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ACTIVITIES
The resort offers other activities too. There are two swimming pools (one is adults only); a state-of-the-art fitness center; two tennis courts; jungle trekking; an eco-adventure river cruise; a guided bicycle tour; an 18-hole golf course (20 minutes away), and a slew of water activities like snorkeling, kayaking, windsurfing and diving. So what did I do? My only activities were pumping some iron, and chilling at the pool and beach.

THE BEACH
I have to mention the 3 km (1.8 miles) of deserted beach. I took a walk on it (see the video below) almost every day to see the shells, and I hardly ever saw anyone else! Once in a while there was a European family on the other side, but most of the time it was mine for as far as I could see. It was like having a private beach. There’s also no lifeguard, so you better be careful -- the warm water can get rough. I read in my Frommer’s guidebook that most locals in this state swim fully clothed. At this resort, though, it doesn’t matter if the girls go topless (though as much as it hurts me to write this—I don’t recommend women going topless).

DUNGUN MARKET
Guests can also accompany Chef Ann to the local Dungun "wet market." Dungun town is 10 minutes away, on the Dungun river. I went with her to check it out and see some of the local delights (like hot dogs with mayo). It’s similar to the Terengganu central market, but much, much smaller. If you go to the Terengganu market you can skip this one; they have the same tropical fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood. The locals here were also very nice -- not pushy, and I got the impression not used to seeing many Westerners.

SPA VILLAGE
I was sitting on my deck reading a book when all of a sudden I heard a banging drum grow louder and louder. I looked up and saw a large group of people dressed in traditional Malay costume slowly marching through the resort. When I realized it wasn’t a coup, I decided to follow the friendly crowd. They made their way into the resort’s spa, and performed a traditional ceremony (which I later learned takes place every day at 11:30 a.m.). It was beautiful -- as was the spa. In fact, this spa is so nice that in 2004 Conde Nast magazine named it one of the top 100 spas in the world! It offers relaxation and stress relief programs, based on Malay medicine and therapy. In fact, this is supposedly the only spa in the world that features all-Malay healing treatments. They have been handed down from generation to generation, and the resort’s spa consultant, Sairani Mohd Saad’s, comes from one of those exclusive healing families.

MY MASSAGE
Unlike at the KL Ritz, I was not asked to wear paper underwear (thank God!) Instead I was offered a colorful sarong to wear while walking from the open-air locker room to one of the four treatment huts (guests can take it home, too). I had a "Tauam Pasir" treatment, which took 100 minutes and cost 255 RM ($71). The first half included a Malay massage -- a relaxing, deep tissue massage with long, kneading strokes. The second half got really interesting. The masseuse took out miniature heated sandbags. They were so hot that at times I had to mentally trick myself into thinking they weren’t painful (it worked for me). She then applied these bags to different pressure points around my body to help with circulation. Fortunately, I can take hot stuff. But if you’re like one of my colleagues who can’t (he hated it), you should consider another treatment. Note: For women they don’t use sand. Instead they apply less-hot steel or stones. Even though at times my treatment was really hot, I loved it. In fact, I found it so relaxing I even fell asleep twice.

TANJONG JARA RESORT
There were no Americans at the resort. Most guests were Europeans, from Britain, Germany or Holland. Many were honeymoon couples (the resort does a tree planting ceremony for them, complete with a plaque). But there were a number of families with children of various ages, all appearing to have a great time. If you go to Malaysia for the first time, I definitely recommend a stay at Tanjong Jara. But spend only 2 or 3 nights there; then travel to other parts of the country. (Next week I will show you a resort with overwater bungalows that will blow you away – but not your wallet.) Room rates at Tanjong Jara begin at $200 USD a night – and that’s a bargain! Tanjong Jara Resort, Batu 8 Off Dungun, 23009 Dungun, Terengganu Darul Imam, Malaysia; tel: 011-60-9-845-1100.

VIDEO
Here’s a 2-minute Johnny Jet Video of my trip to Tanjong Jara Resort. It's on YouTube, so it takes only a few seconds to load (though the quality is not as crisp). We also have all the JohnnyJet Videos ever made on their servers as well.

NEXT WEEK
Next week we visit a resort so plush that Luciano Pavarotti was quoted as saying, "I almost cried to see how beautiful God had made this paradise."

Happy Travels,
Johnny Jet

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