We set off to
Fraser's Hill (rising 1,500 meters above sea-level on the Titiwangsa mountain range at Pahang state) last Friday on the Good Friday holiday. We thought able to leave our JB home by 8am, end up only managed to leave home half an hour later at 8.30am. Gone were the days when there were only hubby and I and we can leave home within half an hour after wake up. With Xi, we need additional 30 minutes, and now with Ru, another 15 minutes.
Anyway, we set off in good mood (despite earlier frustration and the crying of Xi during bath time). We have bought a lot of titbits for the journey, and I also brought some grapes and strawberries, put in a container then inside a cooler bag.
Hubby was driving in a high speed and within 3 hours, we have reached KL. We did not stop over at KL but continued our journey and only stopped by at
Kuala Kubu Bahru, a small town in Selangor, and had a delicious meal of chicken chop and fried bee hoon in a non-aircon restaurant, 新南昌(Sun Sun Nan Cheong Restaurant) hubby found recommended in the internet.
From Kuala Kubu Bahru, we head east towards
The Gap which takes about 40 minutes. At the Gap there is a signboard, which directs us to a 8km one-way single lane road leading to the and off Fraser's Hill. As it is a one-way road, vehicles can only go up the Fraser's Hill at odd hours (ie. 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm) and go off the Hill at even hours (ie. 8am, 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm). However, there is a 20 minutes allowance for the vehicles going to and off the Hill to finish their 9km journey. Eg. we are only allowed to go up the hill between 1pm to 1.40pm. Despite the rush, we reached the Gap 10 minutes late at 1.50pm and so we got to wait until 3pm before we are allowed to go up the Hill. The weather was pretty hot at the Gap. Initially we off the aircon and open the window to let the air thru. But the mosquitoes from outside kept coming into the vehicles. So after 40 minutes of waiting, hubby on the aircon. Luckily the gals are well behaved and not making much noise during the 1 hour wait. Xi happily munching the titbits and fruits, and Ru sat quietly on her car seat.
The clock tower, symbol of Fraser's Hill, right at the centre of the Town Centre.When we reached our hotel,
Ye Olde Smokehouse, it was raining heavily. But the very helpful and friendly hotel staff quickly brought umbrellas to our car and sheltered us inside the hotel. We heard a lot of good reviews from Tripadvisor. However, we are quite disappointed at the interior of the room (the Owen) which is quite old and worn out though I was delighted by the nice baby cot they provided. Despite this, the hotel provides its guests with an English cottage experience and the friendly staff makes us feel comfortable.
Our room, the Owen:
View from the Hotel:
The exterior and the garden of the Hotel. Xi enjoyed running around the garden after the breakfast.
Our package includes complimentary breakfast, tea and scones and drinks. So after the hotel staff showed us the room, we went to one of its cosy lounge with cosy sofa and a TV with astro. I believe that is the only TV in the entire hotel. All the hotel rooms has no TV, telephone (the handphone signal there is very bad) and fridge.
After the tea, we drove around the Hill. Luckily the rain has stopped. The Town Centre is very small and you can finish walking the whole town in half an hour. But you will enjoy the English style of the houses and buildings and the colourful wild flowers and the refreshing air around. It was not as cold as i expected, in fact i felt a bit warm after walking for some time.
Enjoyable stroll around the Town:
The post office, police station and the clinic:
The primary school at Fraser's Hill:
The wild flowers along the road:
There are a lot of English style nice bungalows for rented, most of these bungalows belong to big corporates such as Telcom, Sime Darby and Aloha.
Next morning hubby brought Xi for a morning walk at one of the easiest trail - the
Hermant trail which is about 1km. Too bad our dear daughter is more of a city gal and not very enthusiastic on the trees, flowers, insects and other natural inhibits of the jungle, and she started getting cranky and wanted to look for me after a short while of the walk. So hubby had to carry her for that 1km jungle trail plus another 2km walk along the gold course on the way back to the car.
Overall it is a relax and cheap alternative for a family trip, especially if you have school-aged kids, the jungle trails can offer a good education treat to them.
