Topic History of: Cameron Highlands Trip (25/5-29/5) - Quite Long
Max. showing the last posts - (Last post first)
| shuyii |
hey i really love the osmanthus flower 
i went to visit China few years back and was very captivated by the ssweetfragrance of this flower.
how much does the plant roughly cost may i ask? |
| Sven |
Hello!
I also thought about having a look at Cameron Highlands. Your free and easy tour sounds just right! Where did you get it from?
Thanks for letting me know
Cheers
Sven |
| LayKock |
Hi Tan,
I'm planning a trip to CH with my 18-month son in Oct.
Mind to share which tour agency u signed up for?
And if the coach is comfortable for sleeping throuhg the night -- with foot rest in incline position.
Thanks.
Lay Kock  |
| Tan Boon Kiat |
We booked a free and easy tour package at S$209 per person for a 3 nights stay at the Equatorial Hill Resort with complimentary breakfast. The cost included transfer by a Super VIP coach from Singapore to hotel and return. We left Singapore at 9:30 pm, 25 May 2001 and reached Tapah ‘toll’ at 5:05 am, 26 May 2001. We waited till 5:45 am before a taxi came to fetch us up to Cameron Highlands. The journey took an hour and a half and we reached the hotel at 7:15 am. To my surprise, the journey was pleasant and the air was unexpectedly cool, about 21 degrees Celsius. Later we learnt from the locals that it had been raining for the past 2 days. Usually it should be warmer, about 25-28 degree Celsius during May/June.
After breakfast, we took a look at the flora planted in the hotel. There were Agapanthus, Daylilies, Cannas, Ipomea, Salvia, Nasturtiums, Cleome, Pelargoniums, Strawflowers etc. There are 2 strawberry farms, about 5 minutes walk from the hotel. We went to the Kea Strawberry Garden instead. It not only sold strawberries and strawberry jam, but also vegetables, potted plants like cacti and succulents, clivias, moth orchids, mini roses, slipper orchids, zinnias, ipomea etc. However, the prices were quite steep and the quality was not good either. Next to it was a coffee shop selling mainly Chinese dishes. The place was clean and pleasant. U can have a meal as low as RM$3.50 for a plate of fried rice/bee hoon/kuay teow. We had decided to have our meals here for the next 2 days as it was so near to the hotel. Further down was a row of sundry shophouses and just across the road was a row of stalls selling vegetables, potted plants, fresh cut flowers etc. As we walked along the shops, we saw a sign indicating ROSE CENTRE about 500 m away. It took us about 20-25 minutes before we reached the place. Admission is RM$4.00 per person.
Inside the Rose Centre was a breathtaking sight of a lot of roses, fuchsias, cacti and succulents, marigolds, begonias, jade vines, daisies, pelargoniums, impatients, hydrangeas, petunias, hibiscus, gerberas etc. We were almost drowned by the many flowers there. One good thing about this place is the many varieties of plants sold in the plant sales section. Prices vary but again it depends on what u are looking for. Fuchsias, roses, begonias, cacti and succulents, orchids were out for me as they fared poorly in Singapore. My friend on the other hand fancied only the bulbous plants like agapanthus, hippeastrum, clivia and calla lily (zantedeschia). In the end, I bought a shasta daisy (RM$5). He bought agapanthus, hippeastrum and calla lily. We should have continued to explore further expecially the top of the centre where you could witness a fantastic view of the vicinity overlooking the Kea Farms. But since we were hungry and the plants were pretty heavy, we had decided to leave this place as soon as possible for our lunch.
After lunch, we returned to the hotel for some rest before we began our walk to Brinchang. The time was 4pm. Since there was a night market at Brinchang every Saturday, we intended to have our dinner there and visited the market before we took a cab back to the hotel. It took us an hour before we reached Brinchang but of course, there were some nurseries that brightened our path as we descended. The first stopover was a plant nursery. We bought 2 daylilies at RM$4.00 each. As usual, you would find plants like fuchsias, cacti and succulents, pelargoniums, hibiscus, roses etc. Osmanthus was sold there too. In fact, there was a potted 7 feet tall Osmanthus fragrans at the entrance of the nursery that greeted the visitors with sweetly scented flowers. The plants quality here was very good and the price was still within our budget though the hippeastrums cost about RM$18 each. I went round and took some pictures with my digital camera especially the Echeverias which grew so easily here and thus were quite cheap. A mature flowering plant in 5” pots cost only RM$6.00. Too bad, they fared poorly in the lowlands. If not, I would have bought a dozen. Just kidding! Their roses were nice too and one specimen was trained to climb at one corner of the nursery. A very unique pink cupped shaped flowers. There were about 20 to 30 buds to a stalk. I bought it from the Rose Centre last year and had thrived in Singapore till now. It still looks strong under the scorching sun and hopefully, it would bloom for me this November when the weather turns cooler. If only Singapore was a few degrees lower, I would have brought all these plants back. Sign! We stayed in the nursery for a while as it was raining quite heavily outside. When the rain had become lighter, we continued our journey hopefully to visit more nurseries.
Our next stop was Uncle’s Sam Farm. The nursery was large with a huge collection of cacti and succulents and other plants. I find their plants more expensive than the others though the quality was only slightly better. I was quite surprised to hear that they were in the wholesaler business as the price did not seem to be cheap. There were streptocarpus (RM$6.00), african violets (RM$6.00), clivias (RM$35.00 onwards), hippeastrum etc. They also sell vegetables and other household accessories too.
Next, we proceeded to Cactus Point, about 5-10 minutes walk from Uncle’s Sam Farm. The selection of plants were quite limited other than the cacti and succulents. We left shortly after staying for a while. After dinner at Brinchang, we visited the pasar malam (Malay for night market) and took a cab back to the hotel for RM$10.00.
The next day after having breakfast at the hotel, we proceeded to walk to the butterfly farm which to my surprise was just 5 minutes away. In the vicinity, there were some shops selling potted plants. Expectedly, the price was cheaper and one pot of mini roses sold for only RM$10.00 as compared to the other places which sold for RM$15.00. The cacti and succulents were good too in terms of price and quality. I did not visit the butterfly farm and butterfly garden as I was more interested in the flowering plants than any things else. We paid a visit to the Wild Orchid Farm instead. They had a good selection of cacti and succulents especially the Echeveria genus which were very well grown. Most of the were variegated and had frilled leaves. Beautiful! Of course, they also had a huge selection of orchids which were healthy though majority were not in bloom. But the prices were exorbitant. A healthy flowering slipper orchid cost RM$75.00. They also sold orchid divisions which were cheaper but I doubt they could thrive back home. The slipper orchids were placed in a very dimly lit cabinet. The temperature might have been 19-20 degrees celsius. Wow! With such ideal growing conditions, it was not surprisingly that they were blooming their heads off. As it was difficult to mimick the growing conditions back home, we left the place empty-handed.
Our next itinery was to trek up to the peak of Gunung Brinchang which was said to be the third highest peak in West Malaysia. We began our journey from a route opposite the Honey Bee Farm at about 10 am. As the telecommunication station was located at the peak, it was not surprising that the road was tarred and flat. I was delighted to learn that the route actually passed through the tea plantations and we had to be very alert on the look out for coaches coming from both directions as this route was only wide enough for one coach to pass through at one time. The view was scenic and as we hiked up the trek, we saw a sign indicating that we were about 5 km from the peak. The time then was about 10:40 am. The journey was tough as it was sloping and the terrain was bumpy with a lot of granite stones. However, we were rewarded with gorgeous views of the tea plantation as we were nearer to our destination at the expense of our aching feet and knees. We finally reached the peak at 1 pm and the station was partially covered with a layer of mist. We were lucky to get a lift from three Malaysian who dropped us at the tea plantation before we made our way to the Honey Bee Farm at about 2:45pm.
After lunch, we proceeded to Rose Valley. It took us an hour to reach there by foot from the honey bee farm. We reached there at 5pm and had to leave after one hour later as it closed at 6pm. There were many named roses inside the valley. In fact, Rose Valley was located just outside Kampong Tingklap. Wow! We were actually in another village already! No wonder it took us an hour to reach here. The entrance fee was RM$4.00 per person. I was quite disappointed with what I saw as there were not many plants inside except for the roses. Besides, the valley was not well maintained and the sales section was very limited as compared to the Rose Centre. We had a problem getting a cab back to our hotel as the place was somewhat remoted. Out of despair, we decided to walk back but was finally picked up by a cab which charged us RM$2.00 per person. The driver picked up another passenger along the way. At night, we had steamboat at our favourite coffee shop before we proceeded back to the hotel for a more adventurous tour tomorrow.
The next morning, we hired a cab with the help of the hotel receptionist at a rate of RM$10.00 to Ye Olde Smokehouse. From there we followed the footpath to Rainbow Garden Centre which was about 15 minutes walk from the Smokehouse. As Rainbow was a stopover for most tourists to CH, the plants were somewhat pricy and the quality was not up to our expectation too. Daylilies cost RM$15.00 per bag and the quality was not as good as the RM$4.00 that we paid for earlier. Clivias cost RM$45.00 per bag. Roses were badly infected by pests. We left the place empty handed and returned to Brinchang in half an hour’s time. We had our lunch in one of the coffee shops before we headed to Cactus Valley.
All visitors to Cameron Highlands should pay a visit to Cactus Valley as you would not be regretted. Admission was RM$4.00 per person but it was worth it. On your left hand side was a sales section selling all plants except cacti and succulents as the latter was sold on your right hand side. Mini roses in 4 inches pots were selling for RM$4.00 each or 3 for RM$10.00. Those in 6 inches pots were selling for RM$15.00. I did not buy any as from my limited experience, only the orange ones could be grown in my place.
What impressed my friend most was the large orange impatients that grew like weeds there. We went back to the sales section but could not find any orange ones except pink, red, purple and white. Gerberas of different shades and colours were grown together with the hydrangeas in the foreground. There were creepers like Solandra maxima with flowers like cups of gold and Thunbergia mysorensis with a cheerful combination of browny red and yellow flowers. There were also the tomato plants heavy with bright red tomatoes and passion fruits looking like rounded pears. Of course, there were also pelargoniums, fuchsias, shasta daisies, hibiscus, apples, hippeastrums, clivias, cacti and succulents, bromeliads, begonia concinnea and semperflorens, miniature roses, anthuriums, agapanthus, camellias, calla lilies, bird of paradise, rhododendrons etc. What impressed me was not the so many kind of plants planted there but the optimum care and conditions given to the plants to attain their best. Some had reached enormous size and heights which you would marvel with your own eyes. There are many huge cacti which had attained specimen sizes and looked very attractive even not in flower. As you ascended to the top, you could catch a fabulous view of the town itself and breathe in the cool, fresh, moist air.
We took a cab back to the Butterfly Farm for RM$6.00 and crossed the road to buy the miniature rose for only RM$10.00. Next, we visited the Honey Bee Farm. We opened the gate and walked down the steps to marvel at the many flowering plants grown solely for the nectar. There were Salvia splendens, Dahlias, Cleome, Sunflowers, Night Jasmine, Hibiscus, Dianthus etc. There was actually a vegetable farm further down the Bee Farm that was only 3-5 minutes walk away. Besides vegetables, the lady also sold many potted plants at bargainable prices. There were Salvia splendens (5” pot) selling at RM$5.00, Impatients (5” pot) selling at RM$4.00, Petunias, Hibiscus, cacti and succulents, hippeastrums, begonia semperflroens and concinnea, fuchsias and many others. Quality was good. In the end, we bought Salvia splendens and impatients, knowing that the former might not thrive in Singapore.
Before we returned to the hotel, we stopped outside the Butterfly Garden to buy a pot of Kalanchoe. Frankly speaking, I really like this stretch of road starting from the Butterfly Farm all the way to the vegetable farm managed by the lady. There were about 8-9 stalls selling potted plants and vegetables at competitive prices.
The next morning, we took a coach at 9am full of plants back to Singapore. See you Cameron Highlands! Hope to come back again next year. |
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