In our definition, as already stated before, Flashpacking is a way to travel, which is comparable to Backpacking, but differentiate mainly in the way of travelling and the used accommodation. Flashpackers do not always travel by local buses, they also do not always stay in hostels. Flashpackers like staying in 5 star hotels as well as in small homestays and hostels. The first part of our trip is a good example for a Flashpacking experience in our sense, after staying in the 5 star luxury product of Kempinski (The Capitol Kempinski Singapore) we took the local bus towards the  Malaysian East Coast. Then we stayed in a fan room next to the beach on Pulau Kapas (Kapas Turtle Valley Resort) before heading towards the Small Luxury Hotel Tanjong Jara (Link) at Kuala Dungun.

But let us start from the beginning:

After a day & night bus ride starting at Singapore Golden Mile Complex over TBS Kuala Lumpur, the main Bus Terminal of Kuala Lumpur in-between KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) and the City Center towards the Malaysian East Coast, we were dropped off at Marang at 4 a.m. . But instead of being frightened, we sat down at a rather lonely Bus Station before searching a path to Marang Jetty. Peninsular Malaysia is a quite safe flashpacking country.

From Marang Jetty we took the ferry to our first East Coast Destination, Pulau Kapas, which was only a 15 minute ride.

Pulau Kappas

Accommodation

Kappas Turtle Valley Resort

Kappas Turtle Valley Resort is recommended in Stefan Loose’s travel guide „Malaysia“. Booking was quite easy, you contact Nicholas & Nadia via e-mail, and after a quick  e-mail conversation you get you booking confirmation, in our case a deposit was neither needed nor required.

Kappas Turtle Valley Resort is situated on the south-west end of the island at a private beach. The Bungalows are built in the Hills around the beach in the middle of a light rainforest, with beautiful views towards the beach, the South Chinese Sea and the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Bungalow:

The bungalows are spacious but basic. The floor is made out of wooden floor boards. The small pitches in between, which we did not like, are not big enough that anything can really fall through them, but they are not small enough to prevent mosquitos coming into your room. Each of the 4 single bungalows and 2 family bungalows has its own bathroom ( Malaysian style shower). The bathroom is basic but completely suitable for an island beachfront bungalow. We only criticize two things in bungalow: The towels should be exchanged, their quality does not fit to the per night price of the bungalow. The second point we criticize is the failures in case of house keeping. We stayed three nights and except emptying  the waste basket in the toilet once nor further house keeping action were performed during our stay.

Food & Drinks:

Since the Turtle Valley Resort is located on a private beach, you have to change the beach to get to other restaurant. The path to the next beach is steep, slippery and dark at night. Therefore we chose to stay in the resort and had dinner there all three nights. Food is tasty, reasonable in price (for sure you can eat cheaper on Pulau Kappas). We recommend especially the Hummus and the prawns for starter. The number of choices of drinks is extraordinary for an island.

Resumée:

The location of Kappas Turtle Valley Resort is scenic. We really liked the private beach, the terrace of the restaurant and the whole atmosphere of the bungalows situated within the rainforest hills.

We are of two minds, when we have to answer the question, if we would come back to Turtle Valley.  Yes we would definitely come back to Pulau Kappas. But we also think there should be little corrections (towels, house keeping, counted items at breakfast) at Turtle Valley Resort, that the price per night is justifiable.

Kuala Dungun

After leaving Pulau Kappas with the first ferry, Nadja (of Turtle Valley Resort) helped us to arrange a Taxi from Marang to Kuala Dungun. Thank you for this fast help.

Accommodation

Tanjong Jara Resort

The Tanjong Jara Resort is situated outside the provincial town of Kuala Dungun at a private beach, within a lonely forest. It consists of various buildings (also Villas) which are constructed in traditional Malay style with western amenities. The buildings are spaciously distributed in a tropical beach garden, with lots of palms, frangipani trees and other tropical bushes. There are two pool facilities, which we used both. We preferred the infinity family pool on the southern border of the Tanjong Jara Resort. The resort and  the rooms are really clean and in good shape, only the pavements in the tropical garden, which you have to use to get to your room should be renovated, they are really lumpy.

Room:

We booked and a stayed in a Serambi Room, which is spacious, has a nice terrace and huge bathroom. We can clearly tell you, that we loved our room and the design of it. The bedding was nice, clean and very comfy.

Food & Drinks:

We only stayed two nights at Tanjong Jara Resort, therefore we tested the Malay Restaurant „di atas sungei“ in the resort and the often recommended restaurant C.B. Wee Seafood Restaurant which is around 10 minutes walk away from the resort.

Ann’s „di atas sungei“ is a perfect location if you want to dine within the borders of the resorts. The food tastes similar to all the tasty street food you can find in Kuala Lumpur. We had squid in sambal, traditional prawns in buttermilk, kalang with garlic and oyster sauce and Malaysian satay. Our highlight have been the prawns, which were tender, crispy in a creamy sauce. Another highlight is the ordering process with chef Ann, a really nice and helpful person, with a perfect sense of humor.

C.B.Wee is different, more local but as good as Ann’s. We again had the traditional prawns in buttermilk, the kalang with garlic and oyster sauce, this time deep fried squid and a fried rice. The fried rice was our highlight, it was simple but so delicious. Nevertheless all other dishes have been really yummy and also tasty. Actually the taste was slightly better with Ann’s, but the food at C.B.Wee only costs 1/3 of the food at the resort. We think everybody have to test themselves and decide on their own, if they want to dine within the resort or outside.

Resumée:

We really liked our stay at Tanjong Jara, the little remarks on booking because of the breakfast are only our subjective experience and our very own opinion. The two days were perfect for recharging before heading towards the rainforest and the highlands. We slept a lot, read a lot and had some chilling pool time. The stay was as wished and could not have been any better. Do we wanna come back some time, if  we want to make beach holidays in Malaysia or recharge on a flashpacking trip, Tanjong Jara will always be one of the preferred option.

Next planned Review: Cameron Highlands & Heathitude Kuala Terla.

Yours,

P.

Short Notice: All reviewed and named products have been payed on our own. Nevertheless because of German law. Werbung wegen Namensnennung.