Trip To Kuala Medang in Kuala Lipis

Memories of Kuala Lipis will not be complete with my first adventure to Kuala Medang. Then Kuala Medang is nothing like what it is today. It was really a remote area. In our language it is called ulu..... meaning really far upstream, for those days the main mean of transport was by rivers.

I heard about the name Kuala Medang, when my uncle married to a girl in Kuala medang. I cannot remember if I actually went to his wedding, probably not, as it was too far. Now it is only 15 minutes by car. Then the other exposure was, when I was schooling at PT, they called is the school in the camp. There was a charming girl, I think her name was wanmas, in the class..... I remember her because during reading time, she always said..... 'kerna'.... for the word 'kerana'. She had a very fair and smooth complexion and a straight long hair. So I was making the first trip to Kuala Medang. The starting point was BB,...I still remember, the jetty made from log, next to a chinese shop... I think it was kedai ak kow. So those days, we went by boat, about 3 feet wide and 20 feet long. Before you board, you have to take out your shoes, I still dont know why, perhaps, it will make it easier to swim if you fall down.

The boat journey was an adventure itself. So there were times that the engine had to be switched off, because the water was too shallow and full of granites. Poles had to be used the push the boat forward. On the river bank, you could see the locals were bathing and doing their chores of washing the clothing. Electricity was not available yet, and washing machine was not even in their vocubulary. It sometime make us wonder how people can survive without the modern gadgets. We passed through tanjung gahai, after about 1 hour boating and reached the destination in the late afternoon.



I cannot remember much, but the house was very near to the river. Of course now people were resettled, as the location was prone to flooding especially during the monsoon season in Dec. What I remembered, the night i was sleeping in the hall. The young girl, sepiah was preparing the bed, I thought she was beautiful. I had not met her since. I hope she is doing well.

Next morning, my uncle and a couple of us, went by boat to bomb the fish. We use a very crude method to make the bomb. We collect the staff that was used for firecrackers, put it in a small bottle and provide a wick. To protect the wick against the water, some clay was used. Thinking back, it was a real big risk that we that we took. If it were to explode before hitting the water, we will not survive to tell the world of what had happen. I will never toy around with it any more. We spent a few hours moving from one location to the other. However, the luck was not on our side, We ended going home empty handed.

In the afternoon, Mail and I, went to Wanmas house. Her father is the penghulu, and her house is at the estuary. It was not really far, except, it was a hard work to paddle the bamboo raft against the current. So we reached her house, I did not enter the house but pickup the book...a chemistry book.... . I still remember a set of old ratan furniture was stacked unkept in the verandah....... It was not what I expected from a house of a headman.

So the next day..........another long trip back to bukit betong,  landed at the jetty and another walk of one 1 hour to home.



Kuala Medang is situated about 30 minutes drive from Kuala Lipis. Known for its homestay program and eco-tourism