Every year, my family takes a trip away around Christmas / New Years and when our usual Pangkor Island trip fell through we had to scramble to find a replacement. Luckily for us, we found a super short trip away in Gopeng! Renowned for its outdoor activities, and two hours from KL, we were excited to go.
The HIJAU Camp & Cabin
We booked into this glamping site called The HIJAU Camp & Cabin in Gopeng and expected some tents with raised beds, but upon arrival found out we had a super stylish concrete small house, that sleeps 8, complete with 2 toilets, a private eating area underneath and a pool! What a treat! And it was just next to this river area where two rivers converge. (Ok our little house was up a hill but it wasn’t far to get down to the beautifully cool river).
What we got up to
After a swim and some nourishment, we quickly set out to ask the friendly manager where we could explore and he directed us to the quirky nearby Gopeng Agrotech – a sort of vegetable farm that seems to have been converted into a small petting zoo, with fish pond housing huge arowana fish, foot masseurs, pool table, and food and fruits for sale. Quite a collection of activities and services on offer.
It was quite cheap to get in (RM5 I think) but worth it – we didn’t see the petting zoo animals (they had a chupacabra!), but we bought the local durian and guava and sampled their local yum sour spicy Laksa) – the Agrotech was a bout 1km / 15 minutes walk from HIJAU and was quite nice to walk in the late afternoon (but could be hot at noon).
The next morning we arranged White Water Rafting with River Explorer Office – our guide was a super combination of being funny and knowledgeable, having taken part in various river rafting competitions. Quite a trove of information and experience! He made sure to give us a full safety briefing and pointed out his friend in charge of safety (& photos!) – the small one person kayak leap frogged us down the whole way taking photos and videos as we went, and rescuing us when we toppled in.
We started right from HIJAU and ended up many kilometeres away. Before each rapid he told us what to expect and how to act. He also stopped halfway for us to catch our breath and swim in the swift currents, jumping off rocks and having fun. When we reached the end, we all climbed into this open air truck with seating on the sides, and drove maybe 20 minutes back to HIJAU. We had come a long way down!
He stopped the truck under a rambutan tree so our lucky group could grab the delicious fruit. (Thankful the river rapids weren’t more than a grade 3 as we still got thrown around quite a bit).
That evening we walked to nearby Geruntum Falls at the local orang asli village, a 23 minutes walk from HIJAU. It was quite dark as we arrived by 5.40pm when we noticed the village sign announcing they were closed to outsiders by 7pm, so we didn’t linger. The locals suggest people come by in the morning or at noon time. (Just watch out for flash floods and listen to the local villagers for their advice.) You will need to pay RM3 per person for entry.
Overall we loved the holiday, the people at HIJAU (who were so accommodating and friendly), the surroundings (so peaceful), the white water rafting (exhilarating) – there is so much more to explore in Gopeng. We can’t wait to go back.
Good to know
HIJAU may not be suitable for older persons as they didn’t have hand railings to walk from the bedroom to seating area, and to get into the pool which we thought was a bit dangerous. We have highlighted the issue to them so hopefully they will fix it soon.
Also the driveway up is quite steep so don’t drive there on bald tyres if possible. Also try to not drive up during school / public holidays as highway traffic can be horrendous!
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