Kuala Sepetang

Kuala Sepetang, formerly Port Weld, was the terminus of the first railway line in Malaya, built in 1885 to bring tin down from Taiping - the line is long gone and only a marker remains. What the village lives on now is the mangrove: the Matang forest reserve behind it is one of the best managed mangrove systems in the world, worked on a thirty-year rotation for charcoal, and the traditional kilns still operate, great brick domes where bakau wood is slow-burned for weeks and which visitors can walk into between firings. There is a boardwalk into the mangrove, seafood restaurants over the water, boat trips to see dolphins and the fishing platforms, and evening firefly cruises upriver, which are the main draw for visitors from Taiping and Ipoh.

What you actually see

• Traditional charcoal kilns - brick domes burning mangrove wood for weeks.
• A managed mangrove forest - the Matang reserve worked on a thirty-year rotation.
• A mangrove boardwalk - into the forest from the village edge.
• Firefly boats - evening trips upriver to the lit trees.

When to go

All year; dark moonless evenings for the fireflies. A day.

Honest expectations

Firefly numbers vary and rain cancels trips. The charcoal kilns are working industry - hot, smoky and not staged. Weekend seafood restaurants get very busy.

Nearby

Taiping and Bukit Larut are inland; Kuala Gula bird sanctuary is north.