It was a beautiful morning May 21, 2014. We had planned to
visit Cameron Highlands a town which is 1268 meter above sea
level, on the top of the main range in the state of Pahang. Just after 8am in
the morning I drove the Honda taking the DUKE Highway into the North South
Highway toward the north. I had planned to get into the Highlands via the
Simpang Pulai exit 137 in
the state of Perak, just south of the town of Ipoh. My nephew who lives in
Kuantan came along to help in the driving. I drove all the way to the Tapah
Rest and Recreation area and had a short break there while enjoying an early lunch
and refreshments. Then my nephew took the wheel. This is the first time that we
took that road toward Cameron Highland and found the road is less winding than
the Tapah one. In the past there was only one way to get to Cameron Highland
and that is via Tapah. Now there are three new roads; one from Simpang Pulai
that we are taking that day and the other two are from Gua Musang in the state
of Kelantan and the latest one is from Raub in the state of Pahang. Although
Cameron Highlands is in the state of Pahang before the new roads was constructed
the only way to get to Cameron Highlands from any other districts in that state
was by driving through the state of Selangor and Perak before one get back into
the State of Pahang where the district of Cameron Highland is. After a leisure
drive of one hour from Simpang Pulai we reach Kampng Raja. Then drove slowly
toward the
Copthorne Hotel in Brinchang where we would stay while in the
highlands. The road was winding all the way but was not as bad as the Tapah Ringlet stretch and sort of heavy with local
traffic collecting vegetables and other produce to the market all over the
country. Cameron Highlands is the biggest producer of temperate climate vegetables for the
country as well for Singapore. [Above is the view of the Bharat Tea Plantaion]
We eventually arrived at the hotel, a sprawling
complex which was the former Equatorial Hotel. We had book two rooms on-line
and the checking in was in a breeze. We were given two adjacent rooms on the
eleventh floor. On entering the room we found it has a splendid view of the
countryside below. Had a short rest and then went out for lunch at Tanah Rata,
the main town of the district. After going around we soon found a place call
Hotel Titiwangsa that served food. We sat down and ordered a variety of Nasi
Goreng and enjoy it at the lobby of the hotel cum restaurant in the cool
comfort of the mountain air. After a while we decided to drive on toward the
town centre to do a bit of sightseeing of the town and the greens around. We
then got back to the hotel for a rest and refresh ourselves. Just after seven
in the evening we went to the town of Tanah Rata again and had dinner at a Mamak
restaurant there. The place was already thronging with tourists enjoying their
dinners. I saw many backpackers’ tourists around, mostly Europeans walking
around and enjoying their food there. Cameron Highlands has always been popular
with foreigners because the weather is always cool. We ordered Tandoori and
Chicken Tikka and sat to enjoyed it. After dinner since there were hardly any
night-life activities we decided to get back to the hotel and call it a day.
I
woke up early at about 4.30am in the morning because of the cough that I had
been having for months already. My son in law who is an ENT
specialist says it because of dry throat and give me some medicine for
treatment; it sort of an old age problems. I could not sleep again until around
5.30am. Then I heard my spouse who had waked up saying that there is light
coming out of the mountain range and it look like a sunrise. I woke up and went
to have a look and sure enough it was the sun rising. I went to wash up and
took my camera and wait for the sun to slowly rise against the horizon.
Slowly the sun began to make its appearance with a spectacular display of
light; Orange, Yellow, Amber and Red against the dark blue sky. It was indeed a
magnificent sight to watch in that early morning. The time was just past seven
in the morning. Soon the whole areas from the mountain range and the lush green
of the lowland was ablazed with light, thus the morning begin with a wonderful
display of light from our glorious sun. It was a wonderful welcome to us on our
first day here in Cameron Highlands.
Our room come with breakfast for two.
Since the breakfast is served from 6.30am to 10am we decided to get ready to
enjoy the breakfast at the Coffee House downstairs. Just after 8am we went to
enjoy our breakfast. As usual with Malaysian hospitality industries the breakfast
come with a large buffet spreads. So it is always wise when making
booking for room at the hotel in Malaysia to see to it that it includes
breakfast as well. We take our time to enjoy the breakfast. I found that the
local spreads including the Nasi Lemak are as good as home made. After enjoying
that breakfast we then got back to our room and refresh up before going out to
play tourists. The weather outside the hotel was cool and not normal to us who
live in the lowland so we have to wear light jacket or sweater. And I like it,
it felt really good; cool and fresh.
With my nephew driving the Honda we took a
spin of the town up to Ringlet, then make a turn back to Tanah Rata. On the way
we stop for tea at the Tea House of the
Bharat Tea Plantation, the second
largest tea plantation in Cameron Highland. From the tea house one can see a
sprawling tea bushes, green, green and greens as far as the eyes could see. We
ordered tea and sat at a table with a view of that sprawling tea bushes below.
It was a panoramic view of lush green like a postcard. Magnificent indeed!
I
felt real good sitting there enjoying that peace and tranquillity of the place,
atop the world with the lush tea farm below. I was at peace with myself and
felt so nice that I wanted to stay there forever. It was a feeling that touches
my heart; a special feeling indeed. It felt so good. And the Teh Tarek was
heaven! I had brought my camera and the necessary lens to do photography and
had a field-day photographing the scenes around the tea house.
After a while we
left and got to our hotel in Brinchang to freshen up. Flowers grow well in the
highlands. The hotel that we are staying took advantage of this and landscapes
its front with colourful flowers thus enhancing the approach of the hotel. I
love to see such display of flowers and took some image of the scene. On the
morning of May 23, 2014 after having a hearty breakfast at the hotel we check
out and on the way to Ringlet we bought the local vegetable and Strawberry to
take home. We were thinking of taking the new road that would take us back to
Kuala Lumpur via Bentong but could not find the exit. Since it was only less
that 50 kilometres to Tapah where exit to the North South Highway is we decided
to forgo going back via Bentong but instead chose the Tapah route. On the way
we stop at the Lata Iskandar to watch a Water Fall there. As usual the place
was throng with tourists making a stop on the way up to the highlands or going
down toward Tapah. We left the place and soon got into the highway again. We
proceed south on the highway and make a stop for lunch at the Tapah Rest and Recreation
area Then proceed on and reach home at just 4pm in the afternoon.
All in all our short holiday was a colourful one indeed. We did enjoy it.
Have a nice day.
