Sunday August 5, 2007

Rustic charm of Lenggong

By CHRISTINA KOH
Photos by LEW YONG KAN

The Lenggong Valley – home to the 11,000-year-old ‘Perak Man’ – is well worth a visit with its rich history, scenic sights and great food.

THERE’S no bread in my wan tan noodles,” a good-natured Lah Chee Choon has told many a newcomer to his shop in Lenggong, Perak.

The noodle seller, known to locals as Roti (Bread), is used to enquiries from visitors wondering if his shop, ‘Loh Dee Wan Ton Mee’, was offering anything unusual.

Instead, the 52-year-old is quick to whip out plates of his ordinary-looking yet hugely popular wan tan noodles that have drawn customers from as far as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore.

Hugely popular: Wan tan mee seller Lah Chee Choon and his wife Bang Orn serving their signature wan tan noodles with sweet roast pork at their ‘Loh Dee Wan Ton Mee’ shop.

The secret, says Lah, is in the firewood he uses to cook the dumplings and the homemade noodles, which he and his wife make with flour and eggs.

“I think the food tastes better because of the intense heat. The aroma of the wan tan noodles is different and the noodles are more tender,” he adds.

Apart from wan tan noodles, Lah and his Thai wife Bang Orn, 39, are known for the char siew (roasted sweet meat) which they cook, also using firewood.

“When I was young, I liked to eat bread so much that friends would call me Roti. In time, the nickname stuck!” says Lah.

For many visitors to the northern part of Perak, Lah’s shop is often the breakfast destination of choice and one of the reasons to make the trip to the small town.

An excursion to the Lenggong area is well worth the journey for anyone with a love for food, lush vegetation, limestone hills, scenic lakes and its especially rich history.

Lenggong Valley, as Malaysian archaeologists will tell you, is where the country’s prehistory began. The valley’s historical Kota Tampan is said to be the country’s earliest known site of human habitation with many discovery sites located within a small area.

Research has shown that the valley was part of the migratory route of early homosapiens moving from Africa to Australia.

One of the things that has put Malaysia, and in effect Lenggong, on the world archaeological map is the discovery of the 11,000-year-old ‘Perak Man’ in 1990.

Believed to have once been someone revered in his community, Perak Man’s remains were found in Gua Gunung Runtuh, one of many caves in the Lenggong Valley.

Just three years ago, the ancient remains of a woman believed to have lived 8,000 years ago were also found in the area at Gua Teluk Kelawar.

Hot and spicy: Stallowner Mohd Fazul Hisham watching his helper Hamidah Hasan pour out the soup for their Lenggong curry noodle dish at their roadside stall.

Gua Kajang, Gua Dayak, Gua Harimau, Gua Ngaum, Gua Batu Tukang and Gua Singa are some of the caves where artefacts and drawings have been discovered.

Those short on time can get a quick glimpse of Malaysia’s prehistory at the Lenggong Archaeological Museum in Kota Tampan. Its curator, Hamid Mohd Isa, says the museum boasts exhibits of tools, bronze artefacts, weapons and other signs of habitation dating back to the palaeolithic age some 100,000 years ago.

Interestingly enough, the museum also organises guided tours to the various ancient caves of interest to visitors who call in advance.

“The tours are usually held every weekend and the destination depends on which cave the visitor can handle,” he says.

“Gua Teluk Kelawar and Gua Kajang, for instance, are easier to access while Gua Gunung Runtuh requires some climbing,” Hamid added.

After the museum, drop by Lenggong again for lunch and try not to miss the town’s tasty saito fishballs.

Made of ikan belida (commonly called knife fish) and sold at 50 sen per piece, the saito fishballs have a texture that is quite unlike anything else.

One of the coffeeshops selling the fishball is Kok Siew Mun’s Khen Pang Restaurant just across Lah’s shop on the Lenggong main road.

Kok, 39, learnt the recipe from his late father when he was 25 years old.

Ask any local, and many will tell you that no saito fishball is complete without Lenggong’s signature spicy chilli sauce. Coffeeshops and stores have been known to sell bottles of it for tourists to take away.

Apart from the fishball, Kok’s restaurant also serves dishes such as steamed ikan belida belly, steamed frogs caught in the jungle and a special pork dish.

Interestingly, Kok also grows red dragon fruits, a crop which Lenggong is becoming renowned for, along with its durians, chilli, fishball, wan tan mee and other tasty treats.

For the past two years, Kok has been nurturing 10,000 trees on a 2ha plot near Lenggong.

Like many farmers in the area, he sees a lot of potential in the fruit.

Nutritious fruit: Kok Siew Mun (left) and orchard manager Koong Pak Fun showing the dragon fruits at Kok’s orchard.

“It just takes them eight months to mature, and each dragon fruit also provides a lot of nutrients,” he says.

To distinguish himself, Kok has been avoiding pesticides in the hopes of producing “organic dragon fruits”, believing that the fruits would taste better.

One friend who shares his sentiment is durian farmer Chung Yow Kam, who has a 2.4ha orchard in nearby Kampung Baru Ayer Kala.

Located some 12km after Lenggong town along the Kuala Kangsar-Grik highway, Ayer Kala also tends to attract the eye of many a passer-by with its stunning landscape of bougainvilleas and well-manicured lawns.

The settlement had once even won the National Landscape Competition in the new village category, a surprising feat for residents who had only started out beautifying a stretch of idle road reserve as a gotong royong.

At Lenggong town, try also not to miss another of the town’s staples – its Mee Kari Lenggong (curry noodles) offered at various hawker stalls along the road.

One such stall is run by Mohd Fazul Hisham, 31, whose 52-year-old mother still cooks the curries at home using her own time-honoured recipes.

“Since young, I’ve been helping my mother out with the stall. She also makes the assam laksa, nasi lemak and other dishes,” he says.

How to get there

TO get to Lenggong from the North-South Expressway, exit at the Kuala Kangsar toll plaza and go straight towards the junction of the East-West Highway leading to Grik.

Follow the signs leading to Grik and travel for about 40km at which there is a right turn for those who want to travel to Kota Tampan. Remain on the highway and travel straight for another 5km to reach Lenggong.