It is finally here and we were all excited about VUMBA’s first road trip to Sungkai Hot Spring. The exam was over and our minds were going into hyper chill or if you will – zoned out. What better way to do this but to get out of town to escape from it all.
8:30am – We were all supposed to meet at the foyer of Sunway University. Those that were late were excused for partying hard the night before. Half chilled, they arrived by 9am. The bus was already half filled by that time. Excitement was in the air and we were soon on our way.
10:00am – We arrived at the little town of Bidor. An area that accepted Hindu-Buddhism around 900 years ago. It is located between Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur via the North-South Expressway. It is also north of Sungkai.
This little town, by the bank of Bidor River, was also known for its variety of good tasty food. The VUMBA students were overwhelmed with food store owners that were insistently offering free fruit tasting services to them.
‘Kong Sun Koo’ was the obvious choice for breakfast. It is suppose to be the famous eatery that serves up duck thigh noodle and also sells assorted packet food. Its surrounding area had other restaurants popping up like mushrooms. A result of capitalization on Bidor’s popularity for great mouth watery food. The group was soon on their way to Sungkai Hot Spring after spending their monthly earnings on packet food.
12:00 pm – Arrival at Sungkai Hot Spring brought back memories of my previous trip there. It is clean and well maintained. Considering that it is puasa month, this water park was not at all crowded. The cool part was that it was in the middle of a palm oil estate.
The first two spring pools we saw had really hot water oozing out from it. There was also one for visitors to boil their eggs. Instructions were placed above it to determine how much time was required to boil an egg. Time ranges for quarterly, half and full boiled.
There was an elderly lady braving the heat by stepping out onto the uneven stones that were in the hot boiling water. She was wearing platforms at that time. Some of the VUMBA students cautioned her to be careful or else she will end up having more then eggs for teatime. Pools that were fenced were not suitable for human usage. Only boiling eggs.
We came to the big pool. The men showed off their 1 pack and 10 packs accordingly. Ladies were conservative. The warm water tingled the skin. It has some algae and sulphur mixed in it. All in all it was good for the skin. We had a rubber ducky to keep us entertained too.
3:00 pm – Two ladies from the local area advised us to pay a visit to Sungai Klah. It was a 20-minute walk from the Sungkai Hot Springs and it was blistering hot. Some of the ladies braved the sun. One had a bright idea that if you run fast enough, you won’t get as much sun. The men walked bravely without their t’s on.
The path led us to a small road through the plantation. As we encroach deeper into the unknown we heard the sound of running water. It was a glorious sight.
The water then was cold and the current was rather strong. The body had its fair share of heat and now it is time to cool down. Exactly what we have experienced in college. Modules starts off with extreme pressure and then comes the chill time. We ended this trip feeling refreshed for the next module.
