IPOH: The scorching heat has driven thousands of urban dwellers to forested recreational parks to cool down.
Over the weekend, thousands of people enjoyed themselves near the streams of the Ulu Chepor recreational park, about 15km from the city centre.
According to a villager at Kampung Ulu Chepor who wished to be known as Wari, they managed to collect about RM3,000 in entrance fees to the recreational park.
“We charge RM5 per car to enter the site and last Sunday we managed to collect about RM3,000. We haven’t even included the fee for renting huts yet,” he told The Star yesterday.
“Visitors who came were not only from Perak, but also from Penang and Kedah,” he said.
“Some areas in Ipoh barely had rain, so it is understandable that we have a lot of visitors coming here,” he added.
“We do have visitors coming here all the time, but we can see the weather has drawn in larger crowds.
“On weekends, we have family groups while on weekdays, visitors are usually made up of groups on motorcycles,” he said.
The Meteorological Department recently issued a Level One hot weather status for four areas in the peninsula, including three districts in Perak, namely Hulu Perak, Manjung, and Kinta.
Raintree Nursery executive Muhammad Nurqayyum Shah Nasharudin Shah, 26, who was spotted at the recreational park with his wife, said he enjoyed visiting the place early in the morning.
“It is cooler and there are also fewer people. We were also here on Sunday and left at noon as more people were arriving,” he said.
He believes that other recreational sites were also crowded with visitors during the weekend.
“While there are others who might just stay at home or order cool drinks to combat the heat, I prefer water-based activities to cool down.
“There are even those who went caving due to fewer people and the breeze is cooler,” he added.
Muhammad Nurqayyum said he does not mind paying RM5 to enter the Ulu Chepor recreational site.
“The villagers here maintain the site well, unlike some other sites, where the fee was charged on a per visitor basis, yet the place is filled with rubbish,” he said.
Engineer Wan Zulfadhli Wan Mohd Suhaimi, 34, said he went to his in-law’s orchard near Taman Meru to deal with the heat.
“They have a durian orchard that is next to a stream. Together with my in-laws, my wife and our child had a blast playing in the water.
“We even did some kayaking and picnicked there,” he said, adding that the stream was clean and shallow.
“My two-year-old girl actually prefers the stream rather than cooling down in a shopping mall.”
