Kedah Trip

Wrote this few weeks ago..

Khalis and I are currently in Sungai Petani and we just came back from Pantai Merdeka and Gunung Jerai. Well we didnt actually go to Pantai Merdeka, we just went to the jetty to Pantai Merdeka. Pantai Merdeka's just like 300m from the jetty.

Anyway, the highlight of our day was Gunung Jerai. We drove up to the (almost) peak and discovered heaven. There's a new resort at the summit, The Regency Jerai Hill Resort which was officially open only last month. It was previously a goverment bungalow but the bungalow now is nowhere in sight replaced by 72 chalets instead. (But it didnt look like 72 to me. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 25, max)

A 12km winding road connects the main road to the resort and after travelling that road, we found that Cameron Highlands is nothing. It's very steep and the corners are really sharp (a lot were u-turn like). Good thing was that its only 12km.

It was still early when we reached the top and we couldnt see anything on the grounds below as the mist was too thick. (Khalis and I were arguing if the mist's actually cloud. If you look at Gunung Jerai from afar, you'd see that the summit's blanketed with clouds. But once on top, its kinda hard to 'swallow' that we're IN the clouds.) And there was light drizzle as well. The weather got better 15mints later and we were presented with a truly magnificent view - as if there's another set of heaven below with both sawahs and sea in the picture..

The air was sooooooo fresh, pretty much the same air we breathed in Norway, but maybe 4 or 5 degree Celcius higher. We walked around admiring the beauty and pastuh brenti makan at the only diner there, Puncak Kedah, which was a fine-dining kinda thing. We sat at the best table (view-wise) in the restaurant and ordered latte, apple juice and toast. The only 'potong' thing was that they were trimming the lawn when we were waiting for our food and noise they made was super loud

Architeture-wise, the resort is ok. Wasnt actually great (except the suites) but acceptable. But the view from all the rooms mmg awesome and you couldnt care less about the building. Besides, the rooms are cheap too. The most expensive ones are yours for RM500/night. I totally understand the thinking. Why invest heavily and build something like YTL's Pangkor Laut when it cant attract the kinda crowd Pangkor Laut does? Besides, I'd believe that being gazetted as hutan simpan kekal there's not much land available for development up there and limited facilities = limited upside income potential

I like the resort, but I wouldnt recommend it to everyone. Other than great view and fresh air, there's nothing else there. If you're the kind that can survive with only good books+internet and value fresh air and great view more than good food and fun activities, then this is the place for you.

I didnt bring my camera, and the photos from Khalis's phone aren't that great. But the blogs below did entries on the resort.

Dan Liew
Fastblox