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Published: February 27th 2012
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SEREMBAN LAKESIDE GARDENS, CAMERON HIGHLANDS DRIVE & BRINCHANG, CAMERON HIGHLANDS, PAHANG, MALAYSIA. Sunday 26 February, 2012.
We left our hotel and headed for the Seremban Lakeside Gardens and arrived just before 10 am. It was a lovely sunny morning so we parked the car and walked around the middle lake.
This lake and garden complex adjacent to downtown Seremban is a fantastic amenity site for the city. The tree-filled gardens are manicured and laid out with picnic tables. There is a shady walk all the way around the three lakes with two bridges to cross from one side to the other. There is an open air theatre with the stage on one side of the lake and the seating for the audience on the other. The lake closest to the downtown has a large fountain.
There was also a signpost to remind us how far we were from home - Sydney 6616 km, Oslo 9763 km and London 10552 km! It was a pleasant interlude and chance to stretch our legs before we embarked on the long drive to the Cameron Highlands - our next destination which had been recommended by our good friend Dr David Carlisle.
The drive took us about 5 hours in total with the first 3 hours being motorway, around KL and through the plantations heading north. We came off the motorway at the Tapah Junction and the scenery immediately became much more interesting as the road snaked up the mountain.
After about 20 minutes of driving we stopped for lunch at a roadside eatery. We ate noodles cooked in the local style with chile and yet more unidentifiable yummy things. It was a good meal and we were somewhat of a curiosity to the locals who, quite obviously, don't get too many westerners stopping to eat there.
We then proceeded to make our way up the mountain. The vegetation changed very significantly and the plantation palms were replaced with much more wild semi-jungle. There were many waterfalls on the way, one of which, Lata Iskander, was particularly good and is a popular tourist attraction.
On the way up we passed a number of dogs who all seemed to look the same and seemed to be wild and running on the highway. They looked like skinny corgi's with long legs. Goodness only knows how they avoid being runover as there
is a lot of traffic (including heavy trucks and coaches in both directions). Maybe it is a breed that we have never heard of - The Malay Mountain Hound or something - who knows?
We also passed many stalls selling basketware and local drinks, honey and tea. Further up the mountain we passed by several tea plantations. M had not seen tea bushes growing in their cultivated environment before. They created a beautiful landscape and it was surprising to see them growing neatly in rows across and up and down the hillsides.
Pahang is a "dry state" so we had taken the precaution of packing 4 large bottles of beer into the boot/trunk to keep us going over the two nights we had booked to stay here. We passed through several resorts and eventually arrived at our resort of Brinchang. At first glance it looked very tacky and rather resembled many French ski resorts with high rise apartments.
We found the hotel with no trouble and checked in and parked the car. Unfortunately one of our stash of beers had come to a smelly and sticky end - obviously the windy roads had not agreed with it!
The boot/trunk of the car was a right smelly mess - and we had lost a quarter of our emergency supply! M went to the local shop and purchased some cleaning stuff. We unloaded and D did the best he could to clean and remove the smell of beer from the car.
We checked out our room and found it was quite ok and it had a bath for M. There was a flat screen TV, fridge and a kettle (but no coffee, tea or any other such thing). M switched on the computer but had no connection to the internet so decided to go to reception to find out a few things. The first thing she asked was "what is the kettle in the room for?". The guy behind reception looked at M as if she were retarded and replied "to boil water". M then said " and what do I do with the water when I have boiled it - use it for the bath! Do you have any tea or coffee or anything?" "No" replied the reception guy shrugging his shoulders and grinning inanely. Having discussed it further we have decided that they had to provide
a kettle in order to be awarded their second star in the star ratings - probably didn't mention in the blurb that it might be a good idea to provide the customer with something to do with the water once it had boiled!
The second query with regard to the internet met with a little more success (although indirectly). "How do I access the WiFi?" asks M (saying Weee Feee the Euro way rather than Wiy Fiy the UK way). The reply to this was "not a lot in the evening". Turns out the place is a bit of a dive and nothing happens in the evening - nice to know even though you didn't ask. M tried again "IN-TER-NET?" This met with a bit more success and she was told that you could only get access in the reception area as the signal was very weak. The guy on the hotel reception then wrote down the username and password. M was now able to post the blog from Melaka.
We found a Chinese Restoran that actually did sell Tiger (beer) and decided to eat there later. This was a mistake. The food was alright but very expensive
- I suppose that's what you get when you come to a tourist resort. We are both looking forward to a day just chilling and enjoying the scenery tomorrow. We would have liked to visit a tea plantation but turns out they are all closed on Mondays. C'est la vie!
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Tony
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photos
looks beautiful