YowCH & Grace

We left church after Carolling Practice on Sunday afternoon, 18 Dec 2011 for PJ, driving off at 3:30pm, and arriving home at about 9:30pm after a dinner in Seremban. After sleeping at YowCH’s parents’ place, we drove up to Cameron Highlands starting at 6:00am on 19 Dec, and reaching Titiwangsa Hotel at 9:00am. we took the Simpang Pulai exit as adviced by YowCH’s dad and Chee Kean. At Simpang Pulai, the signboard is not very helpful for visitors to Cameron Highlands:


We were greeted with very slow and crowded traffic the moment we arrive at Tringkap.

The hotel check-in was only possible at 1:00pm earliest, so we had breakfast near the hotel, then drove to Tanah Rata.

Here’s the Google map with places we visited. Click on the map below for a larger version.

At Tanah Rata, we bought a map for RM4.00 (essential) and visited the MARDI Agro Tech Farm. We had strawberry ice-cream and saw many types of fruits and vegetables.






This is parsley!

We then returned to Brinchang town centre for lunch at KFC.

After checking into hotel at about 1:00pm, and a short nap, we drove Northwards to Ee Feng Gu Apiary to see bees and honey.

Then we visited Cactus Point and S’Corner Market at the S-bend:





We didn’t buy anything from S’Corner, but took some mushroom photos:

Then, we returned to the hotel and had the steamboat dinner, which comes with the hotel room.

As usual of us, a movie before going to bed:

The next morning, 20 Dec, we woke and had hotel breakfast:

The first place we visited was Sam Poh Temple at Brinchang, almost just behind our hotel. The plan was to visit the temple, then hike Trail 2 from behind the temple.


This is the stairs leading up to the start of Trail 2, about 4 storeys high, and the starting was a steep and high-stepped climb of about 3 storeys high.


Then the trail become this mess of underbush, rather too tough for us, especially Joseph.

So we turned around and descended.

We then took a long drive along the very narrow hillside road to the Boh Tea Plantation at Sungei Palas. The drive was slow and difficult, and we had to give way numerous times to drivers in the other direction, but the scenery was really worth it.








We walked up to the cantilevered tea-house and had our drinks and snacks.




Click on the photo below for larger panoramic view of the plantation.

After drinks and snacks, we visited the tea factory.

After the Tea Plantation, we visited the Time Tunnel Museum.




Shuffling shoes was in fashion even in the past!



Captain America!

We had lunch at Chef Weng’s, which is at Equatorial Hotel.

In the afternoon, we chose a simpler trail at Tanah Rata, Trail 4 to Parit Falls. The trail starts right next to Century Pines Resort.



The water was very muddy, probably due to the rainy season and landsides upstream.

Compare with this poster, when the water was clear:

There is a public park near the falls, which allows cars to drive very close to the falls, but we hiked, nevertheless.






David spotted this large black beetle.

After the trail, we went for very expensive tea at Ye Olde Smokehouse.

Then it was back to hotel for showers and dinner, steamboat again.

The third day, 21 Dec, we would be leaving by 12:00noon, so we had one more hike, this time, to Robinson Falls via Trail 9. The trail starts near MARDI at Tanah Rata.




This is it, Robinson Falls.


We might press on further, but the path leading to the Power Station seemed too difficult. We also wanted to check out earlier to return to PJ before the evening jam.

We had a break for sweets, then turned back.



Here’s a very large milipede.

After checking out of the hotel at about 11:30am, we drove through Ringlet (bad traffic again) and back to PJ.


This waterfall along the way to Tapah looks nicer than the other two we visited.

We reached Tapah at about 1:30pm, had Mi Rebus and Nasi Ayam for lunch, then drove back to PJ, reaching home at about 4:00pm. Here are some strawberry tarts we brought back.

This is Esther and the set of cactii bought from Cactus Point.

Some conclusions:
1. We like Fraser’s Hill more, it is cooler and less crowded.
2. The trails at Cameron Highlands are either too easy with pavement or too tough, Fraser’s Hill or Penang was better.
3. Be prepared for really bad and slow traffic. Lot’s of cars parked along the road, making it difficult to drive.

We thank God for a good holiday, and safe travelling.

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