place ivy and ida had most enjoyable holidays

the place where they had their most enjoyable holidays while growing up is not in europe, australia, new zealand, china, thailand or sarawak. it is very close to home, in west malaysia. that place is uncle john's resort in lake kenyir, near kuala terengganu.

i think it was made more enjoyable because there were other children around. the first time we visited the place in june 1995, the group comprised 4 families.

from kenyir dam to uncle john's resort, the ride by boat normally took about 30 minutes. the dam is the largest rock-filled dam in south-east asia. it took about 10 years to build at the cost of about rm$700 million. the dam is 155m high and it blocks the upper reaches of the terengganu river.

recreational facilities at the resort included canoes, kayaks, paddle boats and dinghies. as the resort was surrounded by water, for safety reason, the children wore life vests all the time.

although the water was not crystal clear, it was clean and deep, at least 25m. it teemed with fish but we did not catch any. what we enjoyed doing most was jumping off the platform into the water every time we felt like doing so. the water in the lake was warm compared to the chilly water at the lasir waterfalls.

at the lasir waterfalls, after swimming, we would sit where the water fell in torrents and let these torrents of water massaged our bodies, especially our backs. on the first two trips, we did not encounter leeches but we had a terrifying time during the third trip. we were kept busy removing the leeches from our legs.