ALOR STAR: Gunung Jerai is set to undergo a RM2.5 million "makeover" to turn the Kedah's highest peak into a major highland tourist destination in the country. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said recently that the Federal Government had approved the allocation to boost the facilities and for the construction of new tourist attractions over a two-year project under the 10th Malaysian Plan. She said the upgrading works on the facilities on the 1,200-metre high peak would see Gunung Jerai emerging as one of the best highland holiday destinations in the country.
"Also in the blueprint is a plan to develop a botanical park. We want tourists to enjoy many activities besides the cool fresh air and natural surroundings of Gunung Jerai. "We want Gunung Jerai to be a major spot for holiday-makers among both local and foreign tourists," Dr Ng said recently.Gunung Jerai, located about 45km from here, is accessible through a 12-kilometre winding but picturesque road leading to the peak.
The Regency Jerai Hill Resort is the main accommodation facilities, offering 75 chalets of varying sizes. The major attractions in Gunung Jerai included an organic mushroom and vegetable farm, a forestry museum, and picnic sites at the Sungai Teroi Forest Recreation Park. A popular spot among visitors to the peak is the Telaga Tok Sheikh, built by Sheikh Abdullah, who is said to be a learned Arab who had converted Sultan Muzaffar Shah to Islam in the 12th century. Tales have it that a huge rock near the peak was a ship that had shipwrecked when Gunung Jerai was many centuries ago an island in the middle of the ocean.
Legend has it that more than 10 centuries ago, Gunung Jerai was a "beacon" that guided ancient Arab and Indian seafarers safely towards the harbour in nearby Lembah Bujang.Gunung Jerai was also considered sacred by Hindus and Buddhists then that they built temples from the foothills right to the top. The nearby Bujang Valley was then a collecting centre for products of the Malay peninsula and transit trading point for ships awaiting changes in the currents and monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean.
-nst online.
http://www.theregency.com.my/JHR/landing.htm
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