Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia
Travelogue
3rd to 7th September 2002
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Cameron Highlands
How we got there
We took a coach on the with Gunung Raya Travel to KL, stopping at Puduraya Bus Station. The bus was quite roomy and comfortable and the 230 pm bus we took went by the Second Link to Johor avoiding the usual traffic at the Causeway. The only complain was it actually left without us at the Woodlands checkpoint when we came back from Malaysia! The bus driver had asked if we'll be dropping at Woodlands or Boon Lay at a pit stop on the journey back from KL. I told him Boon Lay so we're suppose to board the bus again after the immigration check point at Woodlands. Michael was stuck at the queue for non-Singaporean for awhile and I was out about 20 minutes before him. Just when I caught sight of him in the queue from the waiting area, I saw the bus driving away! It felt devastating, like your mother had abandoned you in a shopping centre. Abit comical really, and unbelievable. Although it wasn't too troublesome to get a taxi back home, you'd think the bus driver would at least come and tell you the bus can't wait for you. But it just left! But on with the story ....
Accomodation, Kuala Lumpur
We stayed a night at Swiss Inn, a short walk from the bus station. It is 3 star hotel in the heart of KL Chinatown. It costs RM 86++ with b/f (breakfast, not boyfriend :) for a superior room. Standard rooms are cheaper but some webpage says it has no windows. The pasar malam/night market is just at the door step of the hotel. Fantastic shopping place for pirated stuff like jerseys, CDs, watches, bags etc.
Car Rental, K.L. - Cameron Higlands
In the morning, we collected the car we rented from Orix. You can apply for a free privilege card that gives you 30% off car rental in Malaysia and 25% discount on rental rates in Singapore. I received my card only 2 or 3 months after I applied though. The cheapest car you can rent is the Proton Iswara 1.3 Manual at RM 168 per day. With the discount, it works out to about S$65 - $70 a day with insurance. We drove up to Cameron Highlands by the North-South highway getting off at the town of Tapah. From there, there are road directions to the town of Ringlet and finally to Tanah Rata. (Link to a S'pore to Pahang Map below)
Where we stayed
We stayed at Cluny Lodge, a place with a superb view of the town of Brinchang, between the town of Tanah Rata and Brinchang. Its a 3 or 4 storey bungalow with at least 8 rooms in it. You can go up the stairs to the roof and get a panoramic view of the surrounding. The room we had was quite spacious with a queen size and a sofa bed. Towels and slippers are provided and the caretakers actually made our bed in the morning! Cooking is not allowed in the bungalow but you can order b/f, lunch or dinner, sent in by a caterer. There's plenty of restaurants and food places in Tanan Rata and Brinchang so we didn't ordered any food during our stay.
The place can be booked by civil servants (e.g. teachers) through an automated phone system at 65-63327321. Check the Aloha webpage for details. It costs S$30 a night during school holidays. Booking must be in periods though, i.e. Mon - Wed or Wed - Fri or Fri - Mon. The notice board in the lodge says the public can book the rooms at S$75 a night. Check out the Aloha link on top for public booking (The lodge number in M'sia:02-05-4911562). There are cheaper options to stay, mainly cheap hotels in town. Accessibility, esp. if you do not have your own transport, makes up for a lesser view. Most expensive resorts sits on top of hills or away from the main towns.
What we did
Other than doing the religious pilgrimage of patronizing all the food places Lonely Planet recommends, we did all the other things it says we should do too :)
We drove up to Gunung Brinchang, the highest mountain in Cameron Highland after we unloaded all our stuff from the car at the lodge. The view was enveloped by clouds but its kind of romantic. We went up the second day again and had clear views.
We drove to Boh Tea Plantation near to Tanah Rata (there are two, the other is nearer to Brinchang). There, we were shown videos of the tea making process and a guided tour to their tea factory. There is a cafe with a nice view of the planation. But do not miss out walking up to the scenic view at the plantation. You can see a sign from the cafe. The look out is actually a big flat land on the hill with superb view of the plantation and paragliding possibilities with a big launching pad.
There are many waterfalls in Cameron Highlands, we went to four. There is the Iskandar waterfall along the windy road up to Tanah Rata. We stopped at the one before it thinking it was the Iskandar and found the pool and water there enticing enough for a swim. It is just by the roadside and there is a flight of stairs leading to it. I think it is more pleasant than Iskandar b'cos its kind of like a private pool amidst the jungle, if you find yourself alone there without a load of tourist from the bus. The Iskandar waterfall is bigger it's more touristy. There are stalls lined along the road to sell you things and a fallen down food place. The other two places we went were Robinson's fall (Walk Trail 8) and a nice steep waterfall beside the road with pavilons and a stone path near to Ringlet.
I was reluctant to do any walks after being drove everywhere. We did the walk trail number 8 (15 minutes). Michael decided we should go up Gunung Berembang. I dragged myself reluctantly behind him, complaining and cursing. The trail wasn't well defined and we soon found ourselves out of the jungle and in the back of some giant construction yard. I said he'd lost his way but he insisted he meant for the walk to finish b'cos I was complaining.
On to Genting
We left Cameron Highlands on Friday and decided to try the new highway mentioned on some guidebook that links the road at the Brinchang end to Ipoh. The road leads to some Kampong Raja and on and slowly the traffic disappeared. We suspected that the highway might not have been completed but still we tried our luck. True to our suspicion, it was a dead end to some gravel road still in construction.
It
wasn't too bad really b'cos the drive to there was fantastic. Great
views and it felt like it was your private driveway probably everyone
else knew it leads to nowhere :) So we drove back the way we came and got
out of Cameron Highlands the way we came.
Genting
We stayed at the Theme Park Hotel in Genting. You can book any of the hotels in Genting on the internet.
If you book early, you can even get discounts up to 15%. Genting was a nice change from Cameron Higlands with its Big Hotels, Casino and Theme Park but it hasn't got the rural and hillside charm of Cameron Highlands.
I quite enjoyed the Casino though. You can play the Jackpot machine for as little as 5 Malaysian cents. I sat beside a chain smoker who was betting in tens and fifty Ringgets. He kept staring at me everytime I got jumpy winning thrice, 4 times or even five times of my 5 cents bet. Wonder Why?
Kuala Lumpur
We drove to KL and return the car the Orix office with time to spare before the bus leaves for Singapore. We took a cab to the Puduraya Bus Terminal hoping to find lockers or some place to leave our bags so we can roam about the city.
Puduraya bus terminal was quite crowded like always, it felt like it might explode anytime with the heat and activity in the terminal. There are taxi drivers touting their service in the terminal but they will charge an overpriced flat rate to anywhere in the city. The traffic police outside the terminal drives away taxi drivers who tries to unload or pick up passengers so its really hard to hail a taxi there.
We didn't find anywhere we could leave our bags so we decided to take the LRT trains to the Petronas Twin Tower. The Plaza Pakyat LRT station is just behind Puduraya Bus Terminal. There we took the LRT to Masjid Jamek LRT station and transfer to the Benteng LRT Station just beside it and took the train to KLCC LRT station. KL's LRT is run by two different private companies, Putra and Star. They're not really intergrated so you may find you need to change trains at different stations like we discovered. The LRT trains are over crowded too. One reason could be the trains are actually much shorter than the train station track and we were squashed (and we squashed people too with our bags :) breathing neck to neck with the other passengers.
You can go up the Petronas twin towers now but you probably have to queue up at 5 in the morning cos the tickets go fast.
Resources
Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, Loney Planet.
Malaysia, Footprints.
Mapbook of Malaysia, WEM's Travel Map.
Map of Pahang (From Aloha Singapore)
You can borrow the guide books at any National Library in Singapore.
Popular bookshop sells the travel map and maps from other publishers.
Links
h/b (Hushand, not hot beverage)
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