Up early, packed and ready to set off to Shah Alam.
We went through Shah Alam to the Bukit Cerakah Agricultural. The most stunning thing in this park was the Cold House. Here in the UK, we are only used to Hot Houses, living in a cold climate...
Children were fascinated by the autumn colour
...so to actually see children seeing our climate was mind blowing. They not only found it cold but they were fascinated by the colours of the autumn leaves.
Our guide told us that he has four displays each year, and soon he will be stripping it all out to have the Christmas snow scene. I do wonder what the children make of snow.
We went into Shah Alam for lunch. Unfortunately our bus broke down which delayed our departure by 2 hours so we did not arrive in Fraser’s Hill until 17:45. For the final few miles up to Fraser’s Hill, the road becomes a single track; you can only go up on odd hours, and down on even hours.Luckily we were in time to make the 17.00 slot!
Fraser’s Hill is situated in an ancient virgin rainforest that was not affected by the ice age. It actually consists of seven hills, and is 1500 meters above sea-level in the Titiwangsa mountain range.
It is named after a solitary Scottish pioneer, James Fraser, who set up a tin-ore trading post in the 1890s.
Fraser's Hill is situated in an ancient rainforest
After a typically English dinner of roast beef Wellington and steamed chocolate pudding with champagne, we were taken on a night walk by Mr. Durai. He's lived at Fraser's Hill all his life and has been the guide to David Attenborough and the Duke of Edinburgh.
We were also accompanied by our new guide, Ooi Chin Hock, who joined us at Shah Alam and is a wild bird specialist amongst many other things. Ooi Chin Hock, through his company Kalao Voyages, arranges the most inspiring and thought provoking tours.
The sounds of the forest were deafening. Mr Durai showed us some incredible spiders who cut a hole in a bank to create a trap door, so that when an insect settles on it, the spider dives out to catch it.
26th October, Fraser's Hill to Taiping
Our guides, Mr Durai
and Ooi Chin Hock
I woke early as the sun peeped through the curtains of the bungalow, so I managed to see the sunrise over the rain forest.
After breakfast we all set off on a tour of Fraser’s Hill, led by our guides, Mr Durai and Ooi Chin Hock.
Kolam Allan’s Water
As we approached the waterfall, we could hear gibbons calling to each other in the tree tops. It was wonderful to hear and a privilege to be in such an old rainforest surrounded by amazing natural flora and fauna.
Wild Streptocarpus, an endangered species
We just managed to get ten minutes walking along a forest trail when I saw a Wild Streptocarpus.
Mr. Durai said it was endangered and there was a preservation order on it but that this meant very little, which was sad to hear.
We returned to the village centre by 12pm, as we were shortly departing for Taiping.
Fraser's Hill Village Centre
Durio zibethinu, Durian Fruit
Just before we left, we came across a stall selling Durio zibethinu, Durian Fruit. So Junus kindly bought us some to try. If you can avoid smelling it, the taste is very interesting: creamy with a hint of curry.
We arrived in Taiping in the pouring rain, so we quickly went to see the magnificent rain treesAlbizia saman which close their leaves when it rains.
Then it was on to Kangar. We arrived at 22.00 hrs, some had dinner and some of the more hardy still sang Karaoke until the wee hours!
The rain trees Albizia saman
27th October, Kangar to Penang
All plans for today and the next day had changed, due to the fact that we had been invited to Lunch on the 28th October, back at Kangar, with the Raja of Perlis.
Tasik Melati, Kangar
So we were up bright and early and set off to Tasik Melati, a large open park with many lakes that give the local residents plenty of space to walk and rest and even to fish.
While we were there the local school children were on a treasure hunt.
Orthosiphon aristatus,
Cat's Whiskers
We then sped on to Rimba Herba, a tropical herb garden/farm where they make a tea out of Orthosiphon aristatus, Cat’s Whiskers. This herb is used to treat kidney stones, gout, diabetes and rheumatism.
Jan told me that this is a 'designer' herb tea in France, always drunk in the spring to help one lose weight.
It was a fantastic garden. I could have spent hours there looking round, so I've put it on my list for my next visit.
After we had walked around, the owners of the herb farm asked if we would like to rest our weary feet in a warm oil bath.
Hmm... it was, to me, a very hot oil bath - if you look carefully my feet are bright red! Gilbert faired better than I.
A warm oil foot bath
We left this fascinating place and went on to visit a development which was pessimistically called 'Venice of Malaysia'.
The most exciting thing was to see a Carica papaya, Papaya, which had obviously self-seeded and was in fruit. In Malaysia, the young leaves, shoots and flowers of the Papaya are blanched in hot water and eaten as Ulam (a type of Malay salad) with Sambal Belacan (a spicy Malaysian condiment).
Carica papaya, Papaya
We left for Penang at 13.00 hrs arriving about 17.00 hrs, and then straight to the Botanical Garden which looked very interesting .
These Cannon Ball trees are right by the entrance and a real crowd stopper. Unfortunately due to darkness descending we could only spend half an hour there so it is on my list for a proper visit next time.
We caught the train up to Bukit Bendera from where one gets the most spectacular views of Penang and the main land beyond. This too used to be an old hill station.
Cannon Ball Tree, Penang
The view from Penang Hill was hampered by the fact that darkness had come all too quickly, and we hardly had time to explore.
The view from Penang Hill
Once back down in Penang it was off to dinner at the most amazing fish restaurant, the Bali Hai Seafood Market, right on the sea front
The walls were full of
fish tanks, with fish the like of which I had never seen before. The food was fantastic.
After dinner we were taken to the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, right on the sea front. It was steeped in old colonial charm and splendidly luxurious. I could have very happily spent a few days there instead of a few hours!
The walls of the fish restaurant were
full of fish tanks.
