New Road to the Cameron Highlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My Orang Asli friend Rahim is living in a kampung, north of Raub, near Felda Sg Koyan. When I visited him in 2006, he showed me a new road leading to the Cameron Highlands. A stretch of about 25 km was still missing. Recently he told me that this road was almost finished and "even a Kancil could do it" My friends Khong and Stephen are always interested in charting unknown territory, so we decided to explore this new road, combining it with some birding and waterfall hunting in the CH. After breakfast in Bentong we proceeded to Felda Sg Koyan, where the new road started. No signage yet. The first part is in mint condition.The road passes several Orang Asli kampungs and follows the Jelai river valley. After about 60 km the tar road ends and continues as a laterite road. A few km further, we had to make a decision. A sign "Cameron" directed us to an old, bumpy, 4WD road. According to a local, the other option, following the road under construction, was easier, although officially "No Entry". We choose this new road, hoping that there would be no blocking by bulldozers or other heavy machinery. It was an interesting experience...:-) Some parts were quite steep, but because the weather was perfect, we had no problem at all. And after about 20 km we arrived in Bertam valley, near Ringlet. We celebrated our successful 'expedition' with lunch in the "Single Floor" restaurant, where the food was good and the waitresses pretty. After checking in at our favourite hotel in Brinchang, we drove up to the mountain. I have visited Gunung Brinchang often, but this was the first time that there was a nice view. Of course we had steamboat for our dinner..:-) The next day the weather was still beautiful, so we went again to Gunung Brinchang, where my friends continued their birding activities, while Aric and I explored the Mossy Forest. Unfortunately this magical, but vulnerable place is slowly being destroyed by too many visitors..:-( Many pitcher plants and other flowers. Before going back home, there was still one item on our wish list. A waterfall. I had information that there should be a waterfall near Ringlet. Asking around we found the waterfall, but... it was located on private grounds. After talking with the owner, we got permission to proceed and have a look. What a nice surprise. At the end of a beautiful flower garden, a short trail took us to a nice waterfall, completely unspoilt, with crystal-clear water. A secret garden of Eden..:-) No better way to conclude this nice trip, than to have tea and scones at the Cameron Bharat Tea house! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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