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Gopeng is quintessentially a Malaysian sleepy hollow. It’s a town that whispers to you, a far cry from the roar it had in the 19th and 20th centuries when it was a tin mining hot spot. Today Gopeng is one of Asia's top adventure destinations. From the heritage of this old mining town, a new haven of eco-tourism and adventure has been unearthed.
Friday | Hup Teck Soya Sauce Factory, Gaharu Tea Valley, Adeline Villa & Resthouse |
Saturday | Ulu Geroh (Rafflesia trek), Museum Gopeng, Earth Camp |
Sunday | Nomad Adventure Mountain School |
The town lies two hours away from Kuala Lumpur, and is near Ipoh. As old mining towns go this tranquil one boasts of rivers, caves, and limestone cliffs.
It was the exact answer for me as I searched for a way to keep the centuries old way of life intact for the locals and the honouring of its history as a mining town.
Soy sauce making process at Hup Teck Soya Sauce Factory. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
History meets craft at Gopeng. First up there is Hup Teck Soya Sauce Factory, one of the last surviving businesses from before the First World War. The secret to its survival lies in a fermentation technique for making soya sauce introduced by the late founder from Guangzhou, China. The heavy earthen pots are used for ageing the bean mixture. According to second-generation owner Low Pak Tong, "The pots absorb heat during the day to allow the fermentation to continue at night and their porous surface allows air circulation which enhances the intensity of the flavour.” These pots are at least a century old.
Locals hanging out at the newspaper stall in Gopeng town centre. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
As you enter the heart of Gopeng town where I would highly recommend that you walk… and walk… and walk… and allow the buildings and architecture to introduce themselves to you, one of the first things you’ll see is a roundabout with a Rafflesia emblem - once the site of Gopeng’s historic core. Nearby, a good number of pre-war buildings that survived a great fire in 1886 still exude an old-world grandeur, standing erect. What you see reflected in the original architecture is a legacy of Gopeng’s multi-ethnic settlers. The footprints of these people crisscross the tin mining town of old.
View from the first checkpoint of the Gaharu Tea Valley tour. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
The high fortified wall (dubbed the Mini Great Wall of China) guarding Gaharu Tea Valley - Malaysia’s first and biggest organic plantation for gaharu, the Malay name for agarwood, may seem tacky, but Gopeng’s most-hyped attraction in recent years is quite fun. For just 10 Malaysian Ringgit (USD$2.20), you get to explore the 300-acre property in an air-conditioned van, and find out why gaharu is so highly prized (answer: it’s incredibly difficult to extract), hug a tree, enjoy stunning valley views from the panoramic stage, and sample gaharu ice-cream.
Adeline Kuo. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Gopeng’s eco-tourism status is intact because back-to-nature resorts and “glamping” sites have mushroomed. One of the sharp business investors at the time built the Adeline Villa & Rest House, which is a must-visit accommodation site.
Adeline Villa & Rest House reception area. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Set on a hilly terrain surrounded by rainforests, this dual-property, solar-power-fuelled accommodation has bamboo-styled rest houses, upscaled chalets and comfortable dorms to choose from - a far cry from its humble beginnings.
Way back in 2004, single parent and hairdresser Adeline Kuo saw the future of eco-tourism and opened up a barebones campsite as a way to earn a living and better support her children. You can’t help but admire her for her business savviness and grit.
Today, this bubbly lady employs more than 50 workers with some of them from the ‘underserved’ Semai Community who make up one per cent of Malaysia’s population. The Semai people were a formerly nomadic minority indigenous tribe famed for their forestry knowledge. Today they use that knowledge to contribute to eco-tourism and maintain the adventure activities of Gopeng. Adeline’s motto in life is simple, “When you make others happy, you are also happy.”
Breakfast at Adeline’s: Porridge with fried fish, fermented vegetables, braised peanuts, spring onions, anchovies on the side. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Knock yourself out at dinner with Adeline’s legendary village-style buffet. The ingredients are indigenously sourced. The local specialties include asam laksa, which is rice noodles in a spicy-sour broth, nasi ulam or rice salad, tau fu far which is soya bean curd, barbeque, kueh (dessert snacks), and a whole lot more. A large gulp of cool mountain air is highly recommended after dinner. And the mountain also serves up some delights for the eye. Brilliant orange striped spiders, baby birds and glow-in-the-dark mushrooms.
A 10-minute drive on a narrow hillside road will bring you to Kampung Batu, one of five villages that make up Ulu Geroh, otherwise known as Gopeng’s gateway to fertile grounds of the Rafflesia, the world’s biggest flower. While not unique to this area, researchers say Ulu Geroh has the highest concentration of the Rafflesia, which blooms once every nine months and dies mere days later.
One of many guides available, Bah Insan, is a Semai. Many Semai people resort to becoming tour guides as a way to improve their lives. That way the knowledge they have inherited from their ancestors also lives on.
Rafflesia in bloom. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
To get to the Rafflesia, you will go on a one-hour trek up the Leech Trail (which lives up to its name, so be prepared). The journey can be a little daunting - the trail is one continuous elevation, with some sections at a 45 degree angle - all worth it as you see the Rafflesia in full bloom.
Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterfly. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
From here, you’ll proceed to a nearby site famous for spotting the rare Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterfly with metallic-green and black wings. Insan hopes to educate the public about Ulu Geroh’s biodiversity so that his community “can have a stronger voice to oppose activities that harm the forest.” A few years ago, he joined forces with the locals to petition against illegal logging and by winning that battle he has helped keep the forest and its wild inhabitants protected for the next generation.
Lunch being prepared. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
A scrumptious communal meal that the Semai womenfolk cook up using natural “utensils” like bamboo and firewood is the icing on the cake. Your host probably caught the fish from the nearby river the previous evening and foraged the jungle for ulam or wild ferns, to go with your rice and durian sambal, a pungent fermented condiment you’ll hate or love. Sorry, there really is no middle path with durian.
Anyam, or traditional weaving by the Semai. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Post-lunch, Insan’s sidekicks will treat you to an indigenous arts and crafts demonstration. Learn about anyam which translates to traditional weaving, as the ladies skilfully entwine coconut leaves into headgear and baskets. Be pleasantly surprised by the humane philosophy behind Semai hunting techniques; the sumpit, a bamboo blowpipe used to catch small animals, delivers instantaneous death, sparing them from prolonged agony.
Museum Gopeng facade. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
On the way back, drop by Museum Gopeng, which only opens on weekends. Housed in a wooden building that originally served as the horse stables of tycoon Eu Kong (founder of a traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical known as Eu Yan Sang), the volunteer-run museum offers a charming look into Gopeng’s past. Rare photographs tracing Gopeng’s evolution from the 1850s, and vintage memorabilia such as mining equipment, rubber tapping tools and other collectibles all hang proudly. In capturing that part of history Gopeng pays homage to the community that helped make this town a rip roaring mining site.
While admission is free for now, donations for the upkeep of the museum are encouraged. Gopeng had other private museums which shuttered after the pandemic, highlighting the challenge of keeping these community-driven initiatives going.
Earth Camp jungle lounge. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
Dinner and a night at Earth Camp is a must-do. This is a campsite and headquarters for outdoor adventure company Nomad Adventure. Located next to the scenic Kampar River, your commune with nature with the bare minimum. Fans and mosquito nets are all you will need - trust me that is more than enough. Designed with green building principles in mind, all the buildings have passive cooling systems, UV-resistant water tanks that are repurposed into low-carbon footprint toilets, and the attractive jungle lounge is made from recovered wood from 100- year-old shophouses.
Nomad’s founder Chan Yuen-Li is the stuff of legends. She has been an outdoor lover whose past lives include stints as an award-winning environment journalist and competitive adventure racer, she captained the first Malaysian team to complete the Eco Challenge Morocco 1998, a multisport ten-day adventure that involved riding camels, kayaking and snow expeditions, among other things.
More importantly, she established Gopeng as one of Asia’s top adventure destinations. She recruited her team by literally showing the locals photos of the sport, and asking, “Who can swim and wants to be a rafting guide?”
These days, the company employs more than 50 people including part-timers, mostly locals from neighbouring villages.
Nomad also invests significant resources into environmental education programmes and activities that benefit the community, such as clean-ups of illegal rubbish dumps, since Gopeng, like many small towns in Malaysia, still has no rubbish collection service.
Student Imran (left) and instructor Rafizi (right) at Nomad Adventure. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
For your last day in Gopeng, it's a full-throttle adrenalin-pumping adventure ahead. White-water rafting is Nomad’s best seller. With 22 rapids, Kampar River offers everything from gentle flat-water rafting for the beginner, to tackling larger rapids for intermediate participants. Also popular: the unique ropes course at their Mountain School.
Nestled in a scenic forested plot of land that’s partly surrounded by a limestone outcrop - with its own private cave - the “school” is really an adventure park that lets you choose from five high-ropes courses of varying levels of difficulty. Fun fact: when building the site, care was taken to ensure the original state was preserved - the durian trees with high-rise jumping-off platforms have been there since day one.
Durian trees at Nomad Adventure’s Mountain School are used for the outdoor learning courses. Photo by Teoh Eng Hooi.
As you test your balance on treetop suspension bridges, climb wobbly rope ladders, and glide across ziplines over limestone pinnacles and lush rainforest below, you will learn about and even surprise yourself. “Our mission is to provide an environment for participants to interact with nature through outdoor learning experiences,” says Yuen-Li. “Nature is our greatest teacher - a place to explore potential and discover purpose.”
I started out saying that Gopeng whispers to you. That’s how instincts also work for most of us – they come as whispers initially. You may wonder then what my travel tip is to you? I say, “Listen to your whispers. Trust your whispers. They rarely let you down.”
Nash is the founder of Rumah Tiang 16, a boutique homestay in Lenggong, one of Malaysia’s four UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Mak Ani serves sumptuous forest-to-farm home cooking at Rumah Tiang 16, a boutique homestay in Lenggong, one of Malaysia’s four UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Shantanu is the director and project head of Habre's Nest, a wildlife travel enterprise on a mission to protect the red panda.
When COVID-19 put a halt to the stream of travellers who visit the far eastern Himalayas hoping to spot a red panda in the wild, one would imagine a blissful reprieve for the shy creatures.
“Actually, during the pandemic, poaching actually increased,” corrects photographer and conservationist Shantanu Prasad. “We can’t stop it all. We call the authorities. But they have weapons. We don’t.”
Each day, Shantanu and his team of rangers at Habre’s Nest patrol the Singalila Ridge, which straddles Nepal and India. Covering anything from 10 to 20km on foot each day, they watch out for poachers and record any sightings of red pandas, to contribute to research on these elusive animals.
But Habre’s Nest is more than just a beacon of community conservation — it is also a source of livelihoods, ensuring that some of the tourism dollars in this region benefit the local community. The rangers are also employed as hosts and guides to travellers, so that they can explore the region while minimising harm to the environment.
With travel back on the radar, Habre’s Nest hopes to see visitors again and channel funds back towards protecting the environment.
Though daily sightings are currently reported by the Habre’s Nest team, this writer did not spot one during my three-day visit in 2019 (visitors are advised to stay a week to allow for higher chances of a sighting).
But while my expectations were high, surprisingly, I was not crushed by not seeing one. Instead, I went home enlightened by what I learnt about the tireless rangers, and thrilled by the stunning surroundings of the Singalila Ridge, which is more than just second fiddle to its famous russet-furred resident.
Stretching from central Nepal to northwest Yunnan in China, the Eastern Himalayas thread through Sikkim (India), Bhutan, the Tibetan plateau and northern Myanmar along the way. Ardent trekkers come to Singalila Ridge to complete the 50km trek from the town of Maneybhanjang to Phalut, the second-highest peak in West Bengal, India (3,595m). Others make for Sandakphu, the highest peak at 3,636m.
But for less rugged travellers, the route is also renowned as a vantage point to take in four of the world’s five highest peaks: Everest (8,848m), Kangchenjunga (8,586m), Lhotse (8,516m) and Makalu (8,485m).
An Indo-Nepali project, Habre’s Nest’s focus is on the wildlife that call the Eastern Himalayas home — protecting them and encouraging local communities to take up the mantle of conservation.
“Tourists aren’t always aware or sensitive about the forested areas they trek through and the wildlife that abounds within,” shares Shantanu, Habre’s Nest’s director
From trails being too crowded, to hikers making too much noise and leaving trash behind in the forest, “unregulated tourism”, as Shantanu puts it, is one of the biggest challenges faced by Habre’s Nest.
Habre’s Nest, which derives its name from the Nepali word for red panda, was formed by Shantanu after he learnt about the species’ endangered status.
Globally, less than 10,000 remain in the wild, living in the trees in mountainous regions. In the area earmarked for conservation by Habre’s Nest, there are just 32. An estimated 86 per cent of red panda cubs die within a year of being born; human activity is the main threat to the species.
In Singalila, the red panda’s main threats are feral dogs which may carry rabies and other diseases, and the clearing of forested land for wood and agriculture.
After identifying feral dogs as a key threat to red pandas, Habre’s Nest began holding vaccination drives for dogs with the help of animal welfare organisations, targeting dogs that belong to households as well as strays from nearby towns that follow trekkers around.
As they got to know the local community better, they realised there was a lack of medical facilities in the area. So they set up free medical camps, fostering greater trust.
This was followed by outreach sessions to create awareness of the need to protect the environment. Villagers were invited to attend training to monitor wildlife and record sightings in a 100sqkm area. Those working in the tourism sector were offered training to become more sensitive to wildlife.
When it ventured into wildlife tourism, Habre’s Nest made sure to hire only locally, ensuring that benefits from tourism stay local. “While the red panda is our flagship animal, our intention is to protect the Eastern Himalayas,” says Shantanu, who was a photographer before he became a conservationist.
Preserving the unique environment and wildlife of the area would in turn benefit locals in the long run as sustainable tourism also sustains livelihood opportunities.
Catching sight of wildlife is a game of chance; after all, truly wild creatures do not show up on demand to delight travellers.
Habre’s Nest recommends staying at least seven nights for higher chances of a sighting. This includes factoring in the altitude’s unpredictable weather and a day of travel to Kaiakata, which is on the Nepal side of the ridge.
Guests do not take part in tracking red pandas; a walk to see the red pandas is only arranged when rangers spot one on patrols. Each visit lasts no more than 15 minutes.
In the meantime, guests can also spend their time at the bird hide on the premises. I was able to effortlessly pass a few hours here — clicking a few photographs every now and then of the avian company, so I could learn their names later from the in-house naturalist.
For hikers, short trek options to Kalipokhri, known for its lake with dark waters, and to Tumling, a renowned viewpoint of both Kanchenjunga and Everest, are options.
The Habre’s Nest team includes ex-poachers who now work as rangers, and double up as guides for guests, as well as manage the kitchen and homestays. Mohan Thami, a ranger at Habre’s Nest, shares, “Before, the means for livelihood were threadbare so people would set traps and poach. Today there’s awareness and a change in behaviour.”
“As trackers, we do our bit to sensitise villagers. After all, it’s because of the red panda and the training that Kaiakata has gotten visibility and sees tourists from all over the globe.”
Mohan Thami Ranger, Habre's Nest
Currently there are 11 full-time and nine part-time staff. Habre’s Nest’s lodge comprises four rooms, which can house a total of eight to 10 guests. Twenty per cent of the profits are directed towards its conservation efforts, such as local outreach on forest protection.
Shantanu notes that a comprehensive census for red pandas is currently underway, with photograph-based evidence being shared with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“Our goal is to assign this area the status of a red panda reserve – which would aid with conservation while continuing to track and document red pandas while hosting tourists who might be inspired to do something to protect the red pandas,” he shares.
“We want to continue working with government authorities towards improved regulation within and around the national park to minimise and eventually eliminate the harm being caused by unregulated tourism.”
I want to visit Habre's Nest
At the time of publishing this story, COVID-19 cases globally continue to rise, and international travel — even domestic travel in some cases — has been restricted for public health reasons. During this time, consider exploring the world differently: discover new ways you can support communities in your favourite destinations, and bookmark them for future trips when borders reopen.
