2 March to 5 March we holidayed at Tanah Aina. This was long overdue as we were supposed to have made this trip last year during the flood. My son was supposed to celebrate his birthday and cut his cake there with some family friends. Well, better late than never.
The trip took us about 2 hours taking the scenic route from Puchong. A slow drive with a few pit stops included.
As neither me nor my wife has been here before, there were times we questioned Waze as the route was rather secluded and lonely. Hardly any cars passed us.
We pressed on despite this fact.
When we finally reached the parking area, we gave a big sigh of relief. An elderly uncle took us up the beaten path in the resorts 4x4 to the lobby. About a kilometre away.
The resort is secluded in the jungle so internet services and mobile reception are non existent.
The resort does however provide a prepaid satellite broadband WiFi service at RM45 for 5GB. That also is only accessible in the lounge area and it’s surrounding.
We checked in at 12.00pm and were immediately lead to our unit.
The walk path was such a beauty and serene. We were surrounded by lush greenery. All around us were bustling with wildlife and flowers. A bit of warning for the faint hearted. Bugs, insects and amphibians all around. Be prepared for that. It’s the jungle after all. As AXL Rose so eloquently put it, Welcome to the jungle, we got what you need. Well, we are in their territory after all.
About a full 3 minutes walk from the lobby to our unit. Our unit was the last and the biggest.
At the end of the walk path the flight of stairs led us to our unit. We had to tread carefully not to slip as it may be slippery due to the rains
The view we had was awesome as we faced the Delam river. Bonus points are that units facing the river had their own walkway to the river. I am made to understand that Delam river is the only class 1 river left in Tras district.
There’s something soothing and serene about listening to river flowing. It has a calming and relaxing effect.
Lower down our unit the stream was filled with fish
The room was awesome. All wood structure. Just like your rumah kampung. The heat was unbearable at times, Malaysian weather. But the room being wooden in nature, with a high roof, gaps to allow air flow, was cool. We only had 2 fans. No air conditioning. But the 2 fans did the job splendidly. That is the difference staying in a concrete structure as opposed to wooden in nature.
Back at our home in Shah Alam or my mom’s place in Puchong, we always needed the air conditioning to on, aided by a dyson air purifier and 1 fan to be on, just to sleep at nights.
The place was a blast. Upon arrival, we were served lunch. Do you know any other hotels or resorts providing you lunch upon arrival? Not me. The most I ever got was a complimentary welcome drink upon arrival. This would include 5 and even 6 star resorts. The resort provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. All buffet. Eat to your heart’s content. Generally the food is excellent and had a home cooked taste.
You will bump into creepy crawlers and other bugs, so be prepared.
Come night, we were exhausted but in high spirits because we were looking forward towards our night walk into the jungle.
But dinner before that.
After dinner, we watched some videos that the guides had made of our escapades during the day and were just counting the minutes to our night walk when all of a sudden, without any warning, rain began to pour. So that was that and we went to bed earlier.
The day begins bright and early at 7am. We had a wonderful nature walk up the hill to watch the sun rise.
Then we attacked the buffet for a hearty breakfast.
I did learn from the guides that curry leaves is a form of snakes repellent. They do not like the smell. Hence, they are planted around most of the rooms. Pandan on the other hand attracts them. I guess, like humans, snakes also like the smell.
Throughout our walk in the resort, there was herbs planted. Partly used by the resident chef in his cooking.
Our roaming around the resort continued till night.
These are some of the other units at the resort.
As usual upon nightfall, we attacked the dinner buffet.
As usual upon nightfall, we attacked the dinner buffet.
Pengat durian. Super delicious. Could not have enough of my durian fill. Had 2 big bowls.
As the bathroom and bath was separate from our lodging, about 20 meters away. Trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night might be a scary affair.
We woke up and got ready to see the sun rise once again. This time adults only, minus the kids. Lack of interest on their part.
Unfortunately, the sun did not greet us but mist. We were surrounded by mist due to the rains the previous night.
This is one of the straightest tree we saw growing
This large tree reminded me of how artist sculpture bonsai trees. All the branches spread out, weathered and taking a beating from nature, yet proudly standing strong.
This is the flying fox cable, which again we were not able to participate in due to the lines being wet from the previous rains. The distance from the top of the track to the bottom would be a good 250 meters. I am just guessing.
The excursion from the previous night caused some havoc to the dining area at the resort. Visibly seen is the damage to the wooden rail column.
I suspect this was the culprit. If only I had a 4x4. I would have salvaged this drift wood and made it into a bench or console table.
The water level has half the height of the white table last night during heavy rain. They took the tables and chairs away and cleaned up the area and arranged everything back to order, prior to us having breakfast.
According to the waiter, the dining area gets flooded a more than 10 times a year. The worst was in 2014, when the current swept all the chairs away. The water rose slightly higher than the top of the white table, i.e. waist level.
They had a solid heavy cengal table, a few feet from where were sitting. That table was so heavy that they are enable to move it due to its sheer size and weight. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of it.
We raided the breakfast buffet.
The puri was too crispy and hard. Other food was excellent.
The rest of the day was just a repeat of the previous day. Come night, we had a bon fire. The plan was to have a small one to toast marshmallows and cook some Maggie.
Well as you can see. We could not.
Being our last night, we had a wonderful dinner.
We went to bed exhausted and super full. Brilliant stay. Great staff. Being with nature. What more could you ask for?
I would like to share this important message from the resort.
