Bukit Fraser Warnings Or Dangers

Since it rains at Fraser's Hill (Pahang, Malaysia ) more often than Seattle, you'll probably see icky bloodsuckers on those forest trails. To prepare myself for a nice meeting with them, I prepared some leech ammunition (medicated oil) and did not get a single leech bite. If you don't know this, medicated oil acts pretty much like salt and kills these worms in an instant. The leeches must have read my mind and avoided me and certain death. Every single one of my friends got at least one bloodsucker from the Bishop's Trail. Here's one unlucky sod who got massaged with oil later on.

Where to buy your leech ammunition
1)Axe Brand Medicated Oil ( any 7-11 store in KL or Singapore, S$0.75)
2)Leech Sock. Make your own or buy them RM16 from Fraser's Hill, S$6 from the Nature Shop in Singapore Botanical Gardens.

What to do when you see a leech
1)Pose with your leech as it's a photo op
2)Coat Axe Oil lovingly on leech
3)The leech will drop off faster than you can scream bloody murder

There are lots of forest trails in Fraser's Hill (Pahang, Malaysia) and while it is fun and challenging to trek on one, it pays to :

1)Stick closely to the path
2)Go with a guide if you're not used to treking or underaged.

In case you haven' t heard , 4 young Singaporean boys ventured into Bishop's Trail without a chaperone and was lost for a few days. Well, they would have stayed there forever if not for the kindness of the Sultan of Pahang!
Well, after hearing the awful news, the compassionate Sultan took the trouble to hire the best orang asli trekker (local tribesman) to find the boys. And true enough, the trekker found them in just one day when the others took days.
All's well that ends well but if truth be told, the boys weren't the first ones to lose their way. A few months before them, a British botanist got lost and in 1900, Mr. Louis James Fraser, Fraser's hill own namesake disappeared and never returned!

Note: My group attempted the Bishop's trail ourselves and would have gotten lost if not for our ornithologist. There were fallen logs everywhere and it was a bloody challenge hoisting ourselves over those logs. Plus, there were thousands of leeches so each of us wondered how those boys could have survived for days in the cold forest! Also, what were their parents thinking when they allowed the boys to wander into the trail ala Hansel and Gretal?

Beware of leeches if you go for trekking, especially after rainy day.

Get some salt from the restaurant nearby, they will be more than willing to help you on this. If any part of your body suck by leech, dont pull them, else your blood will spill. Put some salt on the leech. It will then dehydrate and drop aumomatically.

You can get a trekking trails map from the tourist information near the clock tower. However, check with the counters on the route.

Many of the trails are closed due to long time desertion. Some of them are blocked and can be dangerous if you try to trek on those.

Among the few trails, only one shorter trail which is near to the golf court is safe and available. That trail is just nice for kid to old man.

Please take note there are no fuel/gas station or ATM machine.
Bring cash as credit card may not be accepted.

Always bring a windbreaker along as the temperature may drop quite a bit in the evening, night and early morning.