selflessly helped me put together our itinerary.
• Do come dressed decently (long pants, head scraf, etc) if visiting the mosque. That said, if you forgot, Ubudiah Mosque is very tourist friendly. They have clothings that you can use to cover up. Locate the friendly caretaker, who will be more than happy to walk you through the history and unique architecture as well. Do place some $$ into the “tabung masjid” (mosque money box).
• If you need a washroom, mosque is generally a great option. Especially non-Muslims, do remember to take note & respect their practices (take off your footwear when entering washroom). Also, remember to place some $$ into the “tabung masjid” (mosque money box).