Bukit Larut, Perak, Malaysia

My friend Alvin invited me to a place named Bukit Larut or Maxwell Hill as it was called during the British colonial days. He was very enthusiastic about the place and for sure he still had the memories of the times as it was still under the British Empire. The British officials used to have their holiday mansions and bungalows in this area, very similar to Penang Hills.

Bukit Larut is about 1100 above sea level, a beautiful lush green mountainous area. Most of the houses nowadays belong to the Malaysian government officials. So if you are lucky to know and be invited by these "Datuks(special award from the government), you will spend an unforgettable time in this rather cool and calm hills.

But how if you are a local or even international traveler? This place has not been marketed to international tourists yet and even those adventurous backpackers haven't found their way to this hidden gem. For sure this may be one of the reasons as to why I was curious to visit this place.

Most commercial guest houses belonged to the government and they charge a relatively high rate for a building that is totally run down. The food is not great and needs to be brought up by a 4WD which increases the price. The road up to the hill is a very narrow winding road but the street well-maintained.

In my opinion a good car or small 4WD will easily make it to the top. But for private cars you need to obtain a permit from the government which may take months. Too much hassle for a commercial tour company. So those who would like to go up, mostly quite well-to-do Malaysian citizens, will choose to use the vehicles run by the government.

The first vehicle started at 8 am. A smelly vehicle which history may have gone back to the middle ages. It had a hole next to the dashboard, where the exhaust coming from this ill-maintained car could get into the passengers area.

Oh my God....the catastrophe was still to come. Suddenly the car was stuck in the middle of the extremely steep winding road. The driver told us just in a very liad-back manner that he forgot to fill the tank with petrol.

Shall I get angry? Well, it was no use to complain and claim our money back. It would have taken another couple of months to fill in those various forms within the bureaucracy mill.

So we waited for the next 4DW which belonged to one of the hotels. They were so friendly to give us a lift and the car was by far better maintained than the one before.

We enjoyed the beautiful view from up high which goes far beyond Taiping to the ocean. The diverse flora and fauna were just waiting there to invite us to join into this peaceful untouched nature. Obviously the vehicle service was embarrassed and for our ride back they took us in a brandnew Nissan.