Interesting Places




Lenggong Archaeological Museum

Also known as the Kota Tampan Archaeological Museum. Among the main visitor's attraction is the 11,000-year-old human skeleton known as Perak Man. The 75,000-year-old stone tools were also found in Kota Tampan and Bukit Jawa which are both located in the Lenggong Valley. The museum is open daily with free entrance.



Tasik Raban (Raban Lake)

A number of tourist boat tour operators offer packages to tour around the lake. The artificial lake that was a result of Chenderoh dam construction is rich in freshwater fish species such as loma (tiny scale barb), lampang (java barb), baung (Mystus sp.) and patin (iridescent shark) as well as a popular attraction for anglers.




Lata Kekabu (Kekabu Waterfall)

Enjoy the sensation of waterfall by visiting Lata Kekabu Recreational Forest, a welcoming place for visitors who want to soak in its coolness. It is located almost 10 kilometers from Lenggong town and rich in forest trees like meranti, kempas, jelutung and keruing.

The place is easy to find as signboards are available at the driveway from the main road to Gerik.



Deer Farm at Kg. Sumpitan


Royal Belum State Park
The Belum Forest which has been gazetted as a Perak State Park were re-declared as 'The Royal Belum' by DYMM Sultan Azlan Shah, the Sultan of Perak on 31 July, 2003. It covers 117,500 hectares, located in the Hulu Perak District. The area is only accessible by water transportation from Pulau Banding which takes around one and a half hours journey.


Historical Caves

Gua Gunung Runtuh

The oldest human skeleton found in Malaysia. Perak Man was the most intact human skeleton in the Southeast Asia for Palaeolithic Age. He was born with genetic defect (Brachymesophalangia). Perak Man was buried in a ritual with both legs folded into the body and hands placed on the chest and shoulders.
Perak Man was also buried with burial offerings such as stone tools, meat and thousands of mud creeper sprinkled around his body. 

Perak Man was a 40-45 year-old male, 154 cm tall, healthy during his life, eating fibrous foods and often squatting. He was born deformed, but lived longer than other human beings during his age who only lived for 20-30 years.

The journey to Gua Gunung Runtuh takes around 45 minutes through Kampung Ulu Jepai near Kampung Gelok, Lenggong. Research at the Gua Gunung Runtuh was conducted by the Centre for Global Archaeological Research, USM in collaboration with the Department of Museums and Antiquities in 1990. The most important discovery in this cave was the human skeleton called Perak Man by Prof. Emiritius Dato’ Zuraina Majid.
Gua Badak 

It is interesting that this cave contains drawings by charcoal which was also scribed by the Negrito community living in this cave. I.H.N Evans reported the discovery of the drawings in 1924. Besides that, in 1926 pottery and polished stone tools of Neolithic era were discovered.

Some of these caves have been destroyed by quarry work in the early 1980s. Among the drawings are images of hunting with arrows, carrying coconuts, horseback riding and riding elephants.

Apart from that, there are images of animals such as ape, chicken, anteater, iguana, horse, various abstract motifs that are difficult to understand, as well as geometric motifs linked to their view of the universe.
Gua Harimau

Excavations in 1987, 1988 and 1999 have found human funeral sites from 2,000 - 5,000 years ago. A total of 11 human skeletons have been found buried with items including pottery, stone tools, bronze axes, body jewelry and food deposits.

Gua Harimau is an important archaeological site as it revealed the evidence of the Neolithic-Metal burials with the discovery of earliest bronze axes and mold around 4,000 years ago. The discovery of bronze tools and its mold represented the production of bronze tools in the Lenggong and area has proven that the area for bronze production is not limited to the northern and central parts of Thailand.
 
Gua Puteri

There are various forms of stalactites and stalagmites that have been recorded, such as the form of Malaysian map, frog, a married couple, elephant's head, mosquito nets and many more until this has spurred the legend on the curse of Sang Kelembai. In actual fact, those were formed by natural process of stalactites and stalagmites that were shaped based on the opportunities and spaces during its formation.

Gua Puteri is a natural tunnel in the Kepala Gajah Hill formations. Cave drawings by the Negrito tribe were found here but it is not considered pre-historic as it is only dated around 100 years ago. No archaeological findings were found here but this cave is famous for its legend.

Two stalagmites were believed to be the princess and prince guarding the cave. To date, various form of rock could be found in the Gua Puteri, including married couple believed to be cursed as rock by Sang Kelembai and frogs. This cave is one of the most visited caves by tourists in Lenggong. This cave can be easily visited through a platform provided by the National Heritage Department.
Gua Kajang

Currently, most of the cave floors have been destroyed due to guano harvesting activities and most of the cave walls were scribbled with new graffiti. This was the first cave in the country to be excavated in 1917 by Evans. This first study found urn fragments, stone tools, food deposits as well as human skeletons remains. Further studies by USM have found evidence that Gua Kajang have been used since 11,000 to 5,000 years ago.

Based on research, this cave was inhabited and used as a burial ground involving two cultures namely Paleolithic and Neolithic. The Paleolithic burial uncovered a human skeleton (GK1) dated 10,820 +/- 60BP, buried in a fetal position with offerings of food deposits, uniface and biface stone tool. With 20 cm depth differences, one meter southeast of GK1, a Neolithic grave (GK2) dated 7,890 +/- 80BP was discovered, buried in elongated position with food deposits, stone tools and earthenware.

This data revealed two important points, namely (1) the oldest state pottery, and (2) persistent Paleolithic culture until the beginning of Holosen. Besides archeological evidence, the Gua Kajang also revealed interesting cave formations in the form of tunnels as well as many stalactites and stalagmites.

Gua Ngaum

Gua Ngaum is located within the limestone complex of Bukit Kepala Gajah. The cave was discovered by USM in 1990, and was named 'ngaum' because when the cave was discovered, a leopard came out roaring from the mouth of the cave.

The archaeological study in this cave revealed evidence that it was used around 7,000 - 6,000 years ago in the form of food deposits, stone tools and broken earthenware.
Gua Teluk Kelawar

The Gua Teluk Kelawar is located at Bukit Kepala Gajah, about 1 km from the small town of Lenggong, Perak. Archaeological studies at the Teluk Kelawar Cave by The Centre for Archaeological Research Malaysia have started since 1990 until now.

Archaeological excavations at the Gua Teluk Kelawar also encountered pottery shards with early minimal designs dated around 6,000 years ago. The remains of bones and shells of animals such as monkeys, deer, wild boar and reptiles were also found there.

In 2004 another 8,000-year-old human remain called Perak Woman was found at the Gua Teluk Kelawar by one of the the Archaeological teams of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Perak Woman was 148cm tall and was believed to be 40 years old when buried.



* The information related to the caves above were taken from Lenggong Community Tourism Council


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