A visit to Valley Agro Park is definitely a great combination of extreme sports at Bilut Extreme Park. Located less than 10 minutes from Bilut Extreme Park, we arrived at a resort in the middle of the jungle with a beautiful landscape. The landscape tempted me to explore further. However, we were first ushered to the restaurant for lunch.
Valley Agro Park, Bentong
Since Valley Agro Park is promoting agritourism, the park is surrounded by fish ponds which are home to kelah merah, tapah, jelawat putih, kerai, baung, tong san, tilapia and patin.
The luncheon at Valley Agro Park, Bentong
The meals were sumptuous. The portion was very big for 10 people seating at the same table. You should not worry about the halalness of the meals because the food served is halal food. Halal certification is not there because they serve alcohol.
After we downed the tasty food more than we could carry, we were taken to see the surrounding of the park. We went towards the kitchen, which turned out to be other parts of the restaurant. They even have huts where the family could gather and eat their meals.
The Rooms at Valley Agro Park, Bentong
From far, we could see building structures which are the accommodation catered for guests who wish to spend the night at the resort.
Because my lens is not a wide lens, I could not do justice to the room. The bigger room is unique for it has 5 beds and a pool of flowing water to keep the room cool. We were informed that the water is natural water from the waterfall. According to the owner, the natural water keeps the mosquito away. But still, I’d advise you to bring mosquito repellant especially if you have sensitive skin like moi!
Valley Agro Park also has a tree house.
The room is a minimal concept room. All you need when you visit a park, get disconnected from the hustle bustle of life.
The Stingless Bees Farm at Valley Agro Park
After the room inspection, we were taken by 4wd to the area where the park is harvesting honey from stingless bees. The stingless bees or locally known as “lebah kelulut” are a family of 20,000 known bee species around the world. They are natives in the tropical rainforests. Physically, they are smaller in size than the honey bees and mostly black in colour. The name “stingless bee” is aptly right because they do have stings but the stings are too weak to penetrate the skin.
To reach the cultivation area, we crossed the small stream and walked in the middle of rows of man-made bee hives in dwarf houses shape. Reflections from the hanging CDs hit on our bodies. The stingless bees prefer to build their hives in the hollow trunks of trees for protection from the weather and predators. Although the bee hives are partly man-made, the cultivation takes consideration of the natural environment for the stingless bees by placing hollow trunks connecting to the bee hives.
The stingless bees can gather nectar and pollen from a variety of plants. They produce a smaller honey yield that has a unique and distinctive taste. The honey cultivated at the park contains nutrients that are essential for our health.
“The Ming dynasty physician Li Shizhen observed: “Honey has five medicinal effects: to purge heatiness; to fortify the spleen; to rehydrate; to detoxify, and to relieve pain. When used directly, raw honey is cooling by nature, hence it is effective at purging heatiness. When cooked and prepared as a base or combined with other medicine, it is mild and nourishing to the constitution.”
How they collected the honey was also demonstrated.
As Melipoly, the company that is in charge of the honey cultivation conducts regular farm visit for the public to experience, the park will be adding a bee museum for better appreciation of the honey cultivation. The merchandise sold at the souvenir shops are the honey packed in glass bottles and the famous Bentong ginger. We were even treated to ice cream Malaysia, honey flavoured.
Thank you to Valley Agro Park and Melipoly for having us. They will soon open bees museum!
For more info:
E: valleyagropark@gmail.com
Phone : 018-6600016
Website : www.facebook.com/melipoly