Paul,
That is very sad to hear. I thought that that development plan had
died in the bud. I don't think it would be that viable, as I think
most visitors, Malaysian and foreign regard the ride up as part of the
experience. The same thing has been done at the Genting Highlands, and
it certainly has been ruined. Also Genting is not doing too well
financially, and Maxwell's is so much smaller and so the potential for
profitability so much less.
Maxwell's is such a special place. I have stayed up there 3 times,
twice at Gunung Hijau bungalow and one at the Methodist church
bungalow up behind GH. It is quite magical birding up there.
I hope the present financial state causes further postponement or
cancellation. I can't see many prospective punters putting up the
money, though if it is a Bumiputera project, then money will be no
object.
I will certainly be supporting the campaign against it. I have some
birder friends in Taiping, I must email them for the latest info.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
On 13/06/2009, at 5:03 PM, Paul Dodd wrote:
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
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