KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 ― If you love driving, and need a nearby destination for a weekend drive, instead of aimlessly driving up and down the Ulu Yam road, you might want to add Bukit Tinggi Village to your list of possible destinations.
For the car lovers who do the Ulu Yam-Genting highlands run, just continue downhill from Gohtong Jaya towards the Karak Highway, and then take the left turn immediately after the Genting guardhouse at the bottom, and take the old Bentong road for another three kilometres to the Janda Baik/Bukit Tinggi Village intersection, turn left, and you are there.
It is a relatively secluded village about three kilometres after the Genting Sempah interchange (just after the Genting Sempah Tunnel) on the Karak highway between Gombak and Bentong. Those taking the Karak Highway should take the exit to Selesa Hillhomes. Measured on my Garmin GPS, the Selesa Hillhomes turn-off is exactly 22.6 kilometres from the Gombak Toll plaza.
After taking the Selesa Hillhomes Exit, turn right immediately, and in about 200 metres, you should enter a small tunnel that takes you under the Karak Highway to the other side. Turn right again after the tunnel, and that road will take you to the Bukit Tinggi Village a kilometre away.
Bukit Tinggi Village has been around for several decades, and it is the heart of ginger growing in Malaysia. When we hear of mothers-in-law talking about “Bentong ginger”, they are probably referring to ginger from Bukit Tinggi, because there are no ginger farms in Bentong town itself.
Bentong ginger got its name simply because Bukit Tinggi village is located in the district of Bentong, according to a pretty stallholder at the village.
At Bukit Tinggi Village, and also at the Selesa Hillhomes turn-off, there are many restaurants, including seafood restaurants (something I cannot fathom, a place so far inland) where you can eat to your stomach’s content.
Of course they also serve river fish here, including Patin fish that comes from Temerloh, which is another 90 kilometres further inland. Unfortunately, I think there is only one halal restaurant, so my Muslim friends may not find suitable food so easily here. However, many of the restaurants are “pork free”, a current controversial topic which I do not care to be involved in, so make your own judgements.
However, everybody can browse the several small stalls in the village itself, and buy anything from Tongkat Ali (supposedly a jungle product that enhances a man’s virility) to all kinds of fruits ranging from bananas to exotic soursops and all kinds of vegetables. We also saw something called “Kayu Raja”, which we are told is used to make ornaments ― this wood is supposed to ward off evil spirits.
As mentioned earlier, Bukit Tinggi is the source of the best ginger in the country, and those who do post-natal care will know what I mean. In one stall we found a ginger pickle made from very young ginger. We bought a bottle, and it goes very well with almost anything. It is also great as an additional appetiser during meals. Post-natal care givers will also appreciate that they also sell herbs for bathing new mothers here. All these items can be purchased from the first and second stall in the car park area, run by a rather pretty (in a rustic kind of way) young lady who can speak English too.
The “jambu air” from the fruit stalls were also very sweet, and it goes well with shrimp sauce, or “Har Koh” as the Chinese know it. We also chanced a strange fruit, which I was told was the “golden berry”, which is some kind of hybrid fruit about the size of a large orange that I think is derived from crossing persimmon with soursop. It has a sweet taste, and the texture is somewhat softer than that of the persimmon. What I do know is that the skin has something in it that would make an excellent glue. Another strange fruit I have never seen before is something that looks like a large custard apple, which I think is a cross between a custard apple and a soursop. The taste is something in between the two.
A sweet old Malay Lady sits behind a beat up Nissan C20, selling sweet corn. The corn can be eaten raw, but it is better boiled on the cob ― it is not as sweet as the variety from Cameron Highlands, but good enough if you do not have the time to go all the way to Camerons.
Other than that, you can get pineapples, sweet potatoes, chikus, soursops, papayas, mangoes, and even dragon fruit, plus most of the vegetables you would find in the market. While you are there, you can also pick up a bottle or two of the supposedly best soya sauce this side of the hemisphere. There are two types, the normal salty kind, and a thicker, sweeter kind of soya sauce. We took one of each to try ― we have not opened up the bottles as yet, though.
If you are hungry, there are a few Chinese restaurants just next to the fruit and vegetable stalls, and prices for food in the village are slightly cheaper than in the stalls next to the highway entrance.
