A Traveller's Tale: Joy is a strange fruit!

Joy is a strange fruit!

(Pics taken at the foot of Bukit Larut. April, 2008)

If you fancy a dense tropical forest and perhaps, some quietness and solitude too, Bukit Larut is just the place for you. Situated at the suburb of Malaysia's historical town, Taiping, the forest is a feast to the eyes and is ever full of surprises. During my trip there, I chanced upon a strange, unidentified fruit from the forest which was found by a man working at the foot of the hill. That perhaps was a perfect cap for my the trip to Bukit Larut - the jewel on the crown! Who say, a jewel needs to be a diamond!

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A Traveller's Tale: No Tea at the Tea Garden

Walking down Bukit Larut, one may want to take a respite at a little waterfall but nowadays, the waterfall is fenced up! You can just enjoy a view of the waterfall but you cannot get to run your fingers through the icy cold water. Nature is supposed to be enjoyed but there is always some smart Aleck with bright ideas out to spoil the fun! Anyway, fret not. A short while later, you will come to the Tea Garden which is situated at 656 m above sea level. There is no tea at the Tea Garden but it seemed that tea was grown here a long, long time ago when Bukit Larut was first opened by the British, hence, its name. There used to be an Indian family staying in a small house here too back in the 70s and one could buy Coca-cola from them to quench the thirst after a tiring walk but today there is no resident here at the tea garden. A big abandoned wooden house is still around though and it lends a mysterious picture to the hill. Some people say the house is haunted...

A little waterfall...



An abandoned house...





at the Tea Garden of Bukit Larut...

A Traveller's Tale: Green Gems

Taking a walk down Bukit Larut could be tedious. It's a 10 km walk if you choose the tarred road which reportedly has 108 hairpins. The walk would be long and often slow but it could be worth it. It's not just that one could avoid the sudden change in pressure and the nauseating, dizzying feeling of being cooped up in a jeep but when you walk, you get to see the green gems all around you. You just have to look and even on the ground, there are green gems. That is, if you care to see...

Walking down Bukit Larut...


...you get to see Green Gems all the way...

A Traveller's Tale: Enjoying the Clouds and Mist

In ancient China, I have heard it said that emperors sat and drank tea under the pavilion in the summer palace after a downpour just to appreciate and enjoy the mist and the wind. Well, in Bukit Larut, minus the pavilion and the tea, you can still do that. Never mind if there are abhorring human structures like a hanging bridge that you don't like, you can just throw your eyes at the distance, and lo, you enjoy! There is joy if you choose to see!

Enjoy the mist in Bukit Larut...



You can have a peep of Taiping town too if you care...




Even the leaveless trees are a delight!

There are joys if you care to see!

A Traveller's Tale: Bukit Larut Surprise

Surprises abound in Bukit Larut! Cendana Bungalow or what used to be called The Hut has been renovated and privatized. Tourists can still stay there for the night I supposed for I saw a group of people being served dinner there at night. Then, there was also this nursery there where you will have to pay RM 1 to enter to watch hyacinths and tulips but if you are dying to watch the blooms, you'd have to go in December. Spare RM 10 if you are bringing in your SLR camera. And if there is not enough of surprises, there is also this hanging bridge in Bukit Larut which I heard was built perhaps two years ago and which I just laid my eyes on. I truly think the nursery and the bridge are an eyesore! Surprises are not always sweet!

A visit to the hut...



A hanging bridge and an eyesore...

A Traveller's Tale: If you love to go a Wandering...

Hiking in Bukit Larut...






If you love to go a wandering, it ought to be in Bukit Larut! That reminds me of the popular song, The Happy Wanderer or Der fröhliche Wanderer or Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller. Thise song's original German lyrics have been translated to several languages and the English lyrics were written by Antonia Ridge. American Milton DeLugg wrote its famous arrangement and has thus been sometimes falsely credited as the composer of the song. In life, I bet there are lots of false credits but what the heck! Just enjoy this!

A Traveller's Tale: Giant Ferns!

Bukit Larut is a heaven for nature lovers. As a schoolboy, I had been told by a teacher that there were giant elephant ferns in Bukit Larut and these plants supposedly could be found in New Zealand,too. I have seen them in Penang Hill too and today, I'd tell the younger generations too: There are giant ferns in Bukit Larut. Happy viewing! God's gifts to mankind ought to be passed on to the younger generations!

A Traveller's Tale: Scouts in the Mist

Bukit Larut is such a quiet place. If you are taking a stroll in the evening and you happen to hear the swings in the playground swinging and the happy laughter of youngsters ringing in the crisp,cold air, your hairs may start to stand on ends especially if your eyes have from afar actually caught sight of the scouts who are beginning to march in the mist... With the proper setting and an overactive mind, people tend to think of ghosts...and in Bukit Larut, someone would have probably told you already of a British lady who haunts a bungalow there...

Scouts in the mist...

A Traveller's Tale: Going up Bukit Larut

Going up Bukit Larut is easy! You just have to pay RM 6 for a to and fro ride on a jeep. If you fancy a walk, do so but that would be a 10 km walk which may take up to three hours. The jeep used to be a drab black and smaller too very unlike the Black Maria that transports criminals but these days, the jeep are really colourful, bigger, more spacious and therefore more comfortable. On Saturday, when I went up the hill, there was an unusually bigger crowd. It was the Sultan of Perak's birthday, a public holiday and school children and tourists alike were out on an excursion. Joggers were in full gear and they normally walk up the tar road or little paths up to as far as 2 km before they turn back. The school children especially would probably break up the quiet and peace up there! One would probably not get what one seek for!


A jeep at the waiting kiosk...

School boys and girls waiting for a jeep to take them up the hill...

A Traveller's Tale: Stoned!

They are nothing like Uluru, Ayers Rock, that is, the large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia which is listed as a World Heritage Site but these few pieces of rocks which form naturally outside Tempinis Bungalow in Bukit Larut are a beauty to look at. I pretended I was in Stonehenge and yes, stones, lifeless as they are, fascinates!

Outside Tempinis Bungalow in Bukit Larut, Taiping, Malaysia...