Forever Young: Fraser Hill. Back after 20 years.

(republished from my entry in www.travelblog.org)

I drove with my family to Fraser Hill on the eve of Labour Day. We passed by a dam which we have never heard of at Kg Pertak. At the Gap we found that the old road which was used to go up and down at scheduled time had been closed to uphill traffic; it is now only for the downhill vehicles. We had to use a new road going up.

It was not difficult to find Silverpark Hotel. Clear signboard abound. It was 3pm, and the receptionist told us the room could only be ready at 5pm! First time I encountered this situation in 15 years of my working life with lots of hotel hopping.

We explored the town. The narrow streets were jammed with cars. Most of the buildings were of colonial period design. We were happy to find a kopitiam, but alas the coffee was not sweet and the fried mee hoon not salty enough. Can't understand the low quality of the food in such a touristy place.

We strolled around at the tiny town centre; shot photo around the landmark Clock Tower to prove our visit, watched golfers teed off only 5 meters away from the road pavement, took notice of a tropical looking cafe which we came back at night for a not so great dinner.

The most colonial styled gov clinic in Malaysia (?)

We finally checked in at 5 something. It was a two rooms apartment, clean and spacious and only slightly overpriced at RM290++, considered the peak season.

The next day, when the kids were still sleeping, I went bird watching with my brother Chin. We tried Hemment Trail first, no luck, then went to Jalan High Pine and here managed to see two highland species: chestnut capped laughingthrush and silver eared mesia. See the map of jungle trails

We checked out early and went to town centre to take breakfast, then to pedal boat at Allen's Water (RM6 each), and finally visited the waterfall. We did not reached the waterfall itself which was at quite a distance from the car park, though a glimpse of it from top (needs to approad it from its top and rear side) found it was quite spectacular.

I found Fraser Hill a relaxing place to spend holidays, but this view was not shared by other family members. They would prefer the next trip to be Cameron Highland where there are most things- tea plantation, strawberry, roses, night market, steamboat etc. Why can't Fraser Hill adopt the similar tourism strategy? There must be some reasons behind this lacking. Perhaps the under development is designed to preserve its pristine nature. It is well known as a birding hotspot and the Annual Fraser Hill Birdrace draws competitors from near and far.