Gaharu Tea Valley & Lunch At Restoran Xin Qi Jia Fa, Lawan Kuda.

After visiting the Tin Mining Museum in Kampar, we drove back to Gopeng to visit the Gaharu Tea Valley. We played tourist guide to our friends who have not been to this place before.

 Welcome to Kampung Sungai Itek Gopeng.

This time we noticed some new additions to the place.

 All these are new displays.

 Descriptions are mostly written in Chinese.

Free Gaharu tea tasting for those interested.

We ate Gaharu ice cream before we left for lunch.
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Here are some flowers photos for joining Floral Passions.

 Found this beautiful Roselle Hibiscus plant at the Kampar Tin Mining Museum.

 The flower of Roselle plant.

 The fruit of the Roselle plant.

 Bright and beautiful Yellow Japanese Roses at Gaharu Tea Valley.

 These are single layer petals.

Spotted this bi-colour rose among all the yellow roses.

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We brought our friends to Restoran Xin Ci Jia Fa, a first time for them.

 Deep Fried Tilapia fish with stinking beans and sweet sour sauce Thai style.

 Chicken cooked in yellow rice wine.

Stir fried veggie with fermented bean curd (fu yue yau mak).

Total cost of lunch for 4 people MYR 75.80

(incl. 4 small portion white rice and drinking water)

Linking to Floral Bliss.

"Watch out! Don't let my sudden coming catch you unawares;

don't let me find you living in careless ease,

carousing and drinking, and occupied with the

problems of this life, like all the rest of the world.

(Luke 21:34-35, The Living Bible-TLB)

Gaharu Products And Benefits.

This is a continuation of yesterday's post. If you have missed it, you can click here to read it. It was a 2nd visit for hubby and myself but it was a pleasure to visit again with our friends.

Organic crop. Chemical is prohibited.

Benefits of drinking gaharu leaves tea - claimed to overcome asthma, diabetes, prostate cancer, gout, kidney problems, constipation, skin disorder, hypertension, headache. It is also claimed to act as antidepressant, anti-aging skin, lose weight, add energy, soothe sleep disorders, etc.

Gaharu Technologies Sdn. Bhd.

Gaharu plantation and clear blue sky.

Visitors preparing to take group photos under the signboard.

A Gaharu tree in flower pot = MYR 106 (≈ 25.74 USD).

A Gaharu seedling = MYR 40.30 (≈ 9.79 USD).

Gaharu retail shop selling gaharu products.

Entrance to the retail shop.

There is free tasting of Gaharu hot tea.

Products for sale: Gaharu tea, gaharu instant, cookies, gaharu instant noodles, nougat, gaharu oil, gaharu wood chip, gaharu seedling & soup mix.

I bought a pkt of chicken soup mix & a pkt of chi kut teh to try.

The price of 1 pkt MYR 12.17 (≈ 2.96 USD).

Items on display.

We have tasted the gaharu ice-cream and it has a very unique taste.

A section of gaharu trunk showing darken and harden centre which is the most costly and valuable part of the tree.

Sunrise

Linking to Skywatch Friday.

No one can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for them -

the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough -

so that they should live on forever and not see decay.

(Psalm 49:7-9, New International Version-NIV)

A Visit To Gaharu Tea Valley, Gopeng.

Last Saturday, hubby and I accompanied our friends to Gopeng for a half day tour. We started our journey at about 8.30 am. Hubby was the driver for the day. First, we started with Gopeng's authentic "Lai Fun" noodle for breakfast at a new food court in Taman Gopeng Jaya. The breakfast post will be scheduled for a later date. Our next destination after breakfast was the Gaharu Tea Valley. From the food court, we saw road sign directing us to Gaharu Tea Valley and we were game to try out this new route. It took us straight to Kampung Sungai Itek without having to pass through Gopeng town. (Kampung is village in Malay.) There was less traffic and no traffic lights on this route.

Gaharu Tea Plantation.

Upon seeing this signboard, we knew we were on the right route.

Hardly any traffic on the road at 9.55 am on a Saturday morning.

Main entrance to Gaharu Tea Valley, Gopeng, surrounded by a 3 m high wall.

Here is an excerpt taken from Wikipedia:

The resin embedded wood is commonly called gaharu, jinko, aloeswood, agarwood, or oud (not to be confused with bukhoor) and is valued in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, and thus is used for incense and perfumes.

Red plastic lanterns at the gate to welcome visitors.

Visiting hours: Mon to Sun, from 9 am - 6 pm.

Opens on public holidays.

The gaharu wood has long played a significant role in Arabian and Chinese cultures. It is considered to be nature's most valuable wood not only because it is an essential oil but because of it health benefits. So high was it regarded that this natural forest treasure is known as the "wood of gods".

(excerpt from Gaharu Tea Valley's brochure)

Those joining the organized tours for visitors will be taken to the above places at a fee.

Photos on the walls next to the ticket counter.

Colourful umbrellas hanging from the ceiling.

Tour vans to ferry visitors on the organized tours.

Beautiful sculptures.

Concrete fence,

Great wall of Gopeng resembling the Great Wall of China.

More on Gaharu in tomorrow's post.

Passing through the gate.

There were many other visitors besides us.

On our way out after our visit, a busload of tourists was on the way in.

We passed by many Malay kampung (village) houses.

Can you see the white fence?

Neat wooden fence.

Selamat Jalan is Goodbye in Malay.

Passing under an overhead bridge road.

Entering Gopeng town.

Linking to Good Fences.

If a town welcomes you, follow these two rules:

(1) Eat whatever is set before you.

(2) Heal the sick; and as you heal them, say,

'The Kingdom of God is very near you now.'

(Luke 10:8-9, The Living Bible-TLB)