Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
Scenic Sekinchan Padi Fields
Selangor, Malaysia - May 2014
Sekinchan has always drawn me since my first visit to this rustic small town during a cycling trip there (..... see Scenic Sekinchan Day 1 - Pt.2). I have gone again and again; once during a ride from Sekinchan to Sungai Besar. Lately we went again, this time it was an educational/shopping cycling trip of the local foodstuff.
What draws me there?
It's the food; delicious and cheap food by the many seafood restaurants there!
And also the gloriously beautiful sunset.
Then there is the large expense of acres after acres of padi fields that changes in colour as the padi matures - from bright light green, to a darker green and finally to a golden yellow. For timing on seeing the padi fields in different colour check this link "Best Time To Visit Sekinchan Padi Fields".
It's a good combo of these three that has drawn more and more tourists to this little small town on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Most of the tourists are from the populous state of Selangor where Sekinchan is located.
A good time to visit the padi fields will be a day or two after the rain. That's when the skies will be clear and blue, cleansed of any haze or pollution.
Start off the visit at 3:00 pm for a bright view of the padi fields and head off for an early dinner. Then go to the beach at Pantai Redang; or at Pasir Panjang (This one is harder to reach but has more privacy) to view the sun as it sets between 7:00 to 7:30 pm.
Perhaps while waiting for the sun to set, one can fly some kites there, the wind is strong and conducive for this. Bring your own or buy one at Pantai Redang.
PADI FIELD SCENES
The padi fields are really scenic, following are some views:
Against a backdrop of coconut trees and secondary jungle.
Kampung (village) houses in the background.
Reed grass at the roadside. Their golden yellow colour contrast well with the padi green and the sky blue.
Nowadays, harvesting is carried out by these mechanized harvesters.
Egrets lounging at a dark-green freshly harvested section, probably nipping of some fallen grain stalks.
After a few days, the residual stalks of the harvested padi turns brown. This will be cut off to form hay bales.
Alien crops circles? No, these are just harvesting patterns as a result of the movement of the harvester.
Padi stalks against the clear blue sky.
Close up view of the padi stalks.
An signboard indicating the irrigation schedule for a particular zone, in this case the Pasir Panjang area. It shows that the padi fields are flooded three months before planting begins and ends three months after planting. Harvesting is about twenty days after the fields have been drained. This mean that the padi just takes less than four months to mature, leading to three planting cycles per year.
Another signboard stating that this field is planted as a demo - perhaps a new strain of rice or perhaps some new fertiliser or planting method.
See more of the padi fields at the following YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eitdto9dEco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3FF2DocNys
KAMPONG HOUSES & OTHER BUILDINGS
Most of the houses at the padi field areas are wooden houses with zinc roofing. They stand on stilts in case of flooding.
They sit on small pieces of land dotting the area, with trees planted around them - forming shady oases in an otherwise tree-less area.
While others are brick houses but also sitting on stilts.
A few of these houses are quite nice, built from red facing bricks and having nice red clay roof tiles; perhaps these are the houses of the more successful planters.
One of many mosques in the area.
A rice storage "silo" building.
The PLS (Marketing) rice factory at Lot No 9990, Jalan Tali Air 5, Ban 2. This place has a show/saleroom where visitors can buy rice & rice products.
IRRIGATION VIEW
Irrigation canals controlled by gate locks bring water to the padi fields. They criss-cross and form part of the landscape.
Those connected to the rivers are wide and naturally earth lined.
As they branch out they become narrower. At this width, they are still earth lined but with stone gabions near the roads to prevent erosion.
Sluice gates control the flow of water.
Towards the tail end of the irrigation system, the canals are now mere concrete walled drains.
A peep through a closed sluice gate.
Ducks leisurely swimming in an irrigation canal.
View Scenic Padi Fields Of Sekinchan in a larger map
The above shows the padi belt that are scenic. Those around Sekinchan are reputedly the most beautiful.
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