Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya Resort

Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya is an resort at Raub, Pahang.  You are reading a personal blog review of this awesome tropical nature resort in Malaysia.  It is around 1-hour drive from Petaling Jaya to Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya resort and you will pass by the Bentong town to reach the nature resort at Raub.

There is another rainforest resort which we visited and blogged, the Dusun at Negeri Sembilan. Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya has more activities and suitable for a bigger group compared to the Dusun, while the Dusun has special Minangkabau food and you can BBQ yourself. If you are looking for more group activities, I would recommend Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya but if you are looking for a more relaxing and calming place, I would recommend the Dusun.

Let’s our journey of love back to nature begins from the car park of Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya.

Spotted this tiger 4WD jeep and hoping they will use this beast to send us into the resort.

However, there are many of us, so they used this lorry to send us to save petrol. Quite an awesome experience in the lorry though.

When you reached the resort’s car park, you need to lock up and park your car here as there are not many car parks in the resort itself.  The road up to the Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya can be challenging for novice drivers or smaller cars and maybe also because they don’t want to create noise and air pollution?  Before you leave the car, make sure you bring everything you need.  This is because if you need to come to the car park, they will charge you RM 30 for the adventurous ride.

After around 10 minutes of lorry ride, we reached the entrance of Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya.  There were friendly staffs waiting for us with cold wet towels to wipe our sweaty face and body. They also served us cold refreshing welcome drink which I’m not sure what are the ingredients.  When I looked back at this picture, I realised these two staffs are among the friendly guys who were with us the whole stay and activities at this nature resort.

Laupoh posing with her nice cup of welcome drink.

The first day at Tanah Aina Eco-tourism Resort.

We arrived just in time for our lunch.  This is the place where we eat our breakfast, lunch, teatime and dinner.  You can enjoy the view of nature forest and river while enjoying local the food here.

My first day lunch.  Fried vegetables, fried fish, white rice and a bowl of vegetable soup.  Our first activity here is the Leap of Faith that require us to hike to a waterfall and jump down from a 15 feet wooden platform into a 50 feet deep river.  So, if yours is the same, eat enough for the energy but don’t drink too much water as there is no toilet available in the jungle and the waterfall.

Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya’s Leap of Faith is the must have activity here in the nature resort. Basically, we trekked in the jungle to the waterfall and during the trekking, we walk across a river and then swim across a second river. So, I don’t have any pictures to show as I do not have waterproof bag or waterproof camera but you can watch our Leap of Faith video below. You will be jumping from a 15 feet platform into the river but do not worry as you will be wearing a safety jacket and the security measures is quite strict here. However, is it really 15 feet? Or is it 20 feet? Go and try yourself and let me know what is your guess. This Leap of Faith is unique to Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya as other resorts offers the same activities such as flying fox, jungle trekking and jungle paintball.

For our accommodation, we stayed in this nice wooden dorm.  Most of the furniture are white as you can see here in this photo.  There are only ceiling fans provided and no air-con in the dorm.  The air here is very refreshing so we don’t really miss the air-con.  It can get quite cold at night so you might want to bring extra jacket.  For me, the blanket provided by Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya is too thin and unable to keep me warm in the early morning.  There are also fresh towels, organic body wash, hair shampoo and conditioner provided.  Do use their organic body shampoo to protect the river and also the nice lemongrass smell from the shampoo will scare the mosquitoes away.

The dorm also provides drinking water, tissue and dustbin.  If the water is not enough, you can always request for more or refill yourself during the meal time.  The washrooms for the dorms are shared among a few dorms.  But do not worry as we never have shortage of toilet during our stay here.

This is the place for meal during the night.  The area is very spacious but if you want to sit by the river to enjoy your meal, do come early to get a good seat.

The natural washing hand and leg area at the eating place.

On the first night, we had delicious BBQ dinner of BBQ lamb chop, chicken wing and hotdog.

My second plate of the BBQ dinner with BBQ fish and another BBQ chicken with mashed potato and green vegetables.  All are delicious but I wish the food were warmer.

Tanah Aina second day starts with Peek into Paradise

On the second day at Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya, we woke up early to join the activity of peeking into the paradise. It is basically a walk up to the hill to enjoy the nature view. The walk took 15 minutes and do wear a comfortable shoe.

This is the paradise view that you can peek after 15 minutes’ walk.

Fog and green everywhere in Tanah Aina Farah Soraya resort.

Laupoh and me taking a photo at the paradise.

Spotted this tiny guy growing on a tree branch. Do not pick and eat any mushroom in the jungle as they might be poisonous.

After enjoying the sunrise and the morning breeze, we took this path for going down from the Tanah Aina’s Peek Into Paradise.

An old tree with many branches on our way back to eat our breakfast at Tanah Aina.

My second day buffet breakfast, nasi lemak with curry chicken and a cup of local Misai Kucing Tea.  Every meal also delicious so far.

Why must we save our rain-forest and the issues with rain forest today.  Do you know half of the prescribed drugs such as for treating malaria and leukemia are coming from the rain forest?

The wooden bridge to get across the river at Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya.  We need to cross this bridge to get to the eating place.  There are many fishes here so you can do your fish spa here or buy the fish food to feed the fish at RM 3 per packet.

This is the outside of our dorm, facing the river.  Cannot hear the river flowing in the dorm though.

Our second day activity continues with flying fox.  Actually, flying fox is on first day but because it rained in the afternoon, it was postponed to the second day.  After we wear the safety gear and helmet, we walked around 5 minutes to the starting point and fly across to the other side.  It was a bit different from the one at Gambang as the one here we need to bend our body back and release our leg to fly.  The one at Gambang required us to jump from a very high platform to fly.

All the food here are yummy

Our lunch buffet on second day, sayur bunga (cabbage) and sayur campur (mixed vegetables).

This is my favourite dish, the rendang Acheh which is beef.

Crunchy and delicious ayam goreng (fried chicken).

My lunch plate of fried chicken, vegetables, potatoes and soup of the day.

The relaxing bed under our dome for you to relax after the hiking.

The relaxing hanging chair on our dorm’s balcony.

The rattan chairs and tables on the dorm’s balcony for visitors to sit down and enjoy the nature.

This is the external washrooms just behind the dorm.  There is a backdoor to access the washrooms area from the dorm.

View from our dorm’s balcony.  A lot of kampung adidas here.

Another top down view from our balcony.

Laupoh walking down from the dorm’s balcony.

If not mistaken, this is the Pudina House which is suitable for romance getaway.  There is a direct access to the river which you can play with the fish or bath with the fish.  You can also feed the fish here with the fish pallet but do not catch them for dinner.  The dinner here serves nice fish.

Leopard relaxing chair for you to relax and enjoy the fresh air.

A view of the clean and unpolluted river at this resort.

Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya’s bathrooms / washrooms / toilets

The outside of the washrooms. The toilets are behind the dorm and there are just 5 steps away.

The washing place outside the toilet. If you are not bathing or doing any other businesses, you can just wash up here.

The shower spray inside the bathroom. I don’t really get to use the top shower spray as the water is too cold and I just used the hand shower spray to slowly adjust my body to the cold water. Yes, there is no hot water provided here unless you are a small kid. The cold water is very refreshing though.

Inside one of the bathrooms.  Very clean and modern looking.

Organic shampoo, shower gel and conditioner provided in each of the bathroom.  As mosquitoes loved my blood, I have conducted an experiment with the lemon grass shower gel and it is proven that this shower gel can avoid mosquitoes’ bites.  Besides, the organic shampoo, gel or conditioner will not pollute the river here and it smells very nice.

One of the toilets here at this tropical resort.  Most of the toilets come with a big window for you to enjoy the nature view and fresh air while doing your business.  But I prefer to roll down the curtain in case there are monkeys trying to peek inside.

Another toilet here.  Noticed some of the toilet are using different tiles and wall.  If you need a refreshing view, you can choose a different toilet every time.

This pair of Japanese wooden slipper is available at each bathroom for you to wear to go inside.  Not really used to wear this kind of slipper and almost fall down.

My kampung Adidas, a local made rubber shoes.  Bought this for The Dusun’s trip.  It is very nice to wear for hiking activity and it is waterproof.  Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya also sell this kampung Adidas here but it will be cheaper if you buy at pasar malam.  Got mine for RM 8 at a night market.

Teatime again, with apam balik.

You can also choose to sit outdoor to enjoy your teatime.

Or you can choose to sit near the river to enjoy the flowing sound of water.

Delicious mee goreng (fried mee).

Misai kucing tea, Orthosiphon stamineus is a very nice tea and very good for health.  It is said to be anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, cholesterol-inhibiting, tumour-inhibiting, antioxidant and many more.

My teatime of apam balik, karipap (curry puff) and fried noodle.

After our teatime, we continue with cooking competition called Kitchen Master.  Basically, each group need to cook this curry chicken in the photo above, roti jala and also sago dessert.

Our roti jala decorated with a chili.

Our group’s curry chicken.  All ingredients are prepared by Tanah Aina’s staff.  We just need to clean, cut, cook and wash.

Another group’s curry chicken.

The outcome of the sago dessert with gula Melaka.

Two of the judges from Tanah Aina to test our food.

Our Kitchen Master ended just in time for our dinner.  For the second day dinner, we drove out to Tanah Aina Azareena which is a seafood steamboat restaurant located 1 KM away from the resort.  However, something odd happened.  Our steamboat dinner was changed to normal cooked dishes at Tanah Aina Azeerana. Not sure what happened as the staff at Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya still asking us what steamboat soup do we want on the same day. Anyway, the dishes are nice just a bit disappointed as we were expecting steamboat.

Fried fish with not sure what sauce.

Pineapple chicken cube with mayonnaise, I think.

Fried squid with salted egg.

Overview of the dishes at Tanah Aina Azareena.  Satisfying dinner but it will be even better if it was seafood steamboat.

After the dinner, we supposed to have a night walk activity.  However, the trek is still wet from the rain so it was cancelled for our safety. So, we spent the night walking around the resort.

A night shot of the eating place at night.

Saw this romantic room with big bed in Tanah Aina.

This nature resort has amazing washrooms

Spotted another bathroom with different design.  My friend noticed something at the window in the photo here.  Not really sure if it is a big bug or maybe just leaves.  Sometimes something is better left unknown.

Another washroom with different window and different wall.

A night shot of the bridge of Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya. There is nothing much to do here during night time except the night walk. But the weather was not good so the activity is cancelled.

This is Kempas, one of the wooden dorms.  Nice design with wood and colorful glass.

Spotted this shiny reflective table outside the dorm at the balcony.

Last day at Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya

There is no more activity on our last day at this resort.  Morning started with heavy breakfast of this curry chicken with nasi lemak and fried egg.  Also add on with one slice of pancake.

We are also invited to write down our note in this notebook.  Laupoh took this chance to draw her experience of the Leap of Faith.  We were guessing what is the real height of the platform.

If you are into photography, Tanah Aina resort has many nice spots to shoot photo.  In this photo, no ND filter is used as the river is shaded by the tree.

Another view of the river here.

A sister helping her brother to wash hand before eating breakfast.

After eating breakfast, we walked around while waiting for checkout time.  There are some more chalets to stay such as those connected with wooden walkway.

Spotted this Rumah Mahogani.  Looks awesome and expensive.

Still foggy here on our last day.

Another view of my kampung Adidas on the wooden walkway.

Laupoh sitting by the river.

Save rain forest, and also save the tapirs.  T-shirts bought from Giordano Malaysia

The shampoo, body wash and conditioner provided at the river for you to bath with the fish. Please use their organic stuff or you might poison the fish and the snake.

Our team trying to catch some fish with bare hands. Spotted a snake here swimming or was it jumping on the river. So please be careful when playing here.

Checked out.  Those are the friendly staffs of Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya checking if we forgot to bring back anything or forgot to return the room keys to them.

Our team in the adventurous lorry ride.

Never had the chance to ride in this guy.  Maybe next trip?

Good bye and see you again. Thanks for the love with the nature.

After we checked out, we went to Bentong for nice foods!
Check out the Hooi Kee Wantan Mee and Ice Cream at Kedai Kopi Kow Po

Not all photos are featured here,  click to go my Flickr album to view all the photos.

Website: http://www.tanah-aina.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tanahaina

Tanah Aina Farrah Soraya from other bloggers and websites:

• Pojiegraphy
• Supermengmalaya
• Neenaanuar
• Woodethic
• Josephinetang