Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Camping in Pantai Kerachut

KERACUT located at the end of Teluk Pahang. It is so called Penang National Park. (The smallest national park in Malaysia.). You can reach Pantai Keracut by hiking or boat. This is a pleasant place for hiking lover. I like the beauty of nature here.




The entrance 
There was one day, we went to the beach near to Flamingo Hotel. We lied on the beach and listened to the waves, the feeling was calm. This was the inspiration that inspired us to go for camping in Kerachut Beach.




~ The journey to feel the lovely of nature ~

What to prepare?
 A brief preparation is needed since it is not a day trip. Things like Tent, Water, Food, are compulsory. Different people may require different amount. It depends. We brought a bottle of 5 litre + 2 X 1.5 litre water, a few packs of instant noodle, and some canned  food with us. A considerate reminder, if there are only 2 people a bottle of 5 litre water will be enough. Too much water will be the burden of the hike.

Beware of this, make sure you are on the right track
As we reached there, it was 5 something pm, we registered ourselves at the counter and begun the journey immediately, because we wanna catch the sunset, so we have to reached there by 7 pm.

We captured the beach once we passed the main entrance. There were people building sand castle with their children. Yup! This place will be a good location for family gathering as else. 

If you don't wish to travel the long and winding journey leading to Teluk Pahang, the beach near Flamingo Hotel which I have mentioned above would be a good option for family trip instead. 

Okay this is the first junction for us to choose the destination. We chose the left path heads to Pantai Kerachut. I heard some of the friends who went to Monkey Beach and Muka Head Light house before. They suggested it is a good place, but the hiking journey will be much longer and tougher. We will share the information once we have the chance to pay a visit.



~Jungle Trekking~
The trekking was easy at the beginning, even when going up hill. But later on, it was so tough and exhausting because of the heavy package that we carried with us. It was actually trekking in a jungle, so frequently we went up and down hill, and it became challenging to us when it came to a very steep passage. There rocky step  stone and rope in steep passage to avoid slipping. Along the way, we kept on chatting and talking endlessly and joyfully.

On the way heading to Pantai Keracut, there was an incident happened, in around 6:45 pm, we felt that we were not in the right track, we felt like missing in the jungle when the sky started to turn dark. We were silent in the moment, and after a some discussion, we decided to take my suggestion, going back to the last junction we passed. and take the other route. And fortunately, my instinct was correct, I could recognize the route later on, as I has been here for a few times before.

Here we are..


~The Sunset~
Yet, the most important was we managed to witness the spectacular sunset at the right time once we reached.

Without wasting a moment, we open up our tent and lied on it and enjoy the sunset. The sky near to the horizon was red and orange in color. The sun was in a total red, the school of cloud covering the sun was in full red, lighter than the sun, the group of could farther away from the sun was orange and a golden layer of could was above them. The scene was tremendously charming and romantic, and certainly it was even better with the endless sound of the wave. The sunset was brief, real fast, and later on darkness has totally cover the sky and the beach.



~Facilities~


After talking to the ranger over there and showing our camping permit, we started setting up our tent, and went for shower. There is toilet and bathroom over there, and in the campsite the is a place like a kitchen under a shelter. The facility is good over there, all basic necessity are available. And we have company also, there 2 more groups of campers there.

After the rejuvenating shower, we filled up our hungry stomach with the instant food that we brought. Instead of setting a fire, which to me is not environmental, we cooked with a portable stove, which was pretty convenient to use. After the refreshment, for sure we wanted to go for a stroll along the beach.
Next, a big surprise was brought to us by our luck, that night the sky was stellar. I really didn't expect it, because the sky was cloudy during the sunset, and he told me there might not be stars tonight. He was always told by his mum that the stars are so obvious when the place is in sheer dark. But we never had an opportunity to witness it until tonight we can prove that it was so true. I can't recall that whether there was moon in the night, because the stars were so wonderful, they are fully scattered in the sky. The stars were the brightest that I have ever seen, they really twinkling constantly if you check on them intently. I knew that the light of the star that we can see is not the reflection of the sunlight, because each star is like some kind of sun, in far far far away. By understanding this fact, it made me felt that the universe and this world is too big, and me myself was like nothing as compared to it, recalled back all the problems and emotions that I had in the past, they were actually nothing, there had actually no value for me to mind and to hate. we were too small and micro. With the sound of the wave, it made it even relaxing and relieving, and for some moment, my mind was really in a state of empty, and the feeling was rare. We just let our mind indulged in the emptiness for some time, focused on the stars and the wave. The wave is really hardworking, it beats the beach restlessly.

~The Next Morning~
We woke up early in the next morning, snapping lots of wonderful scenes and playing with a flying plate, I don't know what is its name. It was really fun to play with it, for guys I guess. When you throw it, it will  fly slowly and land slowly, and you can't quite predict where it gonna land. Perhaps it was too tiring for a female, so I stop after a moment and focus on the beautiful scene. And the bf continued playing that by himself for a while, it was ok, because if you throw it high it will fly back to your direction.


A sea shell found on the beach



 After strolling for a while, we back to the camp site for break first, instant food again. Perhaps next time, we should bring some healthier food. After taking bath and packing up out stuff, we were ready to end this beautiful trip. In fact we didn't interact much with other campers last night and they were sleeping in morning when we were up. We eventually waved at them and talked to them. We learnt that they were here for fishing and they often went here for fishing.





After that it was time for jungle trekking, again and it meant the trip had really came to an end. We miss that starry so much.

Below are some photos from us.

Registration counter
Registration is needed to get permit ticket


Resting station. 

 This is one special feature in Pantai Kerachut. The lake water is hot at the bottom and cold on the top area




There is a turtle rehabilitation center. 


The pretty sunset which has really cheers us from the tiredness journey.
Can you see the whole cycle of the sunset until the sun is really out of the sight.



 
This is a special history. This route was actually blocked by the hill long time ago. 
The signboard clearly wrote the history of this. And the last sentence of the signboard written : "
Only you can think of the answer, why the ancestor wanted to dug the hill and created the route. "





More information:
Contact :
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks Penang
604-881 3530/ 881 2016/ 261
WebsiteTourism Malaysia

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