Malaysia's Highland Getaways - Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands is famed for its vegetable and tea plantations. However in recent years, deforestation and land clearing to make way for more farms and plantations have become even more rampant. This has resulted in damage to the once pristine environment there. Nevertheless, it still retains its charm as probably the best colonial era hill station retreat in Malaysia. It was my return to these very highlands that I so adore after 12 years. The last time I set foot on the Cameron Highlands was in year 2004 during my ascent of Mount Irau. These highlands were where my mountain adventures first begun. I regard the Cameron Highlands as my training ground for my high altitude adventures and it will always have a special place in my heart.

Colonial charm of the Cameron Highlands hill station retreat.

The difference these days are the large crowds of local tourists flooding the Cameron Highlands. There was a massive traffic jam on the way to the town of Tana Rata from Ringlet. We did not even move more than 1 meter for 30 minutes and decided to turn back to Ringlet. This was not heard off those days. the existing infrastructure of the Cameron Highlands simply cannot cater for the huge number of tourists visiting the highlands.

Bharat tea plantation estate.

We stayed at the well preserved colonial era Lakehouse boutique hotel. The interior of the hotel is just as unique as its exterior. However the beauty of the property was marred by a noisy 24 hour dredging activity in the opposite lake. The dredging is to remove thick build up of silt inside the lake which has caused the Sultan Abu Bakar reservoir to become shallower. In 2014, the rainy season had brought unexpectedly large volumes of water to the small reservoir and prompted the authorities to release the water into the low lying Bertam valley below to avoid the dam from bursting. This had brought immeasurable destruction of lives and property to the entire Bertam Valley area and sent 

vegetable prices soaring for almost a year.  

The 24 hour dredging activity ongoing in the Ringlet reservoir. 

The Lakehouse boutique hotel.

At the terrace of the Lakehouse.

Malaysia's Highland Getaways - Fraser's Hill

Fraser's Hill is perhaps the least visited highland retreat among the big 3 in peninsular Malaysia namely Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill itself. But make no mistake that despite its relatively low key reputation, it has lots of hidden surprises to offer. I particularly like Fraser's Hill because of its well preserved natural environment. This is perhaps the positive spin off of being less touristy. During my visit there, I felt that the environment is significantly cooler and mistier compared to the Genting Highlands which has been overrun by massive hotel structures. The fresh mountain air felt revitalizing and I had not breath such good quality air in quite a while.

The infrastructure of the Fraser's Hill does not cater to mass tourism to levels of Genting Highlands. The narrow and winding roads and limited parking space as well as limited number of hotels are just reasons that the place cannot take in huge crowds of tourists. Perhaps three bus loads of tourists would already make the Fraser's Hill town center look congested. However despite the limitations of its infrastructure, the one thing that I liked was that the road leading up to the top from the Gap is a one way road with not much traffic to it. Although it is a narrow and wining road, one can rest assure that no traffic comes from the opposite direction as it is strictly one way up from one side and one way down from another side.

An old photo of Fraser's Hill showing what it looked like in the past.

Don't be fooled by Fraser's Hill quiet and serene nature as it has also got some history to it. Named after the British adventurer-businessman Louis James Fraser, the mountain started off as a tin mining outpost founded by Mr. Fraser himself in the 1890s. At that time, the British army had not yet explored the virgin jungles of the Titiwangsa mountain range hence Mr. Fraser set out on an adventure to the mountains in search of areas with potential tin mining reserves. His efforts came to fruition when he stumbled upon rich deposits of tin ore in the areas surrounding the Fraser's Hill. He recruited Chinese coolies to mine the tin ore and build the mountain road to transport the mined ore to the nearby town of Raub in central Pahang. Being the shrewd businessman he was, he set up opium dens on the mountain which also served as gambling dens to cater for his Chinese workers whom which he profited from the salary he paid to them. Perhaps it was Mr. Fraser's destiny to vanish without any traces within the mountains he spent a lot of his time exploiting. He was never found ever since and only left behind his name for the mountain he so dearly loved. With his disappearance, the hill outpost was left to be taken back by nature until in 1917 J. Ferguson Davie who was the Bishop of Singapore set out to rediscover the mining outpost left behind by Mr. Fraser. He saw its tourism potential and came up with the idea of making the Fraser's Hill a hill station retreat and the rest is history.

Our journey to the Fraser's Hill was very interesting as we passed through the little known Selangor countryside which offered beautiful vistas not typical to the Selangor that we usually hear off. When one mentions Selangor, industrial places like Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya or Subang Jaya usually first come into mind. We took the exit at Lembah Beringin and headed towards the foothill of Fraser's Hill passing through a series of plantation villages along the way. Lembah Beringin is an abandoned housing project which looked like some kind of nuclear war aftermath. Lembah Beringin was conceptualized as a dream housing development within an orchard overlooking the beautiful Titiwangsa mountains. However, the reality of the project did not reflect its dream-like concept and eventually it fell into disregard. Driving through the site gave us all the creeps as it was evident that nature has partially claimed back the site.

The abandoned housing project of Lembah Beringin. 

                            

The sleepy plantation town of Kerling on the way to the foothill of the Titiwangsa mountains.

We drove passed what was probably the most beautiful part of the journey at the Selangor Reservoir area which offered open vistas of the lake and the surrounding mountains. A picture stop is very hard to resist here.

Overlooking the beautiful Selangor Reservoir.

Upon reaching "The Gap" outpost, it is a one way narrow and winding road all the way to the top of Fraser's Hill where the hill station town is located. Driving up this narrow and winding road can be quite uncomfortable for some people especially those prone to motion sickness. It is suggested that regular pits stops are taken along the way to breathe the fresh oxygen rich mountain air in order to overcome motion sickness. The famous clock tower located right in the middle of town greets visitors upon reaching the top of the hill. This clock tower is probably the most recognizable icon which has become synonymous to Fraser's Hill.

The famous Fraser's Hill clock tower which is probably the most recognizable icon of the hill. 

We stayed at the Fraser's Silverpark apartment resort which is located at the highest point of the Fraser's Hill. This apartment complex is largely abandoned despite its ideal location perched on top of a windy and scenic peak. I was told that the developers of the apartment went bust after the project was completed hence the entire running of the complex had to be undertaken by the owners. Unfortunately collection of apartment maintenance fees was a big problem and many of the owners did not pay up as they had lost confidence in the project. To make things worse there are so many owners and many of them foreigners from Hong Kong and Singapore which makes reaching them a hassle. Some of the apartment units are evidently being taken back by nature with thick undergrowth growing in the balcony and probably inside the unit too. Most of the units were empty and the entire place had an eerie feeling to it.   

The Fraser's Silverpark apartments resort.

Thick undergrowth seen growing inside the unit. The building facade clearly defaced by moss as a result of the damp air.

Malaysia's Highland Getaways - Genting Highlands

Malaysia's Titiwangsa mountain range not only serves as the backbone of the peninsular which is an important water catchment area rich in flora and fauna. The main range as it is also known, is an important tourism draw which generates millions of tourists dollars as revenue to the country's economy. Situated close to the equator, Malaysia enjoys warm tropical climate all year round. However for some Malaysians, they would like to get away from the hot and sticky climate to experience cooler climes. These mountains serve as the ideal getaway close to home without having to travel overseas and lose out on the exchange rate in view of the drastically depreciating ringgit. A retreat to the mountains also gives people the opportunity to clear their lungs from all that choking city smog and breathe fresh oxygen rich mountain air.

I will be writing about 3 of the most popular highland getaways in Peninsular Malaysia which I happen to have also visited recently starting with the most popular one, Genting Highlands.

Genting Highlands

View of the surroundings at Genting Highlands from the Awana Resort.

The Genting Highlands resort is undoubtedly the most popular in terms of number of visitors (both domestic and foreign) as its proximity to the Klang Valley results in only an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur. It also has the best infrastructure among the other highland resorts such as good quality and wide roads leading up to the peak (dual carriageways from foothill to top). This is a very important factor to cater for mass tourism as big buses and larger vehicles usually have problems navigating up narrow and winding mountain roads which are single lane. In addition to good roads, cable cars are another option of getting to the top of Genting. 

The biggest draw to the Genting Highlands is obviously the casino and theme park. Most tourists come up here for either one or both of these reasons. The entire Genting Highlands resort was a project started by its founder, the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong who was a migrant from Fujian province in China between the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, people were laughing at his idea of building a resort on top of a remote and inaccessible mountain and deemed it doomed to fail. However it is clearly evident today that he has proven his critics wrong with Genting Highlands being a huge tourist magnate. The casino at the peak of Genting Highlands is Malaysia's one and only up till now as the Malaysian government has never granted anymore casino licenses ever since. 

Memorial of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, the founder of Genting Highlands located at Gohtong Jaya.

If you are not so much of a gambler or a theme park enthusiast then you might be hugely disappointed with a visit to Genting Highlands as the hordes of tourists bumping into you doesn't differ much from the feeling of being in a busy city center. There are not that many pristine hiking trails around the Genting Highlands with the exception of Gunung Bunga Buah which is one of the nearby peaks. Its trailhead is accessed from the midway town of Gohtong Jaya behind the Seri Malaysia hotel. A hike up and down this peak typically takes between 5-8 hours depending on your level of fitness and the weather of the day. 

The busy and vibrant city of entertainment at the top of Genting Highland resort.

  There are also many hotel resorts to choose about in Genting Highlands ranging from very expensive luxury ones to the mid range and budget options. While I was there, I stayed in the Awana Genting Highlands resort which is a very old signature hotel of the Genting Highlands. It is also the only hotel in Genting Highlands that has a 18-hole golf course. To be honest, it wasn't a very pleasant stay as the rooms were very dusty and I kept sneezing as a result of that. The dust came from the curtains and carpet which were probably not washed in a very long time. I also find that the hotel rates are rather exorbitant for the value they offer. Just 4 years back they offered around RM180 per night for a double room but this time when I was there, for the same room the price has gone up to RM600 per night! That's a price hike of more than 3 times in a span of 4 years! Not to mention, the quality of the breakfast this time around has significantly disimproved. 

At the Awana Genting Highlands Resort.

 Anyway, being the nature loving person I am, I wasn't there for the casino nor the theme park. The nature walk in a nearby trail close to the Awana resort was the highlight of my trip to the Genting Highlands. This was also a good reason for a quick escape from the hazy air of Kuala Lumpur during the dry season. My wife and I did the jungle trek within 3 hours which is about the average time taken for the trail. It is basically a loop trail that starts from the Awana resort's team building camp site. With Awana resort being located at midway up the mountain, it is relatively low in elevation hence trekking at this level would be together with the company of mosquitoes and leeches. My wife in particular is not a big fan of leeches and would literally jump and yell at the sight of it. For most part of the nature walk, I was occupied with the job of removing leeches from my wife's feet. As for me, I am used to leeches feasting on my blood. 

Going up the nature trail closeby to Awana Genting Highlands resort.

 The trail is of moderate difficulty whereby it starts off as a descend into a valley where a small stream flows. The stream was evidently murky as a result of nearby construction. In fact the noise from the construction could be heard throughout the nature walk. Apparently there is a boom in vacation property throughout the Genting Highlands to cater for the expected increase in tourist arrivals once the Fox Studios theme park is open hence a number of apartments have been mushrooming around the area. As always, development will take its ugly toll on nature and the losers in this case is the pristine jungles of the highlands.

At a stream along the trail. However the water was evidently murky as a result of nearby construction.

Sounds of the gibbons calling echo throughout the jungle although we couldn't see them. But the question is for how long more if all these development continue encroaching into the virgin jungle? The last portion of the trail was a strenuous hike upwards all the way back to the starting point. 

This jungle trek just did not seem as pristine as those that I have previously done in other parts of the Titiwangsa mountain range. The Genting Highlands is at a point where the tourism boom is starting to take a toll on the natural environment. Once the Fox Studios theme park officially opens in 2017/2018, it will undoubtedly draw larger crowds of tourists to the highlands which will mean more revenue for the Genting Group and its chain of beneficiaries. Already we can see more vacation apartments such as Windmills Upon the Hills and Ion Delemen just to name a few, sprouting up to tap the spike in property demand there. There is indeed a lot of money to be made for these property developers but a fine balance between modern development and preserving the environment is crucial to ensure that our delicate highland ecosystem remains healthy and sustainable for the benefit of everyone.