This is what I love when I travel. I get to see and try new things, meet new people and learn about their culture. It was a different kind of cultural experience for me and our whole group when we arrived at our second stop during our 4-day Pahang, Malaysia tour. Where? It’s at Kampungstay Desa Murni in Temerloh, Pahang.
Kampungstay Desa Murni is a very peaceful place where you, your family and your friends can unwind and relax. Believe me, the place is really quiet and you can really detoxify your mind and your body from the stressful world outside.
Kampungstay derived its name from “Kampung” which means “small village” where it offers a very unique homestay experience for its guests.
According to Mohammad Iqbaal, Promotion and Marketing head of Kampungstay, Kampungstay Desa Murni offers two concept programs, Homestay and Kampungstay. In Homestay concept, the guest(s) will stay and do the scheduled activities together with the host or “foster” family. There are about 80 host families within the Desa Murni village who actively participates in this program. Wow!
On the other hand, in Kampungstay concept, guest can have the privacy in their own Rumah(no host family) but has the liberty to choose if they want to join the activities with host family or villagers for additional fee(s).
In our case, what we experienced was the Kampungstay concept which I will share with you as you read more.
So we stayed at Rumah 3(there are 7 Rumah or “House” inside Kampungstay), just beside the swimming pool which costs RM650/night. Yeah! the swimming pool is that near from our house. But since we are quite tired and was scheduled to go out for another activity in the afternoon, we just rested first and freshen ourselves a bit.
This is my room. I chose the bigger bed because I move a lot when I sleep hahaha!
There are actually 5 rooms inside our Rumah and each is equipped with toilet and bath room, cabinet, ceiling fan, air conditioner and some has vanity mirror desk. The other three rooms has 2 double-sized bed and 2 rooms has queen-sized bed just like mine. Towels are also provided, so you don’t need to bring one, unless of course you want to use your own. There are no toiletries inside the comfort room, so bring your own. Wi-fi connection is also available.
Got wrinkled clothes? no problem. Kampungstay Desa Murni has a flat iron and ironing board just in case you needed to straighten up those wrinkles on your clothes.
Our Rumah has its own kitchen equipped with kitchen tools, utensils, refigerator, electric kettle, rice cooker, and gas range. Just in case that you wanted to cook for your friends and family, you can do it here.
The dining area. Awww… I remember. This is where our Mangosteen session happened. We all looooove Mangosteen hahaha! It’s very evident in the picture. 🙂
Step into our living room. You can just sit back, relax and chat with your friends or loved ones while watching whatever cable channel is available. Yes, the TV has cable channels. Plus the speakers got nice sound output.
I just noticed this when I entered our Rumah. Eventhough the place has centralized airconditioning units on common areas of the house, you will see a lot of open spaces and holes. Plus the place is mostly made of wood. But I really don’t mind at all. Actually, it adds up to the feel-at-home ambiance that the place is exuding. It’s like a mix of traditional old and modern house concept.
The wooden designs are really nice, and very instagramable material. That pretty much explains the picture above hahaha. Follow me by the way on Instagram: @Girlandboythingph.
Treat and pamper yourself. Book a schedule for massage, sauna, body scrub and other pampering services at D’Ani Home Spa by Homestay Resort Desa Murni.
For activities, seminars, special occassions, etc., you may book for this gazebo at Kampungstay Desa Murni.
And so we were fetched by these two gentlemen for our afternoon and night activities. Meet Khairul Hakimin bin Dato Haji Sahariman, Manager of Kampungstay Desa Murni and his father Haji Sahariman, President of Malaysia Homestay Enterpreneur Association and also the Vice President for Malaysia Tourism Council.
For our first activity, we toured around the Rubber farm located just within the Homestay Desa Murni area. Our group were able to encounter different trees planted in the farm such as Rubber trees, Palm trees, including the fruit-bearing ones like Rambutan, Durian, Coconut and Langsat or popularly known as Lanzones in the Philippines just to name a few. We also witnessed Rubber tapping done by Khairul Hakimin bin Dato Haji Sahariman.
Just a warning, make sure that you put a generous amount of insect repellant all over your body including your face even on covered areas because there are a lot of mosquitos in the farm, As in a lot!.
After our quick farm tour, we headed straight to Haji Sahariman’s house to eat some light meals. Just like us Filipinos, Malays are very hospitable and warm with their visitors. We did not feel so foreign, well, except for the language and food of course. But other than that, their ways and our ways are almost the same. They also do the “mano” as a sign of respect to elders.
For dinner, we drove to one of the villagers’ houses and we’re welcomed by Mohamed and Zauyah Malek. We shared good stories and good food! Gosh I really love authentic Malay dishes!
The next day, breakfast were served at Samsudin Mat Salleh and Zabidah Mohd Yasin’s home. The food was really good! I can really eat all of these food everyday!. That’s how I love their food.
Aside from the activities above, there are more things to do during your stay at Kampungstay Desa Murni such as follows:
- Cycling
- Batik painting
- Fishing at Patin fish farm
- Tour around the Sunday Market Night Market, Temerloh and Mentakab town
- Attend special classes like Cooking class, Dancing class, Martial art class.
- Elephant feeding
- Many more!
If you are looking for a place to stay in Temerloh Pahang at the same time want to have a different kind of homestay experience, then you should go to Kampungstay Desa Murni.
HOW TO GO THERE? (Source: kampungstaydesamurni.com)
- Kampongstay Desa Murni just located 10 minutes from Exit Temerloh Toll Plaza of East Cost Highway/Lebuh Raya Pantai Timur (LPT) and 45 minutes from Jerantut town. Located nearby the main road and clear signboard, you will have no trouble to find our location. Turn right after LPT Temerloh Exit and after 3 kilometer you will see BHP Station on your right. First Kampungstay junction is on the right before the BHP Station then there will be another three (3) junction with Kampungstay sign. Just 500 meter going to Kmpungstay. ( LOT 1674 JALAN HOMESTAY, KAMPUNG DESA MURNI SANGGANG, 28020 TEMERLOH PAHANG)
- Either fly to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or via Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport,located at Kuantan, Pahang. Both of it will take approximately 2 hours to reach Temerloh Toll Plaza.
GOOD NEWS! Air Asia Philippines will soon have Manila-Kuala Lumpur flights 3x daily starting Oct 29, and Cebu -Kuala Lumpur flights 4x weekly starting Oct 30, 2016.
For more information, inquiries and booking, please contact Kampungstay Desa Murni, you may visit www.kampungstaydesamurni.com
Booking hotline -609-284 7949 / +6012-5534715
Look for Iqbaal or Hafiz 0125534715(SMS/WhatsApp)
Email- kampungstay@yahoo.com.my
For more information and inquiries about other destinations in Malaysia, you may contact Tourism Malaysia at:
Address: 9th Floor, No. 2, Tower 1, Jalan P5/6, Presint 5, 62200, Putrajaya, Malaysia
Telephone Number: +603-8891 8000
Email: enquiries@tourism.gov.my
Website: http://www.tourism.gov.my/
#VisitPahang2017 #MalaysiaTrulyAsia #TourismMalaysia #AirAsiaInKualaLumpur
