Day Trip from Kuantan - Genting Highlands - Bukit Tinggi - Kuantan

This was our 2nd day trip this year after our Kemaman and Cherating trip in May earlier this year. Due to the success of the first such day trip, we were all excited for the second one.

A temple with a view. Chin Swee Caves temple complex at Genting Highlands, Malaysia

No day trip is complete without the company of great friends who help to make it a peaceful and enjoyable time. Thanks to Kenny, Grace and Sharmayne for spending the day with us and Kenny for being the driver for the day.

The drive from Kuantan to Genting took around 3 hours including one stop at a rest station for a bite to eat. We left home at 7am.

During the course of the day I took a lot of photos. I'm not going to share them all (if you're friends with me on facebook, you will have seen them already!), but I will pick out some of the better ones for this post.

As seems to be the custom in Malaysia, while ascending the hill to Genting Highlands we wound down the car windows, stuck our heads out, and enjoyed the cool breeze which we don't get to feel anywhere else!

Windows down, I snapped this photo half way up the hill to Genting Highlands

The hill to the summit is steep and has many twists and turns, it's like riding a roller-coaster at times! You can ascend by car, taxi, bus or cable car

The first place we visited was the Chin Swee Caves temple complex located almost at the very top, around 6,000ft above sea level, and it was cold!!!

Entrance to Chin Swee Caves temple complex, Genting Highlands, Malaysia

Temple entrance

Mist swirled around the temple complex. Reminded me of life in England!

The mists came over the hill and covered the temple courtyard. A lone tree stands against the weather. I was surprised to see some people in shorts and t-shirts!

Soon the weather cleared up and this stunning pagoda was clearly visible under blue skies

Here's another view of the pagoda from a small window in a tunnel of caves

Took Lauren and Sharmayne up for a walk around the caves at the Chin Swee Caves temple complex

Great landscape of a settlement at Genting Highlands, Malaysia

Spotted this lady looking out over the hills from Chin Swee Caves temple, and had to snap a photo

Incense is burned outside the temple

And large joss sticks burn against the hills of Genting

Next stop was a nice lunch at a roadside restaurant. The food was great, but in the space of 10 minutes we had encountered 3 different people trying to sell us things or get us to donate money for something, basically harassing us while we waited for our food. This is a common occurrence in some places here. The best thing to do is politely wave them off.

The Genting Highlands Strawberry Farm was the next place we visited. On the whole I was really disappointed with the very small strawberries, so we didn't pick any.

Strawberry Farm entrance

Let's play 'Spot the Strawberry' . . . ok, there are a few to the left!

Family photo at the Strawberry Farm

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Strawberry Farm was the Lavender Garden. A small fee is charged to enter (RM3 for adults, RM1 for children) and there are many beautiful flowers and a large field of lavender to admire.

Fie in the Lavender Garden

Rows of flowers decorating the wall

Sharmayne, Lauren and Leah pose for a photo in the Lavender Garden

The next part of our day trip took us back down the hill from Genting and up the next hill to Bukit Tinggi. Bukit Tinggi is not at the same altitude as Genting Highlands (it's only around half way up).

Colmar Tropicale, the French-themed village at Bukit Tinggi

Inside Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi

We bought our fridge magnets at Colmar Tropicale and then hopped on a bus to the rabbit farm.

Leah watches as Sharmayne feeds a rabbit

Sharmayne and Lauren trying to feed already full rabbits!

Briefly went to the Japanese Garden. Lovely scenes of nature, but Fie and I were too tired to walk much further!

The final photo is a viewpoint I looked at admiringly from the Japanese Garden at Bukit Tinggi. Love the hills on the horizon:

We left for home at around 5:30pm, stopped for dinner at Karak, and arrived in Kuantan at around 9:30pm. Had a little nap in the car on the way back home. It was a tiring trip but very much worth it!

Looking forward to the next day trip :)

Day Trip up the East Coast to Kemaman and Cherating - Kemaman Zoo, Turtle Sanctuary, Club med Cherating, De Rhu beach resort and Pak Su restaurant

Going on a day-trip can be a whole lot of fun, and at the same time, extremely tiring. It's important to be prepared, particularly when children will be along for the ride.

Last Saturday we set out from Kuantan at 8:30am with our lovely friends and headed up the highway. We brought along a 5-litre bottle of drinking water, a bottle of isotonic drink, and a paper bag full of snacks for the children. We also brought the pushchair for Leah in case she got tired of walking around. Our friends had umbrellas. I was carrying my DSLR camera, bag and tripod, and Leah when she wasn't in the pushchair!

Posing at Kemaman Zoo by a unique tree trunk with bags, drinks and pushchair

I think the key to it all is having pleasant and easy-going company because the heat, the children and the baggage can be a large burden. But we managed everything with a smile and with a genuine excitement to be going places, exploring, and doing so with really good friends.

This photo was taken by our friend, Kenny

Kemaman Zoo is around an hour's drive from Kuantan. Kemaman is a town in the state of Terengganu, neighbouring Pahang to the north. We tried to get there early so as to avoid the heat, but it was still boiling anyway. A makeshift train pulled along by a tractor took us from the entrance to a central point in the zoo where we could explore.

The main animals of interest are the elephants, lions, a tiger and two bears. There are also plenty of birds, snakes, crocodiles and orang-utans. A smart orchid garden, children's playground and waterfall/swimming area are all present.

Lauren feeding the elephant

Leah was terrified of the elephants!

Sharmayne feeding the elephant. Leah waving goodbye to the elephant! Photo taken by Kenny

Having fun at the children's playground

Sharmayne and Lauren posing by the waterfall at Kemaman Zoo

There are 2 famous places in Cherating - the Turtle Sanctuary and Club med. At the Turtle Sanctuary we saw these very cute baby turtles:

We got in to Club med Cherating for a look around and were not disappointed. It's absolutely beautiful! Here are a few photos of this glorious resort:

It was a hot day! This large swimming pool was tempting...

Grace and Fidelia wanted to see some orang utans!

I love being with the children - they had so much fun!

Beautiful view at Club med Cherating

Lauren shows her favourite monster face whilst Sharmayne models the umbrella!

Good to see there is a tsunami evacuation route

Keeping ourselves hydrated with plenty of water, we stopped off to allow the children to try their hand at batik painting at a nearby roadside stall. We all got to sit down and relax for an hour.

It was 4pm by this time so we decided to set off for some swimming time at De Rhu beach resort, which is located nearby Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Kuantan. It was my turn to accompany the children in the pool while Fidelia, Grace and Kenny sat in the shade!

Sharmayne on the water slide!

Sharmayne gave me a good water fight in the pool, especially when I wasn't looking!

To end the day trip we drove to Pak Su seafood restaurant for dinner. Unbelievably, the children were still full of energy! I had to follow them around while waiting for our food to arrive.

I was too hungry to take photos of the food! We had fish, butter prawns, sweet and sour chicken and vegetables amongst others. After a long, tiring and really fun day trip, it was really good to eat yummy food.

Thanks to Kenny, Grace and Sharmayne for driving us around and providing perfect company. It was such an enjoyable day that I didn't really want it to end.

And I haven't had a day like that for years.