On a trans-Malaysian road trip covering the East Coast of Malaysia, Kuala Terengganu and the East-West Highway we stopped in Lenggong Valley on the return leg and stayed for 2 nights in the wonderful heritage wooden Malay house of Rumah Tiang 16 in the World Heritage Town of Lenggong.
Run by Nasir Jalaludin (Nash) and his wife Aishah Ma his concept is to introduce visitors to the culture, traditional lifestyle and nostalgic heritage of the fascinating region of Lenggong highlighting the local cuisine, key archaeological/geological sites and other interesting locations around the Lenggong Valley. His dedicated promotion of eco-tourism/green-tourism of Lenggong is to be commended and his efforts is also bringing many economic benefits to the locals who live in this area.
Nash arranged all our meals and a large number of private excurions around the valley making it a comprehensive and fascinating introduction to the rich wealth of culture, history and interesting sights of this unique region. Having been in Malaysia for over 30 years now this was a real introduction to the traditional kampung lifestyle and history of Lenggong Valley.
This visit was one to be remembered and **highly recommended** for visitors who wish to explore the incredible Lenggong Valley and experience the delights of heritage living in a traditional Malay house.
On our arrival Nash, dressed in a beautifully coloured Malay costume welcomed us with some local food delicasies and drinks then gave us a tour and introduction to the house. It was nice to see Nash had an antique Jaguar Sovereign in his driveway.
The house was a traditional wood design with a number of bedrooms off the main living area. The wooden floorboards moved and creaked as you walked over them requiring a gentle tip-toe approach when walking over the floors to minimise noise. Nash had decorated the inside of the house with an incredible and interesting collection of antiques which fitted the style and setting of the house perfectly. Rumah Tiang 16 simply means a 16 Pillars House… a regal chengal wood traditional wooden house.
On the first evening we had dinner served in the house but before that we all dressed up in local sarongs with Nash giving us detailed instructions on how to dress properly – what a fun evening. The food selection was all locally produced items and of course we had to eat this in the traditional way of just using our right hand.
On our last morning prior to our departure we had breakfast in the outside porch area with Aishah serving us with delightful trays of handmade Chinese dumplings with some real Chinese tea to accompany this served from an old traditional teapot from China – wonderful!!
We also had a local lady come and give us a demonstration in the art of making bedak sejuk/sui fan – a cooling beauty powder made from ground rice.
Nash bid us farewell by playing his old gramaphone which just topped off our visit perfectly.
Passionate Photographer …. Lost in Asia
Stuart Taylor of HighlanderImages Photography has been making images for over 30 years and can offer a diverse range of photo imaging services with a focus on Asia and a documentary/photojournalistic style. These services include planning and executing a photo shoot on location but importantly all the post-processing and image preparation needed for the specific finished media format required by the customer. Stuart’s experience and knowledge in all of these aspects make HighlanderImages Photography a one-stop-shop for a comprehensive and professional image production service.
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