www.nst.com Pedu Lake in Kedah at the Malaysian-Thai border is a good place to escape to… but mind you, it is so remote that you may feel a little “trapped”.
This is because the nearest village is quite far away and only one telco service is available. But it is precisely all these that make Pedu sound like a good place for a honeymoon, a group retreat or team building exercises? Or perhaps simply to get away from it all and do some communing with nature.
Standing between the lake and the flat land in the area is a forest-covered mountain. Gunung Fakir Terbang (600m) is shaped like a long spine and forms a natural border between Kedah and Thailand, which is a mere two kms from the lake.
The first thing you will notice upon arrival is the vast amount of greenery and how astoundingly soothing the view is. Even the water of the man-made lake is an emerald green. The deepest part of the 120 hectares (75 sq kms) lake is 97.5 metres, equivalent to a 13-storey building!
What To Do
Doing nothing is a choice at the Mutiara Pedu Lake Resort. Or you can indulge in activities that range from water sports, fishing, bird watching, jungle trekking and mountain climbing.
You can also try out the 13-element obstacle course, go cycling, kayaking, swim in the lake or in the swimming pool, feed fish in the lake or take a sunset cruise.
It is also interesting to visit the numerous kelong where red tilapia fish are bred in cages. Also, check out the Pedu Dam outlet. The dam was constructed across Sungai Pedu for irrigation purposes to enable double cropping of padi in Kedah’s Muda area.
Golfing is temporarily not available as the nine-hole golf course was badly damaged by flood water a few years ago but repair work is expected to be completed very soon.
Places of Interest
The resort can arrange for guests to visit the Puncak Janing Waterfall, Muda Dam and Bukit Wang Recreational Park as well as follow honey gatherers into the jungle to watch them collect honey from tall tualang trees in the area. Each tree has about 20 to 50 hives.
Fruit farms, a deer farm, an ikan pekasam (pickled fish) factory and a handicraft shop are merely an hour’s drive from the resort.
For shopping, go to the Bukit Kayu Hitam duty free shops near the border. You can also make a trip to Alor Setar, 90km away and visit places of interest like Masjid Zahir (1912), a beautiful mosque with a black dome and date trees in the compound. There’s also Balai Besar, the Sultan of Kedah’s audience hall built in 1898, and Balai Nobat where instruments of the royal orchestra are kept.
For more history, visit the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum at the foot of Gunung Jerai. It displays relics from a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that thrived in valley before 300 AD.
Myths And Legends
The friendly, well-informed resort staff have lots of stories to tell about Pedu Lake and its surroundings. For instance, the legend of Gunung Fakir Terbang (Flying Pilgrim Mountain) is about a poor but pious pilgrim from Pattani, Siam, who wanted to go to Mecca by ship to perform the Haj.
He was tricked and left behind while the ship left. When the ship arrived in Mecca, the pilgrims onboard were shocked to find the fakir already there. He was believed to have flown from the mountain top to Mecca!
Another story concerns some old Muslim graves at Kampung Mong Gajah that was submerged when the dam was flooded in early 1960s.
Unlike the Temenggor Lake in Grik, Perak, where the whole Belum village – including livestock and human remains from the graves – was relocated to Belum Baru, the Kg Mong Gajah graves were submerged. However, last year, a severe draught reduced the water level and exposed the graves, causing a stir among the public.
Mutiara Pedu Lake Resort
General manager Mohd Kamal said the resort started as Holiday Inn Pedu Lake Resort (1994-1999) and became Pedu Golf and Lake Resort from 1999 to 2001. The present Mutiara Pedu Lake Resort began operations in 2001.
Water from the lake is released, according to demand, into Muda Lake which, in turn, supplies water for padi fields in the lowlands.
“If there is no demand, the water is not released. That happened a few years ago and as a result, the lake water rose a few metres higher for nearly a year, causing damage to the golf course and some chalets.”
The resort has a traditional setting with 125 chalets designed like wooden houses on stilts. These are well equipped with modern amenities like Astro, colour TV, air-conditioning, IDD telephone, coffee/tea making facility, refrigerator, personal safe and a spacious bath. Most chalets have a verandah fronting the lake.
There is a ballroom that seats 300, four smaller meeting rooms and five restaurants – Jelapang Coffee House, Mas Merah Multi Purpose Hall, Telaga Poolside, Tasik Lounge and Eagle Nest Club House.
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