Picture 1: Shows the main area of Kuantan. My house is at Alor Akar (east of Kuantan Garden)
Kuantan is the gateway to the beach strip which extends all the way up the east coast to Kota Bharu. Kuantan is a friendly and pleasant town but mainly serves as a stopver point for travellers en route to other destinations.
Cherating is a very popular beach approximately 1 hour drive north of Kuantan. There are lots of good seafood restaurants and a fairly nice beach. It’s got a relaxed pace and the nearby attractions of Tasik Chini and Gua Charas is easily accessed from here.
Beserah is located 10 kilometres north of Kuantan. The small village of Beserah is famous for its salted fish and keropok (fish crackers). Fishermen still haul the day’s catch to the processing areas by buffalo cart – a mode of transport that is becoming increasingly rare in techno-conscious Malaysia. Although it functions as yet another “cultural village” for Kuantan’s tourists, supplied with a few handicraft workshops looking remarkably like souvenir outlets, Beserah is on the whole an unassuming place.
Tasik Chini is a series of 12 lakes, situated about 60km west of Kuantan, and around its shores live the Jakun people, an Orang Asli tribe. It’s a very beautiful area and visitor can walk for miles in jungle territory and stay at the nearby Orang Asli village of Kampung Gumum.
