we passed the customs at about 11am and arrived there at about 6pm after driving about 450km. would have been earlier had it not been for the car-to-car jam near the summit at brinchang. the weather was really beautiful. nice and cool. initial impression once you drive up the slopes was that you are heading up somewhere nice, green and peaceful. but this impression quickly dissipated once we got closer to the top. the greenery disappeared. there were heaps of rubbish, damaged roads, houses, traffic jams, overcrowded places and so on. very disorganised. and to a small extend, rather unsettling. this was so especially in the day time when you are overwhelmed with so many things to see. those were some of the impressions i had when i visited cameron on the first day. and with this setting as the backdrop, all expectations disappeared. i just wanted to have a good dinner and rest. and yes, i was really tired by then.
we took things slow and easy on the second day. and instead of spending money on local tours, we decided to drive around the area. managed to visit the cactus valley and the boh tea plantation. for the former, it was really nice and beautiful. rows and rows of flowers, cactii, fruits and so on. hibiscus, hydrangea, azalea, heliconia, grapes, strawberries, and so on. it was such a great contrast to the rubbished filled areas. and apart from the crowd, the boh plantation was also another good experience. the climb up to the summit allowed us to see the wide spans of the plantation. very pretty. very nice. we visited the night market that night. interestingly, the whole place looked different. whatever rubbish there were, we stopped noticing them. rather, the whole mood was very celebratory, and very `kamponggy'. certainly brought back memories of the pasar malam (night markets) of my kampong (village) childhood days. you need to be in it to explain the experience. and the cool weather (i think it must have been close to 12 degrees) certainly made the whole experience a very nice one.
it was my first time to cameron highlands. my impressions of large spans of plantations of filled with colourful flowers and miles and miles of tea plantation was not to be. well, at least for the flower part. it was also interesting to note that there were lots of beautiful greeneries, waterfalls, and at times, clearings on the way up and on the way down (we took different roads). but along the crest near the top, it was full of built-up areas, traffic (human and cars) and lots of rubbish. perhaps cameron highlands, just like most other tourist attractions is also seeing the natural progression of damage due to increase human activities, commercialization and so on. sad... ah well... was an interesting trip nonetheless. on the whole, i would say cameron highlands was a pleasant experience, a very nice getaway for the weekend.
:-)
we took things slow and easy on the second day. and instead of spending money on local tours, we decided to drive around the area. managed to visit the cactus valley and the boh tea plantation. for the former, it was really nice and beautiful. rows and rows of flowers, cactii, fruits and so on. hibiscus, hydrangea, azalea, heliconia, grapes, strawberries, and so on. it was such a great contrast to the rubbished filled areas. and apart from the crowd, the boh plantation was also another good experience. the climb up to the summit allowed us to see the wide spans of the plantation. very pretty. very nice. we visited the night market that night. interestingly, the whole place looked different. whatever rubbish there were, we stopped noticing them. rather, the whole mood was very celebratory, and very `kamponggy'. certainly brought back memories of the pasar malam (night markets) of my kampong (village) childhood days. you need to be in it to explain the experience. and the cool weather (i think it must have been close to 12 degrees) certainly made the whole experience a very nice one.
it was my first time to cameron highlands. my impressions of large spans of plantations of filled with colourful flowers and miles and miles of tea plantation was not to be. well, at least for the flower part. it was also interesting to note that there were lots of beautiful greeneries, waterfalls, and at times, clearings on the way up and on the way down (we took different roads). but along the crest near the top, it was full of built-up areas, traffic (human and cars) and lots of rubbish. perhaps cameron highlands, just like most other tourist attractions is also seeing the natural progression of damage due to increase human activities, commercialization and so on. sad... ah well... was an interesting trip nonetheless. on the whole, i would say cameron highlands was a pleasant experience, a very nice getaway for the weekend.
:-)
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