Went to Teluk Chempedak in Kuantan, Pahang in May for 3 days 2 nights trip. Before I went to Teluk Chempedak, I did some research online to find out what the beach would look like... I could only find several images taken by people who have been there… I did not expect Teluk Chempedak beach would look that great because I have seen the beautiful Redang Island and what it can offer…
I went with a friend – she is a beach girl… I always tease her and call her a fish or a dolphin because she likes to swim… She loves water… We started of our journey from the ever crowded and polluted (in my opinion) Puduraya Bus Station – I hate the place... The bus ticket was cheap – less than RM 20 for a 4 hours bus journey. We boarded Transnational bus which I thought was comfortable and quite spacious!
I did not sleep during the journey because it was afternoon… I don’t take naps in the afternoon… Oh yes, I read a lot of the Internet saying people saw cockroaches on Transnational bus and I did not believe it! But that day proved that what I have read online was true!!! My friend and I did see around 10 small cockroaches running around the bus window… The girl who sat at that window seat wasn’t afraid or screamed! She just brushed the cockroaches from going into her bag!!! She sat right across out seats!!! Oh My Lord!!!
After 4 hour bus journey, we have finally reached Kuantan Bus Terminal. We paid RM 15 for taxi ride to Pine Beach Hotel. I have heard taxi drivers charging RM 20 for a ride to Teluk Chempedak! The taxi ride was about 15 mins.
We checked into the hotel or should I say a hostel… It did not look anything like a hotel… or maybe it did look like a 1 star hotel… The room was cheap! 5 mins walking distance to the beach and there were KFC, McD, mamak stall, some restaurants and some shops around that area!
We had quick shower and headed straight to the beach! The beach was beautiful! White sands, beautiful stones and etc… We took some photos there and just enjoy the breeze and scenery…
For our dinner, we had fried squid (yum yum), rice and chicken dish at Sri Chempedak Restaurant located 1 min from the beach. The food was lovely and not expensive!
We went for a stroll after that along the beach and headed back to what I would not call “hotel”…
Day 2 @ Teluk Chempedak
We went to the mamak stall nearby (next to Hyatt Regency Resort). The food and the service were great! Cheap and yummy! I did what typical Malaysians tend to order at mamak - nasi lemak, fried chicken and teh ais… Went to Hyatt Regency for a visit to see what they look like in the inside… Well they were just fab! I like the pool esp… and took some photos there…! After that we went to the beach to snap some morning scenery and then headed to the restaurant located next to Sri Chempedak Restaurant for lunch after that. Their services were so slow and we had to recheck on one of the dish 3 times with them!! Gosh we were hungry man! I think what we did was just enjoying the scenery and picture taking… We did checked out some souvenirs at the shops nearby…
Mamak not far from Pine Beach Hotel (2 mins walking distance)
Day 3 @ Teluk Chempedak
After we finished our breakfast we headed off to the beach again and we actually went into the water and again took some pictures! We did our lunch at Sri Chempedak again because we loved the food t here so much… and took afternoon stroll there and headed back to Pine Beach Hotel to check out… Boarded taxi to the bus station and was charged RM 15.00. Then this time we took Plusliner home… The bus ticket was RM 16.80. The seats and everything about the bus were similar to Transnational except we did not witness any cockroaches running madly on the bus… Phew! Both Transnational and Plusliner left as scheduled.
Finally we arrived at Pekeliling Bus Station instead of Puduraya Bus Station...
And that’s it, the end of the story…
EYE OPENER:
The beach culture in Malaysia and the western are totally different! Malaysians go to the beach fully clothed eventhough the temperature/climate is so hot!!! This is due to the culture and also the official religion in Malaysia. Malaysia is Islamic country and I do not have a problem with that… Also Malaysians are afraid of the sun! We do not like to be tanned or dark! Some Malaysians would take out umbrellas to avoid the sun!! Please bear in mind that our Malaysian umbrellas are no ordinary umbrellas. We have silver coating on the top side of the umbrella to reflect the sun away from us! It does make a difference! We think fair is beautiful! Most people who visited Teluk Chempedak were Malaysians and I rarely saw foreign tourists there… I did and saw probably about 6 – 8 during my stay there…
I have been to beaches in Gran Canaria and UK and they are so much different from Malaysian ones… Western beach culture is “the lesser the better; the lesser the tanner”! Even if people are not on the beach, they still like to sit under the sun… Well I do understand why people do that in the UK because I have spent 5 years in the UK myself… I have gone through the cold winter and I myself enjoyed sitting under the sun to warm myself up… It was so nice… Also, I felt better after that probably because of Vitamin D that you get from the sun! Bear in mind that the sun rays in the UK is not as hot and harsh as in Malaysia…
Would I recommend Pine Beach Hotel? Yes to budget travellers! No to travellers who can afford more than RM 65.00 for ensuite air-con twin bed room per night per room! The bed was comfy but the wall was so thin that I was woken up by the family staying next door to us early in the morning!
Also, Teluk Chempedak not only offers beautiful beach scenery, they also have loads of monkeys!!!! They are like everywhere! I think they are cute!
