Detour to Fraser's Hill

We last visited Fraser's Hill almost 50 years ago in 1973 when I was a freshie at Malaya University. The 5th Residential College Christian Fellowship organized a trip to this place in one of the uni-short holiday break.

Taking advantage of the family reunion in West Malaysia this October 2022, we decided to drive to Fraser's Hill and spend two nights immediately after the reunion gathering in Ipoh. When my SIL's heard about our impending trip, they too wanted to join. In the end, five who joined this outing were almost the same people in a similar outing in October 2009 with one exception - my SIL's Aussie friend was replaced by my MIL this time. 

Somehow, visiting Pahang has not been without incident and excitement. In my driving tour in October 2009 where we started from Kuala Lipis (Read here), Ms. Garmin, our navigation tool was not that "smart" and led us instead through an almost impassable road (Read here). That stretch of road which was under reconstruction was just muddy earth track used by the construction machineries and dump trucks. Just when we were about to make a U-turn to look for a better alternative sealed access road, we decided to have a go through this seemingly impassible earth track. Somehow, to the relief of all, we made it through in the end in our Lexus then!

Fraser's Hill was one of the favourite places of the British during the Malaya's colonial era. They loved the cool weather and the thick forest and they built many holiday homes. These houses are still around but many have been abandoned and are in very bad condition. 

The access road built by the British from the nearest town, Kuala Kubu Baru to Fraser's Hill follows the hilly terrain. Hence, the road is winding and with occasional fairly steep gradient. This road has not changed much since the colonial days. The only change is the stretch from Gunung Gap Junction to Fraser's Hill. In those days, there was only one road access of single lane width. Hence, each end of the road was closed alternatively to allow one-way uphill driving or downhill driving. Now, an alternative route has been built for independent uphill and downhill driving.

Photo from internet.

The road to Fraser's Hill is popular among cyclists.

Photo from internet.

Fraser's Hill is also popular among bird watchers.

Equally as numerous as the cyclists are the monkeys. They appeared to be very accustomed to people. Many were seen loitering by the road side waiting for anything edible to be thrown to them!

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Approx. 10Km shy of reaching Fraser's Hill, our car could not move further and we were caught in a long line of stagnant vehicles. We soon discovered that the road in front had been rendered impassable because of fallen trees. Just when we were unsure how long we would be stuck there, I was assured by a fairly elderly Indian couple in the queue who are residents up at Fraser's Hill. He was fairly used to this kind of situation and he estimated that the affected area should be cleared in two hours time. An Indian couple workers with just one single chain saw then arrived. With help from the motorist by-standers, the fallen trees were cleared in just over two hours. All then could move on to our destination - Fraser's Hill.