Last Summer

TELUK BATIK

Somewhere in the middle of my last summer holiday, I got the chance to visit the place for real with my friends.

The road that leads to the beach in Teluk Batik.

The beach is located in between Sitiawan and Lumut, and it took us about thirty-minute drive from Sitiawan to reach there. Along the way, they were plenty of coconut trees with their leaves gently swaying in the breeze from the sea. The road is winding at times, but not too narrow as the road along Batu Feringghi in Penang. 

At one point, we passed by Marina Waterpark, a small water theme park which faces the sea. 

Those dolphins on the left were welcoming the visitors.

We didn't visit the dolphins though. Not long after that, we arrived at the beach.

Unlike other more well-known beaches in the country., the coastline of Teluk Batik is not that long. The water may not as crystal clear as what you get in Pulau Redang or Sipadan, nevertheless, it is still very much better than most places in the country. The beach is not bad either, with clear and golden sandy beaches surrounded by hills and forest reserves. It is perfect gateway for holidays, family day outing, or just for people who are looking for a place to relax themselves. 

Coconut tree by the coastline.

The army base is at the far background.

However there is one thing that visitors ought to pay attention when they visit this place. There are monkeys there which are brave enough to go near the visitors and steal things from them. One daring monkey went to search inside's someone bag and it took away a plastic bag when the owner was sitting right in front of the back, when she was looking away from her stuff. After it got that plastic bag, the monkey climbed up a coconut tree immediately with the plastic bag intact. We saw that in front of our eyes.

That poor lady shouted at the monkey, but the monkey just smiled at her while make that annoying "ngek ngek ngek" sound. We overheard her and got to know that plastic bag contained some body syampoo. Poor monkey must have thought it had managed to steal some food, only to find out that it was just some liquid to wash its body. Only if the monkey knows how to wash itself, that is. 

We spent some time there sitting under the shades of the coconut trees and had some short chats. The cooling sea breeze was something that gave us that relaxing feeling. 

It was time for us to leave the beach to head Lumut after spending two hours there. However, there is something which I feel something is not right here. Only if the local council do a better job in promoting the place, I am sure that Teluk Batik can turn into one of the main tourist spot in the country. Our beach, mountains, highlands, sea, lakes, national parks are among the best in the world, just too bad that they are often overlooked because of poor managements and promotion efforts are still not sufficient. 

Teluk Batik is an example. There are totally no public transportation for visitors who come without their own vehicle. Hence, it is almost impossible to gain access to the place unless you own a car of something like that.

But still I had a good perfect time with all my friends. We should do our next trip together again like this. Singapore, perhaps? :)