The fireflies at Kampung Kuantan

Continuing from Bukit Melawati by 'train'...

Next, we went to Kampung Kuantan, some 6 km outside the town of Kuala Selangor, a place famous for its large population of fireflies.

This is the jetty there off the Selangor river...

From here one could take a boat for a cruise upriver...

But it's too early for anyone to take a boat as you could only see the fireflies at dark...

So we just waited around until dusk...

Still, the dusk is too bright for the 'fire' of the fireflies to show up. So one have to wait until it's really dark enough, might as well do the prayers at the nearest mosque, just outside the firefly watching complex.

A look inside the mosque...

Then back to the jetty where it's already dark enough...

Oh, it's actually full moon then and that might have distrupted the view, that is if it's too bright. Luckily, the sky was not so clear as the moon was slightly hidden by the clouds. What came on instead was a surreal looking orange-coloured moon staring out the dark!

OK. I first arrived at this place sometime late 1995, just after returning from overseas. I was then with my old dear girlfriend followed by an old college friend of mind and his work-colleagues looking forward to see the fireflies here as Kampung Kuantan was said to be a place with one of the biggest population of the insect in the world. Suffice to say we had a good time cruising the river on boats, watching the fireflies flicker like Christmas lights out of the trees.

I can't remember how much it cost then but yesterday I learnt that the rental rate for a boat which can fit four passengers each is RM40 per boat (all manpowered). Having spent a lot of money the last few weeks on many things including travel, me and wife were not about to spent any more bit here. So we just had a look at some of the fireflies which could be seen from this jetty, quite aplenty I tell you... it's just the lights from the jetty were too bright for us to truly enjoy the spectacle.

Now, to have a better view of the fireflies, one must go upriver and so far the only available way is by boat. Nevertheless we found a way of going upriver without boats and got a superb private view of things. It's just that I couldn't catch it all on camera.

Anyway, with this article, I'm done with the Kuala Selangor stories. For the record, this is the 272nd posting here. Cheers! :]

p/s: The wife might be slightly miffed by the fact that I remembered bringing the old girlfriend here and noted it to her too. This is her first time in Kampung Kuantan and she would like the memory to be good. Well, rest assured my dear wife, it is good. As you already know, you are in a sense the fitting replacement for that particular girlfriend. The love and faith you showed me is a proof of that. Please take this as a huge compliment, not comparison... :]