3d2n at Sementra Nature Resort, Gopeng, Perak

Did you know that Malaysia has a national butterfly? And did you know that the country’s national butterfly is the Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing?

Which leads me into this post about Sementra Nature Resort, where these butterflies thrive in swarms.

As a Malaysian, finding this hidden gems in my own country is an absolute thrill!

Location

Located in Gopeng town, Perak state, about 2.5hrs drive away from Kuala Lumpur and about 30min from Ipoh town, Sementra Nature Resort is a worthy short getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. As you are driving in towards the resort, you will be passing by a number of other accommodations and may notice groups of people in life vests. Gopeng town is famous for their white water rafting activity.

The road towards Sementra can be narrow and a little rugged. You may not need a four-wheel drive to go in, but do drive cautiously. There are sharp turns and some parts may only fit one car at a time. Some sharp turns may be assisted with a corner mirror, and if not, honk for safety!

As a local, I dont think there is any public transport (bus) to the resort, but you can probably rent a car or charter a coach to drive you in from Ipoh.

When you are driving into the resort, you will notice that the resort is surrounded by palm tree plantations. Don’t be surprised by the signboards along the way warning you about pesticides in the plantations outside of the resort and also showing a list of animals (e.g. owls, wild boards, black cobras, etc) that may roam around the land. Thankfully we didn‘t bump into any them when we were there. But we did meet an endangered animal at the resort (scroll to the end to see what it is).

Chalets

There are 3 types of chalets available on site. Named after the metamorphosis phases of the butterfly - Larva (single chalets), Puupa (semi-D chalets), and Mekar (meaning bloom in Malay) (double storey bungalows), each chalet type has 8 units available for booking. The Larva and Puupa chalets are on water, while Mekar faces the pond and their balcony faces the jungle.

Check in time: 2pm Check out time: 11am

The rate for ours (Larva chalet) was RM420 a night. It has the basic amenities you need, such as the expected kettle, cups, tea and coffee, hangers, towels, soap. However, there is no other toiletries provided, so do bring your own toothbrush, toothpaste, shaver, etc. There is also no fridge provided, but ice bucket can be requested as a room service. The room is equipped with both fan and air-con, so you can pick your cooling mechanism preference.

Fortunately, no mosquitoes on site.

Facilities & Activities

From the map of the resort, you can see there is no lack of activities if you are there for just a night or two. These are the list of activities you can spend your time on at Sementra:

1. Go for a Nature Walk - there is a trodden path (that is also mapped out) that you can take a short 10 - 15min stroll. This path winds pass small waterfalls and streams, through the border of the palm plantation, up to a viewing point of the resort, then down pass the hotspring and Rajah Brooke’s butterfly hangout spots, and ends at the valley near the pool.
2. Swim - The natural pool water flows in from the waterfall behind it and flows out into the small waterfall and collection pond on the resort ground. There may be fallen leaves in the pool too but the pool is cleaned daily for the comfort of the guests. Pool is open from 7am to 7pm.
3. Soak in the hotspring - there are 2 spots of geothermal hotsprings in the area you can indulge in: 1) a feet soak; 2) a hotspring pool. These spots have been discovered in 1962 and have been done up for the resort. The hotsprings are open from 7am to 8pm. I believe the temperature of the water is above 40 Celcius. It can get quite dark past dust, so be cautious of the hilly path towards them.
4. Observe Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterflies - take this chance to admire this endangered insect and hope that the next few generations would still get to admire them too. They usually gather near the hotsprings for the natural minerals.
5. Listen to the waterfalls and streams - there’s something zen about the sounds of natural flowing water. There are benches all across the site for you to sit and just soak in the sounds of nature.
6. Be a child again at the playground - next to the hotspring pool, you can find a wooden seesaw and 2 swings. Have fun!
7. Feed the fishes - when we arrived, we were given 2 bags of fish food for the 2 nights we were there to feed the fish from our balcony.
8. Cycle around the resort paths - bicycles can be rented from the reception for RM15/hour or RM50/day. Rent is cheaper for kids. Pricing in image gallery below.
9. Play games or sing in the common hall - there are 2 arcade machines in the reception/dining hall, there is also a futsal table, a pool table, congkak set, and more (see image gallery below). We did see a karaoke service offered as well but didn’t hear anyone singing the 2 nights we were there.
10. Barbeque your dinner - Offered separately at reception.
11. Snap lots of pictures! - Nearly everywhere you are in the resort is an opportunity for pictures.

Service from the staff there is friendly and very kampung style. The hotel staffs will be on the bike, zooming towards our room to deliver an ice bucket, or vrooming to another chalet to pick up or deliver patrons’ luggages. You will always be greeted with a smile on site. I’d be happy working there to if I were them! The resort is such a serene place to be at.

There is an on-site dining hall for breakfast. Breakfast is a simple buffet. The usual coffee, tea, bread, cereal and milk are also available at the buffet. There is also an egg station where you can request for eggs done in either of the 4 ways - omelette, sunny side, scrambled, or half-boiled. Lunch and dinner can be requested separately. We had an ala-carte dinner and both our orders were delicious.

Breakfast is served between 7 to 10am daily.

Encounter with wildlife is not forewarned but may happen. We bumped into this macaque and his tribe on our nature walk but they didnt seem to mean us any harm. We were also curious about them and chose to observe them from a safe distance… This one recorded on camera seems like the alpha male. Is he?

Looking forward to Sementra? You can find out more on their website at sementra.my. I highly recommend it!

Some more shots from our trip at Sementra: