Frasers Hill vs Cameron Highlands?
By Birding-Aus, on January 1st, 2014
Hi Birders and good birding for 2014, I shall be in Kuala Lumpur between 07 and 11 April (dates not absolutely finalised) And I am intending to go to either Fraser’s Hill or the Cameron Highlands I shall probably take local transport to either and then spend my time walking and birding I would really appreciate any suggestions from those that have been to either to help me decide. Access, accommodation, best trails, local on-site birders/guides, etc I am not looking for expensive accommodation just a place to lay my head I understand places to eat may be a challenge Rather spend my cash on a guide than accomm Appreciate any help Many thanks Bob Ashford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
hi Bob, I was just at Fraser’s Hill the other week. The Cameron Highlands have been ruined by deforestation apparently so go to Fraser’s Hill, it is dead easy to get to but quite expensive (it isn’t a backpacker spot). Birding is very easy there and you can walk everywhere. The Telekom Loop is the best road. I’m in Burma right now and the internet connections are not good so I can’t provide a direct link, but if you go to http://www.birdforum.net and go to the Forums and find the Vacational Trip Reports part, there’s my thread in there called “Chlidonias Goes To Asia, part three: 2013” — it should be somewhere in the top ten threads I guess. My last big post in the thread is all about Fraser’s Hill and has some information in it you might find useful. (I hope this email actually sends!) Israel ________________________________ From: Bob Ashford < bobash@tpg.com.au> Sent: Wednesday, 1 January 2014 6:31 PM Hi Birders and good birding for 2014, I shall be in Kuala Lumpur between 07 and 11 April (dates not absolutely finalised) And I am intending to go to either Fraser’s Hill or the Cameron Highlands I shall probably take local transport to either and then spend my time walking and birding I would really appreciate any suggestions from those that have been to either to help me decide. Access, accommodation, best trails, local on-site birders/guides, etc I am not looking for expensive accommodation just a place to lay my head I understand places to eat may be a challenge Rather spend my cash on a guide than accomm Appreciate any help Many thanks Bob Ashford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi Bob I wasn’t quite footloose – not with two children, one only five months old! But I believe having them along made getting along with people much easier. Everyone made a fuss of baby Rowan, something we were very comfortable with. While we were eating at the local Indian restaurant (just a corrugated iron shed) a beautifully dressed (obviously best sari and lots of gold jewellery) Indian lady who must have been in her late seventies entered, and stood in a corner wringing her hands, obviously wanting to speak but very nervous. Finally, at the encouragement of the restaurant owner she spoke. He translated: She wants to take your baby to show him around the village. We handed over our fat, very jolly five month old. He came back at midnight looking very sleepy and contented. Obviously they’d fed him because his stomach was like a baseball. After that we were treated like family. It was just a pity none of them knew anything about birds. At Lake Chini the tour operator’s family offered to look after the kids while we went off in this tiny boat to cross a raging muddy river. Amber’s nose had been out of joint because of all the fuss made of Rowan. But while we were away the tour operator’s brother (and business partner) got down on one knee and proposed to her, telling her that he wasn’t a Muslim, but a good Christian. She replied that she didn’t believe in God. He thought she was absolutely wonderful. We had a fabulous time, saw lots of great birds, and made many friends. Denise On 2/1/14 8:17 AM, “Bob Ashford” < bobash@tpg.com.au> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Go to Fraser’s! You can walk to many spots. We have always stayed in the rest houses with friends (fabulous to have a cook) but impractical if not in a group to share costs (plus awkward to book). The little Chinese restaurant does good food. Have not used a guide there – have always had birdy friends with us and we’ve worked out the birds among ourselves. Can recommend birding around The Gap rest house at dawn – not sure if it’s still open. But different birds/different altitude there so worthwhile to look. Helen Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hilary Thompson, the kids and I were at Fraser’s Hill in the mid-eighties. I can’t remember where we stayed. But I do remember that an Indian family took us under their wing and we ate in the same restaurant they did, and also visited their house. They looked after us like family. A Chinese birder who was also visiting, helped point out places to look for birds (amazing what one can understand even if you don’t speak one another’s language). Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71, Darwin River, NT 0841 043 8650 835 On 1/1/14 7:14 PM, “Paul Dodd” < paul@angrybluecat.com> wrote: _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Hi Bob, If you don’t have your own transport then do Fraser’s Hill. Cameron Highlands is far too spread out to walk. There are a couple of high-altitude specialties that you’ll miss out on by not going to the Cameron Highlands, but that will more than be made up for by the variety within walking distance of any of the accommodations at Fraser’s Hill. People say that you need to drive around Fraser’s Hill, but when Ruth and I were there we had car trouble (we hired a Proton – big mistake!) so we were forced to walk – no problem, we still saw everything we wanted to. Things may have changed, but all accommodation on Fraser’s Hill is somewhat tired. We stayed at Fraser’s Silverpark Resort and found that the rooms were somewhat mildew-ey, but at least it had reasonable gardens and wasn’t too far a walk from the town centre and from the Bishop’s Trail. The one trail you probably can’t do by foot is the Telekom Loop – which is the highest altitude trail on Fraser’s Hill. There are several restaurants on Fraser’s Hill – including a Chinese restaurant which is quite good. The Malaysian restaurants (there are two next to each other) are OK, but the difficulty we had was in identifying the food – there were few that spoke English at either of those restaurants. All part of the adventure, though. As for guides, there are plenty of independent guides operating in Malaysia, a quick Google search will find most. If you are self-guiding, then it will pay to stop in at the Information Centre (near the Mosque and over the road from the Chinese Restaurant, if memory serves me correctly) – ask for Durai – he is a well-known Fraser’s Hill personality, and he certainly knows his birds. If he has time he will guide you for an hour or a day or whatever you can work out. He didn’t charge us anything, but that was several years ago now. Good luck! Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria —–Original Message—– Bob Ashford Sent: Wednesday, 1 January 2014 4:31 PM Hi Birders and good birding for 2014, I shall be in Kuala Lumpur between 07 and 11 April (dates not absolutely finalised) And I am intending to go to either Fraser’s Hill or the Cameron Highlands I shall probably take local transport to either and then spend my time walking and birding I would really appreciate any suggestions from those that have been to either to help me decide. Access, accommodation, best trails, local on-site birders/guides, etc I am not looking for expensive accommodation just a place to lay my head I understand places to eat may be a challenge Rather spend my cash on a guide than accomm Appreciate any help Many thanks Bob Ashford _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org