Who would have thought that a small town like Bentong would turn lively at night? It certainly did not cross my mind as I was under the impression that the sleepy town is eerily quiet at night. I couldn’t be more wrong. There’s plenty of restaurants and cafe in Bentong that operates up to the wee hours, making cafe hopping quite an enjoyable pastime among night owls.

Should you visit Bentong town on Saturday nights, you’ll be pleased to discover that there’s some sort of mini carnival set up to attract the local and tourists alike. The place is known as Bentong Walk.

Bentong Walk is an initiative done by the authorities and the locals to enliven the quiet town and also to help the townfolks to generate revenue from it.

From 5pm to 11pm every Saturday, townfolks and tourists alike will flood Bentong Walk to enjoy the carnival atmosphere. Similar to the night market, Bentong Walk offers plenty of stalls selling street food and trinkets.

The thing that differentiate Bentong Walk and a regular night market is that the Bentong Walk is fairly interactive with event line ups and activities for visitors from all walk of life.

Our visit was during the festive season: Chinese New Year. Everything was glimmering with lanterns and Chinese New Year’s songs could be heard playing in the background. With such setting, I felt as if I have been transported to an olden Chinatown.

Children spotted playing the life size Snake and Ladder game on the street.

Karaoke competition

Street food offered at very reasonable price.

One that attracted us was the fishball stall.

The tomyam fishballs were sold at merely RM1.00 per stick.

Enjoying tomyam fishball bought at one of the stalls.

Here’s my friends Kos Serani and Irene, taking the opportunity to have a little photoshoot at one of the empty booth.

Playfully borrowing an old bicycle from a hawker for photoshoot.

And we had a wonderful time playing with our little prop.

Yes. Definitely had fun. Just look at Kos and Irene. My husband and I took a couple of shots here too, but I’m not sharing on the ground that it’s too romantic to display in public. 😉

Unlike the regular night market that my family and I usually frequent, the people in Bentong Walk are very accommodating to tourists, be it local or foreign tourists. They will try to make conversation with you, even when you’re not buying the things that they are selling. Apart from that, they are media darlings too and would get in the frame as long as you request for it. Certainly charming in my humble opinion and definitely a Malaysian hospitality at it’s best.