Fraser's Hill
A Small Colonial Hill Station Named After A Man Who Vanished, Kept Quiet By A One Way Mountain Road, And One Of The Best Places To Watch Birds In Southeast Asia · Fraser's Hill, Pahang
LOUIS JAMES FRASER RAN MULES AND A GAMBLING DEN UP HERE IN THE 1890s AND THEN DISAPPEARED. When a search party went looking for him in 1917 they never found the man, but they found the plateau, and the British built a hill station on it - WHICH IS WHY IT IS NAMED AFTER SOMEBODY NOBODY EVER SAW AGAIN. Fraser's Hill is small, cool, mossy and has stayed quiet in a way the Camerons did not, partly because THE FINAL STRETCH OF ROAD WAS FOR DECADES ONE-WAY ON ALTERNATE HOURS. WHAT IT IS REALLY FAMOUS FOR IS BIRDS: the montane forest here holds a species list that draws birdwatchers from across the world, and THE ANNUAL BIRD RACE has run for decades. There is a mock-Tudor clock tower, a nine-hole golf course, jungle trails and very little else. That is the appeal. Hire a local bird guide through a guesthouse, because the difference between a guide and no guide here is enormous, and check the road arrangements on the final climb, which were one-way on alternate hours for decades and still catch people out.
Bukit Fraser, Raub, Pahang, Fraser's Hill, Pahang, Malaysia
FRASER'S HILL IS ABOUT TWO HOURS FROM KUALA LUMPUR via KUALA KUBU BHARU and THE GAP. THE FINAL EIGHT-KILOMETRE STRETCH WAS HISTORICALLY ONE-WAY ON ALTERNATE HOURS - a newer road has changed this, but CHECK CURRENT ARRANGEMENTS before setting off, because it catches people out. THERE IS NO GATE AND NO ADMISSION; the hill is a small settlement with trails running off it. THE JUNGLE TRAILS ARE SHORT, NUMBERED AND FREE, and range from twenty minutes to a couple of hours. BIRDING IS BEST AT FIRST LIGHT along the roads and the Telekom Loop; LOCAL BIRD GUIDES are arranged through the guesthouses. THE ANNUAL BIRD RACE fills every bed - check the dates. IT IS COLD AT NIGHT and there is very little to eat after dark. Accommodation is limited and dated.