Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Day Two - The Mosqito War at Fraser's Hill

We stayed at a rundown condominium managed under a time-sharing scheme at Port Dickson the night before. The buildings and the facilities were constructed quite nicely. However, the conditions had since deteriorated due to poor maintenance. Although the free-form pool seen from our apartment window looked inviting, we were cautious on letting our one-year-old Caden crawling around on the floor. The tiles were dirty.

Anyway, we were there just for a short night and we got out of there first thing in the morning. The condominium was not at the beach. So we had to stop by one of the many beach resorts located along the Port Dickson Beach to have at least a photo taken to prove that we had been there. Here it is.

The drive towards Fraser’s Hill took two hours. The road up the hill got more winding as we went further. The lush green tropical rainforest offered some refreshing atmosphere. We spotted some monkeys and colorful birds. But our boy was too tired to look at them.

The last 8 km up to the top was a one-way single lane tarred-road. This road was called ‘The Gap’. Before a new road was constructed not too far from The Gap, there used to have restriction on the timings to drive up the hill. Traffic was only allowed in one direction on alternate hour. For example, going up was only allowed during odd hours and going down during even hours. Not anymore now. Another one-way road had since been constructed and it had brought much convenience to the visitors.

We stayed at The Pines Resort at Fraser’s Hill. We were initially quite pleased to see so many plants and flowers that added to the serenity of the place. The big rooms of the apartment also came with kitchen and dining table. However, the sofa and carpet were dusty and moist. As a family, there was really nothing much to do except to drive around in the car for sight seeing. There was a golf course, a horse riding track, numerous juggle tracking paths and a small pond for canoeing. Dinner was settled at the resorts’ restaurant. The food was not too bad although pricy.

The weather was naturally cool due the high elevation and hence no air-condition. So we left the bedroom door open for fresh air and ventilation. Unfortunately, that also allowed uninvited quests – mosquitoes – to come in.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by the irritating buzzing noise of the mosquitoes. My son who slept on the same bed with us was busy fencing off the mosquitoes’ attack on his chubby face. I quickly applied some essential oil on his face and hands to repel the mosquitoes. That helped him quite a bit but not enough. His grandma counted twenty over mosquito bites on his face and hands the next morning. I felt quilty as a father. I could have done more to fight those mosquitoes. Although at that time, I could not think of any other way.

Both my wife and I agreed that we would not go back to Fraser’s Hill for a long time. Not just because of what the mosquitoes did to our son, that place was simply boring. Nonetheless, the place was great for practicing meditation. It was a perfect place for those who want to get away from the crowd to ‘find meaning in life’.