Experience the small-town traditions of Kuala Sepetang in Perak, and meet the locals who work hard to preserve their trades.
Kuala Sepetang is a fishing village in Perak that, unknown to many, is filled with traditional trades and culture. The village is famous for its charcoal factories, mangrove swamps, fresh seafood and other unique trades that have lasted across generations. In this tour, you will learn about the art of smoking charcoal, making dragon joss sticks, and other fascinating local customs. You will also explore the peculiar yet peaceful village of Kuala Sangga. For lunch, you will enjoy a delicious seafood lunch with the signature fish congee.
Come explore Kuala Sepetang's hidden traditions and charm with Tia, up close like a local.
Day 1
08:00 AM
Meet at Kuala Sepetang
08:30 AM
Charcoal factory exploration, batik making and workshop
Summary
The charcoal factory in Matang is owned by Mr. Chuah, who loves to share his story and passion towards the art of producing charcoal. Charcoal making is long and laborious, as every single process in a charcoal factory is manually done by human power. You get to see for yourself how charcoal is produced, then it's time to get your hands busy! Batik making using the tannin in mangrove bark has been a long-standing but lesser known tradition in Kuala Sepetang, and you get to try it for yourself. You also get to experience debarking to understand the hard work that goes into this trade too. Have some charcoal baked sweet potato at the end of the tour.
11:30 AM
River cruise to Kuala Sangga and eagle sight seeing
Summary
Kuala Sangga is a peculiar fishing village built upon stilts, the peaceful village is a 30-minute boat ride away. See how locals make a living, have a drink at the local kopitiam and witness eagle feeding.
01:30 PM
Have Seafood Porridge for Lunch
Summary
Try the local delicacy of Kuala Sepetang.
03:00 PM
Dragon Joss stick workshop
Summary
Learn to make joss sticks from a master in the trade. Joss sticks are made from a special powder, which consists of ground-up chips and bark of the local tree called kayu teja, also known as the wild cinnamon tree or joss stick tree. After mixing with water, a sticky dough is produced which is fashioned into decorative items for the dragon joss sticks. The dough is first compressed by machines and then stretched through metal rollers to the required thickness. The dough is then laid on wooden slabs and special shaped metal cutters are used to cut out required shapes like dragon claws, figurines, dragon whiskers, phoenix tails and so on. In other words, this is like making cookies at home!
05:00 PM
Tour ends
Summary
If you are still hungry, have a delicious bowl of local curry mee accompanied by ice kacang. Then it is time to head home!
Edmund
wonderful and informative sharing on the benefits of mangroves of Kuala Sepetang. It got me to plan a trip to Kuala Sepetang and visit the mangrove this coming holiday
Melissa
It was a fantastic trip! Our guide, Tia, was friendly, knowledgeable and accomodating. She was also very good with the kids. All of the hosts of the places were also very hospitable and shared about their trade professionally. Our guests from Italy and UK were extremely happy with the day we spent.
Salwa M.
An amazing and educational trip especially to the charcoal factory. Our guides are all excellent and very well experienced. Keep up the good works!!! And Tia is an excellent tour guide!!!