Fraser Hill wasn't planned at all. Like so many of my other wanderings in Malaysia, I decided to pop by Fraser to see what it has to offer. The following information is courtesy of Wikipedia.
Fraser's Hill (or Bukit Fraser in Malay) is a hill resort located on the Titiwangsa Ridege in the state of Pahang in Malaysia. Fraser's Hill includes seven peaks, with altitudes between 1,220 and 1,524 meters above sea level. Year round temperatures are between 17°C~25°C.
Fraser's Hill derives its name from Louis James Fraser, a solitary Scottish pioneer, who set up a tin-ore trading post in the 1890s. The British army had not explored the Titiwangsa Range, so Fraser recruited guides and coolies for an expedition to the upper ridges, prospecting for gold or other valuable metals. At the top he found an ancient forest of moss-draped trees and ferns with a prehistoric appearance, kept constantly moist in the cloud layer.
He also found rich tin deposits, and recruited Chinese workers to open a mine. A steep track was constructed for mules to transport the tin ore down to The Gap and on to Raub, the nearest town. Fraser operated a gambling and opium den at the workers' camp, through which he profited a second time from the wages paid to his coolies.
Fraser vanished without trace some 25 years later. In 1917 C. J. Ferguson-Davie, Bishop of Singapore, led a trek up from the Gap to look for his site, and did not find him, but reported that the place was perfect for a hill station–a retreat from the heat of the lowlands. In 1919, work started on the access road to the hill station from The Gap and by 1922, the hill station named Fraser's Hill was opened to visitors. The hill station covered 140 hectares of land and had over 50 km of jungle paths. The 1927 Handbook to British Malaya recorded that there were 9 bungalows for the use of government officials, 4 houses built with the help of the Red Cross for ex-servicemen and women, 3 private homes, a country club, a golf course, water supply and a post office.
In 1951, during the Malayan Emergency, the popular British official Sir Henry Gurney was killed near Fraser's Hill in a random assassination by Communist guerillas.
The 1970s saw another burst of development with buildings and golf courses. Faced with growing evidence of the effects of environmental damage at the Malaysia's largest hill resort, Cameron Highlands, the Pahang state government in 2010 ruled out further development of virgin forest at Fraser's Hill.
View of one of the small lake on the way up. I do apologise for the lack of clarity as the picture was taken from a moving vehicle and I did not have the best shutter speed camera in the market.
Directions to Fraser Hill:
Take Highway 1 northwards from KL, then turn off to Route 55. From the intersection to Fraser Hill, it's about 42.4km.
After about 16km, it's the start of the turns. 26.4km of it to be precise. Going can be slow, especially if you have a big sedan or MPV. Most of the time you will be travelling at speeds of 20-30km/h only. But the air is fresh and cooling. Temperature is roughly about 20-23 degrees.
Warning to those who have motion sickness. Like every 5 metres, there's a turn, as you can see from the picture.
Finally we reached the town centre! After checking out a few resorts and hotels, we decided on Puncak Inn. It's fairly new, compared to the rest. Which means the rooms wouldn't have musty carpets and old televisions. The rates are cheaper than the rest so it's value-for-money to me, if you consider everything overall. You can check out the Pancak Inn's info and current rates here.
After unpacking we still had about 2 hours before sunset so we thought we will check out Jeriau Waterfall. Nothing really fantastic to me, but please feel free to go check it out when you are there.
Feeling hungry, we made our way back to Puncak's Inn. On the way, there was sort of a outdoor food centre kind of place with 2 Malay food stalls. Nothing caught my fancy so we continued back. Finally decided on Scott's Pub and Restaurant which was just next to Puncak's Inn. Ordered fish and chips but as usual, nothing outstanding here. I am not trying to be picky but Malaysia just doesn't have good standard of Western food. It's edible but don't expect fresh fish and light fluffy batter fried to perfection. You will be lucky they don't serve you fish & chips, half done. But that's a story for another day.
After dinner, we got a couple of beers and sat outdoors to enjoy the cool weather. There is no nightlife here so bring your own iPod and portable speakers if you can't do without background music while you enjoy your beer.
Fraser Hill is a famous town for bird watching. There is some golf and trekking activities available. A bit of horse riding but all in all, for city people, do lower your expectations. It's a place to relax amongst the greenry, enjoy the fresh air, perhaps write a book or two. There's literally no shopping here, unless you want to count the local mini mart as a preferred option.
I like the short horse ride down at The Paddock. Nothing like a horse ride to end the short trip.
All in all, I enjoyed the peace and quiet at Fraser Hill. If I ever need somewhere to hide away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, this is one option.
I'm no stranger to New Year Eve celebrations. I mean... No one is. But celebrating New Year Eve in Singapore means hitting the clubs, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, get drunk, countdown then start jumping around and hugging anyone and everyone within a 5 metre radius. As one gets more wrinkles and get more weary bones in one's body, the whole shenanigan starts to feel awlfully like a broken video recorder on replay mode. I need something different. Something more peaceful. J felt the same and suggested another road trip into Thailand. J's friend had recently went to Krabi and had a wonderful time. Food was cheaper than Phuket and very much less vice-related activities. I definitely like the sound of that. I am no prude but I do not enjoy seeing young thai girls in skirts shorter than their underwear parading around on the arms of ang-mo retirees. I like using http://www.agoda.com/. Their rates are good, if not one of the best. Informations are clear and accurate. Pictures may not always be what it is, but hey, sometimes it's due to our over expectations. After awhile, you learn to read between their "tastefully furnished" and "feel right at home". Things that I would look for: room size in sqft and if it's a new establishment. You can't go wrong with numbers. If it is stated that it's 20 sqft, it's 20 sqft regardless of how big the room looks like in the pictures. Secondly, new establishments are cleaner, the fittings are less likely to be in a state of repair and the room rates are extra value for money, especially in the first 3 months of operations as they try to get things going. Anyway, since we were travelling by car, we didn't need to get a place that was on the main street. Those are usually more expensive and noiser. More of our accomodations later. Route to Krabi from Singapore is about 1,200km. You take north-south highway, cross the border at Bukit Kayu Hitam, take Highway 4 all the way to Phatthalung, turn left still on Highway 4 then you reach Thap Thiang. From the town centre, you can either continue to take Highway 4, or you can take a shorter detour on Route 4046 before joining back onto Highway 4. The difference in distance is about 14 km. Road conditions on 4046 is slightly not as good as Highway 4, but definitely useable.
This trip up north was not as smooth as I liked. The car broke down somewhere near KL. Thank god it was near KL! The coolant piping had cracked and leaked, leading to engine overheat. White smoke started coming out of the engine and we had to pull over. It was about 1am and no available workshop was opened. After repeated stops and topping up the coolant tank, we managed to limp to a nearby town to rest for the night first. My friend knew a workshop that services and fix Subarus and it was not too far away. The thing about driving a Subaru in Malaysia, only KL has workshops that have adequate knowledge of the car. Anywhere else, you are screwed! You will have to spend a signigicant amount of money to have the car towed back to Singapore.
The breakdown was not within our plans but there was no other way about it. First thing in the morning, we quickly made our way to the car workshops area behind Sunway Lagoon.
The crack that caused the delay
Finally by late afternoon, we could be on our way again. We will have to push quite hard to make it across the Thai border before midnight. Malaysia-Thai border at Bukit Kayu Hitam is closed from midnight to 6am.
Once across the border, it took a lot of concentration and willpower to drive through the night to find our way to Krabi. I missed the turn to Thap Thiang, had to double back, wasting tens of milometres and petrol, then realised that I did not have enough petrol to make it all the way to Krabi, went 40km backwards to find a petrol station. I was almost in tears by the time we re-fueled. People... NEVER never never travel in Thailand at night with less than half a tank of petrol. Almost all the petrol stations are closed at night.
Pulling into our resort at about 5am, we found no one at the reception desk and no idea where everyone is. Wandering the resort, I found the stretch of deluxe huts that I booked and since there was only one unit seemingly vacant with no slippers and towels outside, we sort of broke in and unpacked. I did book my accomodations so no reason why we can help ourselves to the empty room. We will deal with the paperwork in the morning. Or afternoon.
In the morning, the staff came to our room and realise that we were asleep inside but they had already scheduled to repair the air-coniditioning unit. We were so tired that we just slept through the repair process. By the time we managed to drag ourselves out of bed it was almost 11am and they were already clearing the breakfast table. The lady owner was delighted to see that we have arrived. She had tried waiting up for us but by midnight, she decided to turn in. She was most kind and instructed her staffs to cook up some eggs and ham for us.
Ok, breakfast is never fantastic at almost all the Thailand hotels/resorts I stayed. Because they have to cater to farangs, the breakfast items are always the same - eggs, sausages, ham, bread etc. Basically the usual standard American fare. What I would have really like was some local Thai breakfast food. Some Pad Thai or Pad Ka Pow but no... we will always have same crappy stuffs.
After our light breakfast, we headed out to meet our Thai friends. Hearing our adventure the night before they decided to bring us to their local favourite Thai restaurant by the beach. This restaurant has since become my must-stop if I come by Krabi - Wang Sai Seafood.
Wang Sai runs ferry services as well
The amazing part is that 85% of the customers is Thai, which I prefer as it means that the food is going to be more authentically Thai and the prices reasonable. Which turns out to be true. All the dishes were fantastic, except for the horseshoe crab. The taste was way too fishy and musky for my liking. It was a first for me and probably the last as well.
Look at all the dishes! If your mouth is not watering by now, either you are from Mars or you have no passion for food at all.
The roe from the horseshoe crab is eatten together with some thai salad greens dressed with a salty, spicy and sour dressing
Horseshoe roe is definitely an acquired taste
I missed out taking a photo of the deep fried soft shell crab as everyone instantly grabbed a piece when the waiter put the plate on the table. Too much gobbling going on to remember snapping a picture.
Time to work off some calories and before the rain comes, we headed for Fossil Shell Beach.
Fossil Shell Beach (taken from "http://www.krabi-tourism.com/krabi/susanhoi.htm")
Susaan Hoi, or Fossil Shell Beach (literally Seashell Graveyard), is located at Ban Laem Pho in Krabi, in the vicinity of Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. Susaan Hoi is a matter of curiosity and although visitors to Susaan Hoi are told that there exists only two other similar sites in the world, one in US and another in Japan, most are either engrossed to this or totally indifferent.
The age of the fossils at Susaan Hoi is placed as about 40 million years ago. At that time, Susaan Hoi was a large freshwater swamp. Eventually, it became landmass. Over time, successive layers of shell created rock slabs known as "shelly limestone" of over 40cm. These rest on 10 centimeters of lignite, below which was subsoil. Due to geographic upheaval, this shelly limestone at Susaan Hoi is now distributed in great broken sheets on the seashore at Laem Pho. They look like broken chunks of cement flooring from afar.
In the evening, wanting just a simple relaxing activity, we chose to visit Krabi town and the night market there.
Thai pancakes/crepes
Rice pudding cooked in bamboo looking tubes
Insect protein
Multi coloured Stitch
Thailand is home to many waterfalls, big and small. After some experience, one really needs to do some research as to which waterfall to visit. They may label as waterfall but some are seriously just pathetically small and hmm.... insignificant? Best to check the internet for some pictures before you make the journey to visit. I have wasted hours finding my way to some waterfall only to get a small stream pouring from a height of 3 metres.
This time, I made sure I checked before heading out to Huay Tho Waterfall.
Thailand may be behind Malaysia in terms of their economy but I am twice as impressed by their sense of pride for their local flora and fauna as well their efforts at educating the public. At least they bother to put up some route maps and they update them on a regular basis too.
Drying my hair in the wind
This was one of the first waterfalls in Thailand that left such a happy memory. From that moment on, I was ever on the lookout for waterfalls in Thailand of similar category. Big enough to have a decent plunge pool yet not too touristy that you get tons of people.
On our way back to the main highway, we came across a small cave temple. Not very impressive but surely it meant something to the neighbourhood.
On towards to the famous Tiger Cave outside of Krabi town. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE TO SELF: ALWAYS leave Tiger Cave to the last day. Aching thighs and calves are not conducive towards an enjoyable reminder of the trip. You see, I don't exercise very often and doing 1237 steps to the summit and 1237 steps back down the hill is just way beyond my lazy muscles are accustomed to.
You can already see the Wat at the top of the hill.
Ji-Gong Monk
Supposedly this statue was donated by a Singaporean Chinese man who had a terminal disease received spiritual medical aid from Ji-Gong and recovered from his illness. In order to show his gratitude and thanks, he donated money to erect this statue in honour of Ji-Gong.
Only 1/4 up the hill
What?! More steps?! When is it ever ending?
Finally at the summit!!!
Buddha overseeing Krabi Town in the distance
Karst landscape in the distance
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Our car looks so far away!
It's really not fun dealing with the muscle aches but very happy we managed to pay respect to Buddha at the summit.
After going back to the hotel and collapsing into a 2 hour coma-like sleep, I'm famished and looking forward to going back to Wang Sai for seafood again.
My favourite deep fried soft shell crab
Hordes of people have started to gather at the beach, lighting the Kong Ming lanterns and waiting for midnight to come. After dinner, we joined in and got ourselves some beers while people-watching.
More and more lanterns were lighted and the whole sky was dotted with flickering lights.
As midnight approached, there was this Ang-mo who was trying so hard to light up his firework. Somehow the firework started but decided to fly into the crowd instead, sending everyone scurrying in all directions except for me and my friend who sat there laughing so hard.
I do crazy things sometimes.
Time for more beer! And more partying along Ao Nang beach. Notice I said partying. Not clubbing. Don't expect fancy chic chic clubs here. It's Thailand and I love it the way it is.
Tired.... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Klong Mung Beach
Nothing much...
Decided to visit Railey Beach and have our sunset there. You can get the ferry tickets from either end of the main Ao Nang Beach Street.
Funny Ang Mo lady trying to dry her towel-skirt
Sea kayaking beneath the cliffs
Railey Beach
Lots of places to chill with a beer
Diamond Cave
Back at the beach to wait for sunset
DIY foot scrub
Going....
Going.....
Really going...
I don't want to leave!
See you guys tomorrow! Again!
Breathless beauty of sunset
Emerald Pool is another must go destination if you visit Krabi. It's quite far out of town so either you have your trusty scooter or you can just book a tour, coupled with a visit to the Hot Spring which is nearby as well.
Entrance fees like this are very common in Thailand. The Thais know who to take care of their own people. Locals do not have to pay. This should be the way!
Please follow the rules!
For bird lovers, the Gurney's Pitta is found in this area.
The waters are soft and leaves your skin soft after soaking in it for awhile. The pool is not very deep, probably about 1.6m at it's deepest. But getting in and out of the pool can be a bit tricky as the sloping walls are thick with algae. There are also some small fishes in the pool so don't be surprised if you feel a nip here and there.
Further up, you can do a short hike to the Blue Pool. If it was raining before you arrive, I suggest not to make the trip cause you will be stuck in slippery mud! The hike is about 1.4km on boardwalk. The pool is at the end of the walkway. It is also called Sra Gaew pool. There are other small pools of water on the way.
See what I mean?
Please don't be an idiot and jump into the pool! There is no life guard there.
There was a stupid ang mo, as usual, trying to wade into the pool to take a selfie. We kept quiet and kept staring at her for like a good 2 minutes before she started feeling uncomfortable and stopped trying. I pointed to the signs. She pretended not to notice me.
Really pretty!
Okay... Time to walk back
We decided to take the longer route through the forest and were pleasantly surprise by the scenery.
It felt so surreal to see the whole expense of the forest floor submerged. The water was very clear and the trickling water sound was very soothing.
Mama hen and her brood of adorable chicks
After Emerald Pool, we proceed on to Hot Stream which was nearby. It has since become one of my favourite must return to spot in Krabi.
There are bathing facilities very near the pool. Don't have to worry! The hot spring is meant for soaking only!
The waters are about 40ish degree, perfect for soaking tired muscles and cuddling with your other half. It can get quite crowded and rowdy especially if the tour groups arrive.
I absolutely adore this place! I have since been back there at least 3 times. The water do vary in temperature but nonetheless, very acceptable for relaxing an hour away.
Krabi can be quite boring for people looking to party and there's not as much seedy activities going on. And for that I like it! Phuket's interesting with so much activities going on everywhere but I don't relish the sights of all the sexual exchanges. Young thai women with too much makeup grinding up against all the Ang-Mo men everywhere is just a tad too uncomfortable for me.
Krabi has more Muslim influence so things are quieter and more traditional. I hope things stay that way for a long time. I come from the big city so I don't need the noise and clutter and ceaseless re-development when I travel.
Long drive back to Singapore but I'm already planning when we can come back again.
