A Memorable Afternoon Exploring Pulau Carey

Introduction

Over the weekend, we brought Mom and Dad for an afternoon outing to Pulau Carey. Our main focus was to delve into the rich cultural heritage of the Mah Meri community at Pulau Carey, but we also squeezed in an immersive drive around Sime Darby’s 100+ year old Palm Oil plantation at EcoGardens.

Mah Meri is one of the 18 Orang Asli groups named by the Malaysian government, and originally called Pulau Carey as their home. They are most known for their intricate wood carvings, with their name loosely translating to forest people (Mah = People, Meri = forest).

Sime Darby’s multiple interconnect palm oil estates sprawls across almost the whole Pulau Carey. As we drove through the island, row upon row of never ending palm trees could be see lining both sides of the road. At an intersection of one such, lies the entrance to Sime Darby’s EcoGarden, branded as an eco-friendly retreat & also houses a one-stop centre with information about the oil palm industry.

Sime Darby Ecogardens

After lunch at Hon Kei Kopitiam, we started our journey to Pulau Carey. Traffc along the Jalan Klang – Banting was busy as usual. Our initial plans was to head straight to Mah Meri Cultural Village, but the enigmatic signboards of Sime Darby Ecogardens & Palm Oil Experience Centre caught our attention. Quick search online yielded nothing informative, and we decided to “explore”. We were stopped at the imposing guardpost entering the area, but we were soon flagged through after registering (simply provide your identification card, and provide your reason for entering). The road leading to nearby Palm Oil Experience Centre was impressively lined by manicured trees and the centre itself was a repurposed prewar building. Unfortunately, we could only peep through the glass doors as it was closed.

We decided to explore further, driving nearly 10km further in passing by an abandoned Hospital, old worker quarters, a few bungalows (info board in front of some of them tells of the original inhabitants being estate managers) & even a functioning sports club.

After the few photos in Hatter’s Castle, we were ready to head out. All in all, our impromptu “short drive ended up taking almost 2 hours.

Mah Meri Cultural Village

Mah Meri Cultural Village is a stone’s throw from the EcoGarden’s junction, and it didnt take us long to reach it. We were initially disappointed to see the entrance closed, but thankfully someone peeped throug the door, and warmly welcomed us in after realizing we intended to visit. The Cultural Village distantly reminded us of the Mari-Mari Cultural Village in Sabah, which we visited recently. The difference being, Mah Meri Cultural Village is fully manned by volunteers and they come and go (likely as they wish). This center also targets tour group, and is generally much less busy compared to Mari-Mari. As there was no pre-arranged tour on that day, the center was almost devoid of people. Besides the booth peddling trinkets and gifts, the weaving station was the only station opened for the day. Fortunately, we bumped into the center’s director, Mr Rashid’s son (I think his name is Ahmad, I forgot) who kept us company as we toured the center. He tried his best to make things interesting, but without the people, it was tough to capture the attention of Mom, Dad and even the girls.

Dropping by Kopi Senget for Tea Break

Weather has been cloudy thus far. Even so, temperature was still humid and warm. We were on a lookout for a place to rest and grab a quick bite before heading over to our next destination. Mummy found us a coffee station beside the busy Jalan Klang – Banting, charmingly named Kopi Senget.

Bukit Jugra Lighthouse

With tummy filled, its time to head over to Bukit Jugra Lighthouse. Mummy and I first hiked this hill back in Oct 2021, and was keen to bring both my parents to enjoy the view from here. There’s a road leading all the way up to the lighthouse, and a short 100m walk from the carpark to the viewing platform.

With that, we called it a day, and made our way back home.

TLDR

Places Of Interest

• Hon Kei Kopitiam: unpretencious kopitiam serving Cantonese style cuisine. Their recommended menu items includes curry laksa (paired with BBQ pork, roasted pork and/or steamed chicken) & Portugese egg tarts.
• Sime Darby Plantation Ecogardens: a eco-resort located in the middle of a 100-year old palm oil estate. Old pre-war bungalows lie scattered across the sprawling estates, and a 18-hole golf course to keep avid golfers entertained. All their attractions (Museum, Experience Center, etc) were unfortunately closed when we were there on Saturday, 8 July 2023.
• Mah Meri Cultural Village: Located in Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Bumbun, its a center focusing on providing the villagers nearby employment, while ensuring continuity to their cultural practices, arts and rituals.
• Kopi Senget Cafe: a simple cafe serving cakes, coffee and some meals (nasi lemak, longtong, laksa, etc) located along the busy Jalan Banting-Klang
• Bukit Jugra Lighthouse: located near the peak of Bukit Jugra, this towering structure was built back in 1976. There’s also a viewpoint of the Sungai Langat river mouth as it drains into Selat Melaka.

Misc Tips

• Stop & register at the guardpost if you are interested to enter Sime Darby’ EcoGarden. Better to call ahead (we did not) if you intend to visit the attractions to check if they are open.
• Mah Meri Cultural Village targets group tours. Although they are open for walk in tourist, do call ahead to ensure they are “open”. The center is ran by volunteers, with the activities depending on the availability of the villagers. If there are no booked tour groups, the activity booth might be closed.
• You can alternatively hike up to Bukit Jugra instead of driving up. There’s two trailhead leading up, one via the tar road (map to the carpark at the foot) and the alternative one via jungle trail (map to Al-Muttaqin Mosque Permatang Pasir). I will update with my writeup covering the jungle trail later (WIP).