Due to budget constraint for overseas travel and unstable situation at the South Thailand, the Explorer team decided to have a little more advanturos trip locally, visited places that not frequently visited by tourist, and not as popular compare to major tourist spot. We splited into two team, to "conquer" more places during the short holiday breaks. The "East team", who has publised their articles:

"Unforgettable Kelantan" (http://www.worldisround.com/articles/94824/index.html) and "Oh Terengganu - what an experience!" (http://www.worldisround.com/articles/96106/index.html)

has done a wonderful job by introducing Kelantan and Terengganu. No doubt PC, Jon Jen and travel teammates had all the fun and enjoying themself on this long journey.

The "West team" made 3 days 2 night trip to the state reputedly the richest tin mines in the world in nineteenth century, Perak. Beside the tin mines, it is a breeding place for one of the world's endangered bird, the Milky Stork. Thanks to Gwen and team arrangement, we had a great experience in Kuala Gula; the small fishing village and the only wetland in Malaysia consist of more than 100 species of birds.

Kuala Gula (Located in west coast of Perak) is made up of different wetlands consisting of rivers, estuaries, mudflats and fringes of mangrove forests along the coast. Kuala Gula is famous for the variety of exotic birds which come here to nest. Over 100 species of birds, some of them protected, some are endangered, have been sighted in this area. The mudflats and mangrove areas are attracting many species of migratory shorebirds. It is the only wetland site in Malaysia. Mammals can also be seen, such as the dusky leaf Monkey, long-tailed macaque and dolphin. The best time to visit is between September and December, when thousands of birds can be seen in the area. To avoid freezing weather of winter, theses birds fly from as far as East Russion and east China, stopover in Kuala Gula. It is an important stopover site for migrating shorebirds along East-Australasian flyway.

For touring activities and other Kuala Gula related info, by contacting the below:

Kuala Gula Community Ecotourisim Activity (CETA) Contact person: Ong Sooi Tow and Tan Eng Chong No. 4, Jalan Muhibbah 1,Kampung Tersusun Taman Muhibbah,34350 Kuala Kurau, Kerian, Perak D.R. Tel: 605-8905282 Fax:605-8901979 Email: kgceta@yahoo.com

Due to the extensive travel and photographing, we split the west team travel article into 3. The first two articles covered Kuala Gula, the third article covered Kellie Castle, and Lata Kinjang (One of the largest waterfall in Perak). Stay tune for more articles in the near future and happy viewing! :)

By Gwen, Chris, and Erina