18 till 21 December, 2009
Not too bad a holiday. The kids definitely enjoyed it. For the longest time, I've had a liking for the name 'cherating', sounds pretty, like fun and happening written all over, well those were my thoughts initially. Looking back, one can only visit it once, i guess. Cherating after all became popular by association with Club Med (located on Cherating Beach). It's a place for those who want to get away from the city and laze in the hotel and at the beach. Period. Unless, you prepare beforehand and come with ideas, like we did. 
We left KL at about 11.30 am on Fri 18 Dec and reached Kuantan at abt 3.00 pm. Don't fall for the 3-hour drive from KL ads, not when u have 6 kids tagging along. Stops were made for snack, toilet and fuel break. Had tea in Kuantan town, and re-confirmed direction from the restaurant lady before heading towards Cherating, which is 40 km from Kuantan.
Finally reached the Holiday Villa Beach Resort at about 4.30 pm. BTW, this trip is courtesy of my bro-in-law who is a member of a vacation club. The booking was done months in advance.
After check-in, the first thing we did was to check-out the beach. Not too bad, so close to the resort. So private and exclusive.
The water was not too clean - isn't there any more blue clear waters on Malaysian shores? but the kids..who cares.. went straight in.
As night fell, we went back to the room and had dinner - making do with all that remaining food that my sis had brought along. Later, we went cruising to check out the night scene of the town, and had a shocker! There absolutely isn't any night life here! No brightly lit malls, tourist shops or crowd! Where are the people-do they all sleep by 9 pm? And the roads were badly lit not to mention the many no of lorries on the road. So we headed back; so much for cruising!On 19 Dec, the morning was spent with the kids in the swimming pool, then the hotel beach.
For lunch we headed to a Mamak Restaurant which we had spotted earlier on our way to the hotel. As everyone was superbly hungry - the lunch seemed delicious. Then we headed to the Turtle Sanctuary at Pantai Chenor, quite close to Club Med. As this was the monsoon season, we didn't get to see turtles come to shore to lay eggs. The staff explained that the Rangers usually collect the eggs of Mama turtles and bury them in a specially built wired enclosure for hatching. The babies are then transferred into the Sanctuary and kept a while before release to the sea. 
Seems the Mama turtle after laying eggs heads back to the sea and never returns to check on her eggs/babies. The vulnerable eggs/babies then becomes easy prey for poachers and predators. This place is worth the visit as there is no charge, and the staff take time to explain turtle, and there is ample photo opportunity. 
We spent some time at Pantai Chenor, spotted an eagle, and watched the kids collect shells. Then we diverted to the Old Cherating town and what a surprise...we saw hoardes of surfers mostly whites and a lot more activities. Looks like this place is the hangout for foreigners as we saw pubs/lounges, small cottage-like restaurants serving all types of western food and ads for kayaking, river cruising etc. We stopped for tea and checked out the rates for a River Cruise. We booked the boat for RM100 for a morning cruise the next day. Back at the hotel, the men went for games while we strolled the beach. On 20 Dec, we got into the boat (with life jackets) just before 9am. Ended up we paid RM110 instead of RM100 as the Myanmar guide who manned the centre insisted on half charge for my 12 yr old niece. The rate is RM20 per adult.
the jetty
The ride was fun; as it passed thick mangrove forest. 
The guide pointed out a few snakes perched on top of trees and took us thru a narrow canal. Quite an experience and sight to behold. The 1 1/2 ride was scenic; we saw local men sitting out in their boats waiting for their catch; prawns and crabs. Later, we headed to Chukai town in the Kemaman district of Terengganu/bordering Pahang. We stopped at Monica Bay first; and I spotted the cleanest public toilet ever. Then we checked out the Kuala Kemaman fishing village.
All along the road you can see sale of the famous Keropok Lekor. Cooked and served on the spot. We had lunch at the River Bend Chinese Restaurant. Food was tasty and quickly served. We lingered for some time at the esplanade facing the river and caught sight of a few eagles.Upon return to the hotel, the kids headed again to the pool. For dinner, as i thought the trip not complete without trying the local ikan bakar, we went searching for one. Talk about expensive fish; siakap at RM45 per kilo! And i thought this was a fishermen's haven. The grilled fish wasn't too good and service stuck. But hot spicy tom yam soup on a rainy night was worth it. Late night we sat at the hotel beach and felt the cool breeze from the South China Sea blow against us; this for me was the best part. Even my 5 yr old son enjoyed the breeze; we also saw crabs criss-crossing the sandy beach under the torch-light.
On the last day, 21 Dec, we checked out late morning and headed towards Sg Lembing where Gua Charas is located. We almost gave up as we thought we lost the way; but I guess the trip was destined as we suddenly saw the road we were looking for. This is the Batu Caves of Pahang! 
You have to drive past a narrow road thru an oil palm plantation to get there. And if u see cows languering at their own pace, just wait it out. A temple guard was there to greet us. He said we were the first visitors for the day so we had the cave all to ourselves. 200 steps ascended into the semi-lit dark cave; another 100 steps descended down. 
At the entrance there is a Buddhist prayer hall, and as you go in you will see the Snake God and the Buddha with Hanuman. Further inside, we spotted a huge Shiva Linga; well kept by local devotees; and the 30 ft long Sleeping Buddha. I am not sure about the history of this cave but why no publicty? We said our prayers, and headed to KL, with a stop at Maran for lunch.Memorable Moments
Sight of baby turtles and their conservation efforts
The Crab-hunters with their prized catch
Charas Cave- for those who of you planning trips to the East Coast;
this is a must-see; if u r lucky u may get to see bats too
Seeing kids simply having fun; where do they get this much energy-don't they tire?
Disappointments
Disinterested locals - not that we expected VIP treatment but the look on their faces! at the restaurant, hotel, fishing village etc and BTW, haven't anyone seen Indians before?
The pricey Ikan Bakar - i could have had tastier ones at lesser price in KL!
The cave that is neglected by the state - kudos to the temple committees that's funding and maintaining it
Lifeless nights
Lessons Learnt
Have breakfast ready - go get bread, tuna, buns, maggie and whatever if u r in a large group as hunting for food can be annoying
Do some homework before going for local holidays - I read about the Charas Cave in a Backpackers' Travel Blog
Bring along sports gadgets in case the boredom at the hotel kills you
Surprises
at the lack of attention given to promote Cherating
at the large number of Keropok Lekor stalls encountered-how much lekor can u eat?
at the cost of grilled fish ; this is East Coast for goodness sake, surely fish is cheaper?
at the cleanliness of that one toilet ; can local govts hire these ppl to teach others pls?
at the number of chinese businesses in Kemaman town - is this really East Coast?
at the lack of beach activities - no motorised sports (then again this is fine, keeps the place more serene and peaceful)
eh eh i collected more shells than you (actually they messed up the bathroom trying to clean their collection of shells)
my name is rishi varman rao. i am 9 years old the writers son. the story was awsem. i loved your story famouse bookriter. but since i was one of the child i did not like the part when,actualy they messed up the bathroom because iwas there in the picture. i was the only boy in the picture.
ReplyDeleteciti u said u got record something =>rishi nice comment....!thivya
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