Genting Highlands

We were up early Saturday morning and had a buffet breakfast at the Sheraton for a trip down memory lane. I must admit it tasted better when it was free (Taylors put us up at the Sheraton for a week when we arrived). If you have to pay it is 50 ringgits. We then headed off in our rented Mercedes (a bit aged, actually rented from the owner of the tack shop in our building). We then climbed about 1000 metres (altitude) on the highway. When we arrived at the Genting base station we jumped on the world's fastest cable car. It is also South East Asia's longest cable car at 3.4 km. We zoomed up (yes we have pics, please be patient) and eventually arrived at the top. We are now at over 6,000 feet and the temperature is about 75 degrees. It's sunny but hazy.

Genting is home to what it described as the entertainment playground in the mountains. There are a couple of 5 star hotels and a couple of 4 star and a 3 star. The 5 stars are quite opulent. There is a casino and an outdoor and indoor them park. The parks cater to under 12 year olds and can't compete with Disney and Universal but if you had yound children they would be good. There are also lots of shops. We broke up and everyone went their separate ways to tour for a while. Two hours later I had exhausted the place and sat down for a Starbucks and read an automotive magazine to educate myself on the auto industry in Malaysia.

Malaysia has it's own automobile brand and manufacturing plant called the Proton. It seems to be quite popular but I think that is due to the fact that the government taxes every other brand at what seems to be 100%. For example, a Toyota Corolla will set you back about $44K where the equivalent Proton is about $22K. No wonder Malaysians buy Protons.

So, would I recommend Genting for the avid tourist? There was no shortage of visitors in the place and the cable car is definitely worth the 20 ringgit round trip price as the view is awesome. However, the rest of the allure is posh hotels and shopping and I was not interested as the prices were tourist inflated. The theme parks are disappointing if you have done Disney or Universal. However, if you need a break from the heat it would make a nice day outing. Take your camera.

TTYL,

Jim