SWG To Cameron Highlands (Part 1)

SO SWEET GRUP HAD ITS VACATION FOR THE VERY 1ST TIME!!! Believe it?? Idea came from Kak Maz who was very the "beria2" asking us to had a trip to Cameron Highlands. At first, I did'nt take the idea seriously (thinking of so far any SWG plans for vacation were never happened yet), but who ever expected that this time everyone got the approval from their spouse/parents. Hip-hip hooray!! So that was it, ahli rombongan terdiri daripada :
i) Kak Maz, hubby (Abg Yus) & Trisya
ii) Fizah & hubby (Fairul)
iii)ZT
iv) Nor
v) ME!!

I started searching online to find the interesting places that we wanted to visit beforehand. It was important to prepare at least a rough itinerary since we stayed for only one night so the time was quite limited and Cameron Highlands provides you with so much tourist attractions. Luckily we did'nt have to worry on the accommodation part as Abg Yus already booked the Strawberry Park Resort using his UMW privilege. We were gonna stay at the Shasta Apartment which comes with 3 big bedrooms, a smaller room and a living area. So convenience especially with Kak Maz plan to play BINGO at night as all of us stay in one house.
That's was one of her reason to have this trip. Weird huh, tp Kak Maz ttp semangat. Siap bawak all the BINGO thingy for our game that night.
Transportation for that day would be by car which Kak Maz and family with their own car while ZT, Nor and me together joined Fizah & hubby's car.


KL-Simpang Pulai, Perak (30/07/2010)
I started my day to ZT's house punctually at dawn where my sister sent me there and together we went to Fizah's house.
Cis kata suruh awal, sekali Fairul pun belum siap lagi. Tunggu laki bini tu bersiap kitaorg transfer our stuffs to Fairul's car.

This is the reason why we olss nak naik keta Fizah, besar and yg penting ade org bawak x perlu drive...



We officially departed for the trip around 8am where Kak Maz also off from their house at the same time, picked up Nor who waited for us on the way and stopped for breakfast at R&R Sungai Buloh where we already promised to meet Kak Maz there.



After breakfast (took an anti-dizzy/nausea pills as precaution), we continued our journey but then stopped once more at R&R Simpang Pulai for the toilet business. Starting from this point we all noticed one similarity between Nor and Abg Yus. Both were "toilet friendly". Sekejap2 nak terkucil... belum sampai tempat sejuk lagi tu.

Dah sampai perak mmg x sah kalau x beli jambu potong. Terbaek!!



Three of us at the back... time nie still fresh coz belum start naik bukit lagi.



There were actually two routes to Cameron either use a normal way by exit at Tapah so U will meet Tanah Rata first, climbing up the hill passes others few town then U reached Brinchang (main town of Cameron); or you can also get off at Simpang Pulai (another 20km from Tapah exit) straight to Brinchang.
I attached the map for much clearer view.



As you can see on the map, even it's a long winding and narrow road, driving up to Cameron Highlands using Tapah exit has a pleasure in itself, as many interesting stops along the way can be made. You can take a short break at Lata Iskandar Waterfall, Orang Asli villages and more.

Guess which route we take? Of course exited at Simpang Pulai because the road was much wider which provides much safer, the curve were not too sharp so xde la pening or mual sgt and it's a new road. The route is sort of like coming to Cameron Highlands from the back door! Well it felt like it, but it was a lot more easier to drive.



So far, even not as misery as if U're inside a floating boat but the nausea was still there. However the tense slowly faded once we went higher the hill as the atmosphere started to change. Off goes the air-conditioning and down come the car window. We had a fresh air, cool and showered our view with breathtaking panorama. The excitement arose and pull out all the dizzy-mingy feeling that we felt before. Alhamdullilah we made it to Cameron and the most important thing that there's nobody throwing up.

2pm : Sg Palas Boh Plantation

As per map, the first attraction would be Sg Palas Boh Plantation which located along the way to Brinchang so that was our first stop of the day. However once we drew nearer at the Equatorial Hotel, the traffic started to be congested. I think that was because of the souvenir shops and market that located along the road. Car slowed down to find a parking, some more the car space was quite limited so most of the people parked their car at the corner of the road that made it become more narrow. To make thing worse there were car which blocked other car so you can imagined how bad the situation was. We stuck in the traffic jam like more than an hour. Luckily it was cold and the fuel was still in the safe level. Wosshh........

And it was because of the traffic that we over-passed the junction to the Boh-Plantation. After made a U-turn, our adventure was not end here as we encountered the most challenging part of our journey. A good portion of the road to the plantation can only accommodate one vehicle at a time and is rather winding. My stomach shrunk everytime we encountered another vehicles from opposite direction. Imagine with only one vehicle can passed at one time, its either you bring your car closer to the hill side or closer to the cliff. There were few times I felt that the tyre was just few inches from the cliff. None of us seems to relax and I can bet that none of us had their asses comfortly on the seat. Fairul even tried to act relax, but I could see his "peluh jantan" ade kuar jugak tu. Anyhow, still kudos to Fairul as we safely reached there without any harm. (so dramatic)... hehehe

A greenery scene welcome us. It was like mind theraphy as suddenly we felt so calm and piece...



I remember the last time I went here (back 10yrs ago I think), the place was still under construction. My friend's experience was worst since she had encountered a snake! Well, that was then... now it is totally a sight to behold. When I arrived at the newly renovated tea centre, it has now been transformed into an ultra modern setting. We parked our car at the foot of the hill (as ussual quick stop to the toilet first) and went up to the tea centre. There are 2 ways up, you can follow the road or you can use the path that cuts through the hill surrounded by greenery of tea bush plants. We opted for the path because of the soothing greenery and a chance to have a good close look at the tea leafs plus a few snapshots that was mandatory.



As I made my way up, I could see that the new structure of the cafe was indeed quite impressive. At the far end a 6.096m (20ft) overhanging platform balcony was purposely set up and made protuding over the hilltop. It looks a little precarious but it did give a very commanding view of the tea plantation.

Finally we made it to the top!



A very beautiful landscape where the tea trees are grown on the hills in rows. Wonderfull sight!



The trooper... (in front of the tea centre)



Me at the cafe balcony, enjoyed the view and snapped some of beautiful pictures.



Dont worry if U dont get a chance to take a seat at the balcony(it will be very congested with visitors during peak season). Apart of that, the walls were just made entirely of glass windows, so you still can enjoy a nice view even inside the cafe like what I did here..



Soaked in the relaxing athmosphere and enjoying the spectacular view at the same time while waiting for a nice cup of Boh tea with some savoury cakes... I can say HEAVEN!



We already passed our lunch time, it was 3.30pm so tea and cakes did'nt seem to eliminate our hunger so after enough of photoshots, we went down back to car park (this time using a normal road) and proceed to find a restaurant at Brinchang. Bofore ended my post here, to be continued of course... i left you with my final photo at the tea plantation. Stay tuned....