Count Your Blessings!

With love and passion, everyone can have a nice garden...Elaine Yim

Count Your Blessings!
Count The Garden By The Flowers, Never By The Leaves That Fall.
Count Your Life With Smiles And Not The Tears That Roll.
..... Author unknown.

Knowing me, Knowing you..... Aha.....!

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Malaysian Flora USDA Zone 11
Welcome to our exotic world of everlasting summers and tropical rainforests!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A Visit to Fraser's Hill - The Gap (Part 1)

1.
Last March, I made my first ever trip to Fraser's Hill which is located at 1,500m above sea level and about 105 km away north of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It is about 2.5 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur

The gateway to Fraser's Hill is via Kuala Kubu Bharu town. Visitors who drive up are advised to fill up their vehicle petrol tank to full as there are no petrol station in Fraser's Hill. Those taking the taxi will need to make a booking for the return trip as well as there are no public transport at the hilltop.

You will pass by the Sg Selangor Dam on the way from Kuala Kubu Bharu to the Gap.

2.
Here's the restroom/washroom near the Gap which is situated at the foothills of Fraser's Hill. 

“A visit to Fraser's Hill - The Gap (Part 1) ”, a copyrighted post, was written for My Nice Garden blog by Autumn Belle @ http://www.mynicegarden.com/ on April 9th, 2013.

3. Bottle brush tree
At the restroom area, I had the chance to take some pictures of the scenery and vegetation of the area.

4.
Arachis pintoi - Pinto Peanut or Pokok Kacang Kuning growing wild on the ground.


5.
I saw a lot of  tree ferns and giant bamboo trees, some which are very tall and with big, fat stems. Occasionally we pass by an oak tree or clumps of tall bamboo orchid (Arundina graminilfola). The forest views here are spectacular.


6.
The weed, Agerantum conyzoides.
Common names: Billygoat Weed, Goat Weed, Chick Weed, White Weed
Malay name: Rumput Tahi Ayam (Chicken Dung Grass)

7.
Scientific name: Spilanthes paniculata
Synonyms: S. acemella, S. pseudo-acemella, Acemella oleracea
Family: Asteraceae
Origin: Tropical America

Common names: Toothache Plant, Peek-A-Boo, Electric Daisy
Malay name: Getang Kerabu, Subang Nenek
Other names: Phak khraat (Thai), Yari sennichi modoki (Japanese)

This is a common weed in Southeast Asia.
For additional information, refer to Seedaholic and Globinmed sites


7.
Bamboo and montane forest scenery.

8.

These are hawker stalls at the Gap area. In the old days, business was good because it was necessary to wait in line at the Gap for the different times schedule for the one way trip uphill or downhill. In the old days, the only way up and down to Fraser's Hill, was via a single very narrow and winding road called The Gap road which starts halfway from Kuala Kubu Bharu town to the summit of Fraser's Hill.

Now there are no more hassles of long queues waiting for traffic to change directions for uphill/downhill travel. A new road has been built since 2001 for separate downhill travel. It starts from Jalan Quarry after Pine Resort in Fraser's Hill which leads back to the Bentong-Kuala Kubu Bharu-Kuala Lumpur route. 

So now, you use the old Gap road for uphill travel and new road for downhill.


9.
At the Gap Gate, take the right turn for the uphill drive up to Fraser's Hill. 

10.
The red signboard reads, "Reminder - stopping between two gates are strictly prohibited".

The adjacent brown signboard is designed for tourist to take photographs. You can see a hole there to insert our head, hehe.There is a map and description of Fraser's Hill.

After this point, the temperature starts to drop significantly.Below are some photos that I took of the plants and flowers at the Gap Gate area.


11.
Sanchezia speciosa

12.
Close-up of the Sanchezia speciosa inflorescence, native plant of Peru and Ecuador.

13.
A begonia attached to a tree trunk.

14.
Mussaenda 'Dona Eva'


15.
This is the first time I see a Datura metel aka Devil's Trumpet with pale orange flowers. It is gorgeous.
Updated: This is a Brugmansia hybrid, thanks to Aaron Ang for the ID. Perhaps it is Brugmansia suaveolens?

19 comments:

  1. Mam nadzieję, że dzisiaj się uda umieścić komentarz :). Byłaś w niesamowitym, dzikim i pieknym miejscu. Piekna przyroda i śliczne zdjecia. Pozdrawiam.
    I hope that today we are able to leave a comment :). You've been in an amazing, wild and beautiful place. Beautiful nature and beautiful pictures. Yours.

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  2. Beautiful plants. I'd love to go there one day!

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  3. Thanks for the great tour today. I always enjoy seeing the plants of places so different that here on the shores of Lake Michigan in USA. The blooms today - great! Nice visiting your blog today. Jack

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  4. Very nice lush gardens. Some really interesting plants.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  5. I looks such a beautiful place I can't wait to see the rest.

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  6. Always nice to read someone else's impressions of a place I have actually been to. We spent a day at Fraser's Hill in January and it was beautiful - I am in love with those tree ferns! - although it did rain most of the time.

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  7. A lovely and interesting tropical garden. I especially liked the Sanchezia speciosa.

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  8. Thank you for passing through Kuala Kubu, my birth place!!! It is here that I first learnt to love nature and develope my appreciation of flora and fauna. Ah.. those carefree days exploring the rimba around, catching spiders and keeping them into matchboxes, rearing fighting fishes.... Also, thanks for write up on Fraser's Hill, a favourite place to go for R&R.

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  9. Thanks for the ID! I have amended my post accordingly.

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  10. It looks like a beautiful place for a day trip, Autumn Belle! I'm always fascinated by the Bottle Brush Tree. How wonderful to see Brugmansias and Begonias growing out in the woods. Thanks for taking us along for a virtual tour.

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  11. I love those bamboos. During the lunar 5th month, people would come and collect the leaves. I believe it is used to wrap the gan shui zhong zi. The new road was closed until 2011 when they erected a new single-span bailey bridge to bridge the site of the old landslip. Is it less winding than the old Gap road?

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  12. So many beautiful and interesting plants. The Sanchezia is my favorite. It must have been nice to get to cooler weather at the higher elevations.

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  13. I've not been there for a while. The cool temperature is invigorating and pleasant. We used to stay in an old colonial house where the old Haninese chefs cook us delicious meals.

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  14. Autumn Belle I just love your tropical plants...I especially begonias and to see them growing where they normally would is just so amazing.

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  15. Oh i am sure the temperature there is paradise. I realized that Sanchezia speciosa in colder temps don't have much yellow veinations, but the inflorescences are longer. My plant at our very hot garden is the opposite of this. About the Gap, why is it called the Gap? I want to go there too, is it as high as the Genting?

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    Replies
    1. It is probably called The Gap because the road is very narrow and only one vehicle can pass at any one time.

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  16. Dear Autumn Belle, I'm planning a day trip to Fraser's Hill soon. Appreciate if you could help me with the following:

    1.Is a day trip possible? The road...I don't understand.
    2.Is there certain time (schedule) to go up/down or is there a new road?
    3.I read some blogs/websites, seemed that there are picnic area at Jeriau Waterfall. Is there any other picnic spots up there?

    Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arfah, at present, they have built another road for downhill travel, hence there is no waiting time, i.e. you go up one way and go down another road. I went on a day trip. Weekdays are less crowded. If you go there, you'd like to stay longer than a day trip. I think there are ample places for picnics - whether you wanna do it at the public park, town centre or nature trails. I have a post in My Nice Garden Chat facebook group, which I have tagged you. You can read the members recommendations.

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