Short Getaway to Lukut, Port Dickson

by Ruby Gege

Here is how it started – one week ago, I blurted out to Palah that, “damn, I need a short getaway to someplace near. The long hours at work have been killing me and I just need to escape.” Two days later, Palah – being the efficient planner that she is – informed me that there are lots of cheap but good hotels around the Port Dickson area. I was surprised – “are we going this weekend?” I asked. “I was thinking about April or May.” Palah laughed at me, telling me that this weekend would be the best time. Unprepared yet excited, I obliged. Come Saturday morning (which was yesterday), Palah, Jeep, my little sister and I took off to Negri Sembilan in my brother’s Perodua Myvi.

It turned out that the amazing hotel we’ve booked, The Guest Hotel & Spa, is located in the area of Lukut, which is a small town a few kilometres from Port Dickson. So, you see, we did not actually spend our time in PD at all. Lukut, though quiet, is a lovely town – peaceful with quite a number of interesting places to visit. We can safely say that our 24 hours spent there has been unexpectedly pleasant. We thought we were going to spend our getaway hanging out by the seashore but we actually did not. We took a lot of much needed rest, visited museums and went to a cafe, of course. I myself drank countless cups of coffee. The only beach we went to is Bagan Pinang, which is quite a nice beach.

We also went to the Country Cat Cafe. Palah and Jeep really loved it there. Since I’m not into animals, haha, I won’t talk about it here. Do contact Palah for more details about the cafe.

Here is a brief overview of the places we went.

1- The Guest Hotel & Spa

 Palah told me that the hotel is of a 3.5 star standard. The service is good – we booked a family suite that can fit 4 people and even got coupons for breakfast though we did not pay for it through Expedia. The place is very clean overall – from the breakfast area, the room to the swimming pools. We spent many hours resting in our room, literally refusing to leave the place.

Another plus thing about the hotel is its location. Since it’s not situated at the heart of PD, it has lots of parking space and places to eat around it. So yeay for drivers who are lazy to look for parkings anywhere!

2 – Muzium & Kota Lukut

The first place we visited in Lukut is its Museum. We were a bit baffled when we saw the signboard for the place. Even though we considered ourselves to be museum junkies, we have literally never heard of this museum’s existence. We were so impressed with the museum! The exhibitions inside explain the history of Lukut – how it started off as a tin-mining area. The wealth of the place had caused many conflicts between the royal families led by one Raja Jumaat and his prince, Raja Bot and the miners. Apparently, lots of battles and bloodshed had happened here, which were unbeknownst to me and my friends. Yeay for museums for giving us extra historical knowledge!

The building is a beautiful fusion building of Colonial and Malay style. It is quite well-maintained (kudos to the curator for this!). The courtyard is damn huge but too bad the weather was unforgivably hot.

3 – Alive 3D Art Gallery

Our second visit to the 3D Gallery! The first one we went to is in Langkawi Island. The entrance fee is RM 20 per head. Even though the gallery in Lukut is smaller, we had more fun taking photos here as there were not many visitors. The best thing about it is that it is not more than 50 metres away from our hotel! We took our time, choosing our best poses and literally went all out! The paintings are mediocre, really, but for the sake of funny Instagram photos, who the hell cares! Some photos we took really turned out great!

 

4 – The Army Museum

On Sunday, after two hours of free breakfast and one hour of lounging around the swimming pool, we checked out of the hotel and drove to The Army Museum 10km away. Since I had been here around 6 years ago, I expected the visit to be quite meh. However, upon reaching the place, I was so shocked to see the new updates on the exhibitions. There were more impressive display – at the Malacca Sultanate section, they had a replica of a ship, A’Famosa and Stadhuys buildings. I was going ‘whoaaaah’ for the whole hour I was there. The part which we enjoyed most is the underground tunnel below the ground floor, which is meant to be a replica of a Communist Party hideout.

 

There are most pictures we have in our phones but putting them all here would be too messy. Do visit our Facebook page  – Ruby Jusoh or the Three Chinguz Facebook page if you want to see more pictures.

Overall, we had a great weekend getaway in Lukut. Even though we spent only about 24 hours there, we did more things than we could imagine, mainly because the area is a small town with substantial history. Now that we are back in KL, my friends and I are feeling the omens of returning to our ‘real life’ – the obligations of work, the responsibilities and facing up to life’s burdens. Ah, how we wish we could live by the seaside, enjoying the peacefulness of a small town, all day, everyday…

No. I am joking, of course. I’d die of boredom if that happens. Nonetheless, a short getaway is always necessary. As I mentioned before this, the chaotic lifestyle in KL drains your soul. An escape does not hurt and Lukut, Port Dickson is one of the place you can do it!