Janda Baik

Janda Baik lies in a valley on the Pahang side of the Titiwangsa range, just over the ridge from Kuala Lumpur and reached in well under an hour on the Karak highway, and its altitude - a few hundred metres - is enough to take the edge off the heat. That combination turned it from a farming village into the Klang Valley's nearest weekend retreat: chalets and villas along the rivers, homestays, cafes, organic farms selling vegetables and herbs, a mosque and a scatter of small resorts, with tubing and river swimming in the Sungai Benus and short forest walks around. It has grown quickly and unevenly, and the development pressure on a steep river catchment has been criticised locally after landslides and floods. Midweek it is genuinely quiet; at weekends the lanes fill with cars.

History

Orang Asli peoples lived in the area first, and after floods devastated Bentong in 1926, three villagers, Haji Deris, Haji Kadir and Haji Yasir, settled here on higher ground in 1930; the village grew and often served the Sultan of Pahang as a highland retreat (Wikipedia, Janda Baik).

What to look for

• A cool river valley - a few hundred metres up, noticeably fresher than the city.
• Weekend chalets and homestays - the retreat industry along the rivers.
• Organic smallholdings - vegetable and herb farms selling at the gate.
• River swimming and tubing - on the Sungai Benus through the village.

When to go

All year; midweek for quiet. A day, or overnight.

Good to know

Weekends are busy and the lanes are narrow. Rivers rise fast after rain in the hills and there have been landslides in the catchment. Development has thinned the village character.

Nearby

Bentong and Chamang waterfall are north; Genting Highlands is on the ridge.

Key facts