Checking In

The drive up was more arduous than I remembered. Maybe because of the new MPV. The Starex was bigger than our old Estima, with a higher centre of gravity. That made turning around the winding route bumpier, ending up with Irfan vomiting as soon as we reached the Smokehouse.

It then started raining heavily while we were enjoying our scones. But the rain did not last long. After half an hour, the clouds had cleared out allowing me to take the drone out at a nearby car park. A few passes by the Smokehouse and I was done. It was pretty windy and I was worried that it might damage my drone.

Idlan unpacking his stuffA welcoming sightWe had the same room as we did last December, what they called the honeymoon suite on the first floor. Unfortunately, the ground floor suite was not available for my parents-in-law. They stayed at the room right opposite ours. So, basically, we got the whole front facade of the Smokehouse to us.

Time to sit downPlenty of cars outsideTime to explore the placeThe wifi and internet remained a problem, and the connection I got was sporadic. But during the times which I got the connection - mainly via Maxis - they could be really fast .... almost LTE speed. But they were not consistent. The boys would be grumpy ....

Exploring the Bungalows

Fraser's Hill as a settlement had a long colonial history. The British longed for respite every now and then while in Malaya and explored a few areas around the peninsular for some sort of retreat. And Fraser's Hill was one of them.

Unfortunately we being Malaysian, we see the British who once ruled Malaya as "penjajah" or colonist, and as much as we could tried to erase them from our history. Me, personally was always quite an Anglophile and keen to find out a bit more about the history of this place. I was sure it would make a fascinating read. After all, you can't change the past - although a few politician thought that they can!

Intricate set of stairs to negotiate the steep climbI think this one belongs to Telekom MalaysiaDriving around, you could have a feel of how advanced the settlement once was. I was sure 50 years ago, getting up and down the hill was both difficult and dangerous. And dangerous in the sense that there were Communist around and the British learned from the assassination of Sir Henry Gurney.

Despite that, I could see many buildings dating back from those times and more being built from the 70s and 80s. It was well known that Tunku Abdul Rahman used to come here for his holidays - another Anglophile. Many of the colonial buildings from the past had been converted into shops, rest houses and holiday bungalows. They were scattered around the hill, not just at the town center. Most of the bungalows were owned by large companies and these were used for their staffs for short breaks. Unfortunately, again due to economy and sign of the times, most looked to be in disarray. those which well-maintained looked empty even at this time of the year.

This one looks privately owned and well-maintainedKinda liked this one ....We ended up taking a peek as nobody was in ...Nice little pavilion to look down onto the valleyInitially we planned to rent one of the bungalows - Bungalow Rompin - but unfortunately since my brother-in-law was not able to join us, we decided against it and stayed at the Smokehouse instead, which happened to be just around the corner. On one of the afternoons, Anita and I drove around to explore some of the bungalows for rent, took the phone numbers and photos. Definitely interesting but certainly not a place to come with your elderly parents. But it looked fun to come with a few friends.

Fresh ....Stalking some more ...The message was clear ....Anita told me that during her childhood, the Armed Forces had a bungalow here as well where she stayed with her cousins. We found the place during the drive and it was located just up the hill from where we stayed. We also explored a couple of other bungalows around there.

Gone Miniature

We did that on the last visit and this time around, Idlan insisted on doing it again. A quick stop by the miniature golf course in the middle of town, with Irfan on tow of course.

The course was maintained well and everything was prepared for you for a small fee.

We only did a couple of rounds because it was threatening to rain. This was followed by push-bike session around a circuit, before calling it the day. The bed and scones at the hotel was so inviting ....

This entry was part of my trip to Fraser's Hill last December.

Around Town

There had not been much change with the town center since our last visit. If anything, it had gone quieter. And we were talking December here, at the peak of the school holiday season.

At lunch, I spoke to the store owner. Apparently, business only picked up during weekends and even then it was pretty modest. During weekdays, she only served a la carte. Compared to last year, business had really suffered.

Visitors tended to stay only for the day, not spending the night. After all, you could reach KL in under 3 hours from here. Those who came, tended to bring their own food and had a picnic, skipping lunch. Business at night depended on those who stayed and on one of the evening when we went out for dinner, the food court was practically empty.

Visitors also spent less, only coming for photographs and then head off home.

We drove around the smaller roads up the hill where the corporate holiday bungalows were. They were either empty or not maintained. Some of them were in really sad state. Even the roads were not paved well and clearly lacked maintenance. The golf course also looked empty.

One would expect that with the economic downturn, those who usually spent their holidays abroad would try something closer to home. Clearly that has not caught on. For a place which depended solely on tourism, this was worrying. It would be a shame should the situation deteriorate further as it would start a downward spiral .....

The Honeymoon Suite

As mentioned, we book a couple of rooms. A family suite and the honeymoon suite. Those were the only ones suitable for the family since most of the other rooms were closed for renovations.

The honeymoon suite is called Guinevere. I was sure there was a fascinating tale behind the name. And the room was excellent. It came with a four-poster bed - plus the extra bed which we ordered on the side - with a sitting area with sofa in the main room. On the side, there was a small room with a table and a couple of chairs - which I was using to blog and write. You can actually have meals there but we didn't check if they do room service here.

And then there was a separate powdering room with cupboards and mirrors, leading into a big bathroom, complete with shower and jacuzzi. Yes! You heard me right. A jacuzzi for two! And yes, the boys christened them on the first afternoon.

The bathroom was very cold in the morning - but the hot shower was a blessing! And the jacuzzi, heavenly! Definitely would be asking for this room again in the future ....