THE "COW'S" ON THEIR THIRD ROAD TRIP

The "Cow's" refer to two characters who have been doing Malaysian road trips together since last year. You can see the background in my earlier post on 13 Apr 2019. Here, we are in Cameron Highlands, a popular hill resort known for its cool weather, abundance of fruits and veggies and escape from the city. Since my first visit here in 1964 and subsequently in 1983, this place has changed tremendously. Many people come on weekends from Malaysia to buy its produce, play golf, enjoy the weather or just chill out. So, it can get pretty crowded. Shown is Bala's Chalet which has been converted from a 150-year convent.

The lounge is reminiscent of an English restaurant with its wooden beams and ambience. Nice place to have scones and English tea.

Ye Olde Smokehouse is an iconic building. It is typically English and much sought after as accommodation and a restaurant.

This golf course has been converted from a "plantation course" into a well-manicured one and named Sultan Ahmad Shah Golf and Country Club, after the late Sultan of Pahang.

Hydrophonic cultivation of strawberries. Ground below is used for planting crops like Chinese Celery.

Hydrophonics is also employed for veggies like lettuce.

The management is quite serious about smoking in their premises.

The house which Zainal (standing right of pic) built. He and Lau Goo [COL (Ret'd) Nik Zainin] were squad mates when they attended the Royal Military College. The lady in blue is Jam, Nik's wife. Called "Z and Z Villa" (the other Z stands for Zainab,  Zainal's wife), this house was built over a number of years. It cost Zainal about 190k RM as much of the materials were collected from the jungle plus odds and ends salvaged from old buildings.

The interior of the house where we had scones and English tea. Neat and nice indeed. Before acquiring the land, Zainal worked as manager of the Boh Tea Plantation for 15 years.

View of the area including the tea plantation where Zainal worked. His house is the highest in this area.

Durian vendor in Brinchang doing brisk business. We had two kampong durians for 11RM. Brinchang is one of the towns in Cameron, the other two being Ringlet and Tanah Ratah. Brinchang is where veggies are grown. At night the whole place looks like a fairyland as veggy farmers switch LED lights on to hasten their growth.

Bukit Melawati in Kuala Selangor is a tourist attraction. This is the museum which holds the annals of the development and growth of Selangor in its early history. In addition to Bt Melawati, people go to Kuala Selangor for fresh seafood and to see fireflies.

The lighthouse which is still in use.

From the museum overlooking the Selangor River mouth and the sea. Cannons were in place to engage approaching enemy ships.

A display of some weapons and other artifacts of an earlier era. 

Silver Leaf Monkeys (also Silvered Langur Presbytis) like this one are endemic to Bukit Melawati. Many visitors buy fruits and veggies from vendors to feed them. They are not aggressive in that way?

Perigi Beracun (Poison Well) in the compound where people accused of being traitors were soaked overnight up to their necks in poison made from tiny bamboo strips and rubber sap. Then, they were left to die a slow death.

A mosque next to the jetty in Kampong Kuantan in Kuala Selangor where boats take visitors to see fireflies ("kelip kelip" in Malay) at night. Fireflies can be seen for long stretches of the Selangor River on mangrove trees. Hence, research is done to ensure the well being of such trees to ensure fireflies continue to propagate.

Nasi Kandar a la KL. Normally, locals eat the rice with just a piece of chicken or beef with a mix of curries (kuah campur).

This monument in Morib shows where the 46 Indian Beach Group landed on 9 Sept 1945 during WWII. It's relatively unknown that many Vietnamese were conscripted to serve in France during WWI.