Felda Residence Sungkai

It was the school holidays last week. We took the opportunity to go for a short trip to Felda Hotspring Residence in Sungkai Perak. I read about it not too long ago and I thought I also saw it being highlighted on TV.


It is not too far away from Kuala Lumpur, just slightly over 100kms. We took the North South Highway, took the Sungkai exit and the directions took us to our destination without much hassle. It was just after the Sungkai Felda scheme and quite well developed. Felda must have spent quite a sum on it. It was also rather well maintained.


We took the rooms which I thought was rather pricey, at RM250 per day. I had wanted to take the Villa but they were not available when I booked through the internet. We enquired about the villa upon our arrival but were told all were taken up. They costs between RM600 to RM900 per day.


The main attraction at this place is the hotspring. On the first day I just took a walk around the area as it was already quite late when we arrived. The place has a good peaceful ambiance. Just hanging around in the compound surrounded by palm trees is enough to provide a welcome alternative to hectic Kuala Lumpur.


Looking at the brochures in the room, we were told that there is pasar malam about 7km from the place. I had a feeling that the information was mot right because I knew that the distance from the Sungkai toll plaza is already about 10km. Anyway, having nothing much to do we decided to venture out. Sure enough, the pasar malam which was in Slim River was almost 30km away.


We spent the next day in the pools (both the cool mountain spring pool and the hot hotspring pool). Being weekdays there was not much crowd despite the school holidays. There was also a Spa and other facilities which we did not try.


Overall, it was a good trip but you should not stay more than 2 days as there would be nothing else to do unless you want to go hiking in the nearby Main Range. I must commend Felda for "diversifying" its activities. I also saw that some of the settlers also operated "Homestay" facilities which will be much cheaper that the Felda Residences. I'm quite sure a lot of city dwellers would be looking forward to spending some time in a more peaceful rural environment once in a while and this cold become popular if the place is well maintained and marketed.