I don?t know how many birding-aussers have been birding in Malaysia, and how
many of those have birded Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill), but it appears that a
long-dormant project to build a cable car from near the existing Land Rover
station in Taiping to the summit has been revived. This project was first
touted in 1997 and was expected (then to cost RM200 million ? slightly less
than $100 million Australian). This is a large project designed to move
many hundreds of tourists from the ground to the summit each hour.
Presumably it will involve building restaurants, shops, accommodation at the
summit also.
Currently Bukit Larut is one of the very few hill stations in Malaysia that
is relatively untouched. To get to the top currently you either walk or
catch a Land Rover from the base to the summit along 13km of VERY windy
road. The road is only one lane, so for the first twenty minutes of each
hour the vehicles go up, then ten minutes of no access, then twenty minutes
for the vehicles to go down. Accommodation at the summit is very limited
with a small number of private banglos (bungalows) and one sightly more
commercialised one ? Banlgo Cendana. There is one very small café at the
point where the Land Rovers turn around, and Cendana also has a
restaurant/café. Once at the Land Rover turnaround point, the only way to
get around is by foot ? with the summit still 2-3 km away (and up a very
steep ascent).
Bird life is remarkably similar to Bukit Fraser (Fraser?s Hill) but there
are species that are more likely to be seen at Bukit Larut. Since the hill
is not as high as either Fraser?s Hill or Gunung Brinchang (Mount Brinchang)
at Cameron Highlands the high-altitude specialists from those two sites are
missing from Bukit Larut.
Compared to Fraser?s Hill or the Cameron Highlands, Bukit Larut is
incredibly tranquil. It has a reputation of being the more difficult of the
hill stations to get to and stay at ? and I would certainly agree with that,
however it is well worth the effort. It would be sad to see this hill
station turned into something like Penang Hill (just out of Georgetown),
rather than retaining its current wilderness values.
More information on this proposed development is at
http://www.bukitlarut.com.my/ This site has nothing to do with the
development, it is more a start at organising protests against the
development.
Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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