Travel Destinations » Resort Genting Highlands Malaysia

Let the good times roll, seemed to be the universal theme, we found, during a recent visit to the famous resort in Malaysia’s Ulu Kali range. (Our visit was hosted by the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board and the tenting Highlands Resort.) And as toddlers and grand-mamas alike around us put the outside world on hold and let their hair down, the good cheer was catching. It was a circus, and everybody was under the big top.

Earlier that day, we saw the super-modern highway from Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur swallow the 51 km distance to the resort with effortless ease, and soon city snarls of traffic were well behind us. Cars and buses whizzed past with remarkable regularity even on a weekday, but the air of seclusion grew stronger with each deftly-engineered hairpin bend. The forest edged closer and closer around, beguiling us with insidious whispers, and the feathery clouds seemed to grow bolder. Finally, we could not but gasp aloud when we found ourselves poised at the crest, with swirling clouds (or was it mist?) curtaining the world away. There was nothing around us, nothing before and nothing beyond, save this magical citadel in the clouds. Was nature in connivance with the resort management, to hold us in thrall in a nebulous cocoon, dedicated purely to the pursuit of pleasure?

Then, the glass sliding doors opened to an explosion of warmth and noise and color, and the resort took over. Mammoth elephants, splashing waterfalls and elaborate mosaic crowded a lobby dominated by the belief that “more is merrier,” especially for people. Yet, despite the apparent air of milling confusion, check-in formalities were smooth and efficient. And then, clutching like a talisman the booklet describing the plethora of pleasures that awaited us, (would we ever be found if we were hopelessly lost, we wondered, but only for an instant), we set forth to explore this vast display of dizzy delights.

Masochistic thrills and spills await the hardy pleasure-seeker in the outdoor theme park sprawling over 4.5 acres, which proudly flaunts Malaysia’s only double loop roller coaster —appropriately called the corkscrew. We shuddered at the mere sight of its mean gut-wrenching curves and coils, impatiently awaiting a squealing consignment of passengers. We gave other scream-inducers a cautious miss too — the cyclone, the rolling thunder mine train, the wild and wet fluma ride... Instead, we hopped onto a gigantic metallic caterpillar and sedately toured the park, taking in the dancing fountains, the spinning carousels, the bumping cars and the dinosaurs. For those seeking to see stars of the earthly kind, an amphitheater presents topnotch stage and screen performers in regular revues.

Wafted through cottonwooldense mists in a bubble cable car, we returned to the 2.5 acre indoor theme park, where more gutwrenchers awaited the intrepid. Here were games like terror of the pharoahs, the stuff of cobwebby nightmares, or space odyssey, a zap-through journey at warp speed. In a variation of the old bump-and-grind routine, you can ride in bumper cars that dance to “hit” music; or take your kids on a mini safari jeep adventure. As teenagers worked the controls of a futuristic array of pin ball machines with names and themes like Jurassic Park and Bay Watch, the kiddies screamed with glee, cavorting in the timeless twirls of a traditional merry-go-round. Appropriately enough, the eatery here is a glittering neon-lit carousel diner; while McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken satiate the junk-food addicts.

Humming 24 hours a day, the Casino de Genting dons an added mystique after dusk. We did not find here the sophisticated elegance of svelte women in beaded evening gowns, or tuxedoed gents with rakish smiles.

Rather, vast green baize tables and the glittering roulette wheels were crowded with fortune-seekers and holiday makers, out for a flutter or a fling.

We wandered past impassive croupiers who dealt out baccarat cards with true poker-faced indifference, and watched the avid gleam of avarice flicker on faces young and old. Tables for roulette, keno, French boule, tai sai, money-wheel and mini-dice spread over the casino’s five gaming areas, each decorated thematically: Circus Place, Monte Carlo (the only nonsmoking casino in the world), Hollywood, the International Room (a private area) and the VIP room (for special card holders and invited guests.)

Guests, in between their duels of luck and lucre, can feed visceral appetites at a variety of outlets including Fortune Corner and Kuda Cafe. We watched dedicated punters cheer a set of miniature horses around a table-top race track in an ersatz version of the Highlands Derby, and marvelled at the slot machines which incessantly swallowed glittering coins with the insatiable appetite of a dinosaur. Ourown modest flutter was predictably unfruitful. But content with this small mandatory homage, to Lady Luck, we moved on to explore the seemingly never-ending attractions of this vibrant pleasure world.

Fact File
The Genting Highlands Resort lies an accessible 51 km north-east of Kuala Lumpur, and is a little over an hour’s drive on a modern high!- way amidst serene countryside. Several transportation options are available. Taxis operating from the Puduraya. and Pekeliling taxi stands will have you at the mountain peak in under 90 minutes. A one-way journey costs RM 40 (Rs 440) which is just RM10 (Rs 110) per person if there are four passengers. An express bus service is available daily from Puduraya, running every half-hour from 8 am to 7 pm on weekdays and until 8 pm on weekends and public holidays. This takes you to the base of Awana, and thence by cable car. The fare, including the cable car ride from Awana, is RM 5.20 (Rs 60) one way for adults and RM 3.10 (Rs 33) for children aged between three and 12. No fare is charged for those under three years.

Genting also has its own limousine service which operates daily. The luxury of a Mercedes car costs RM 150 (Rs 1,650) fora one-way ride, while a Proton Perdana ride costs RM 100 (Rs 1,100) each way. As with taxis, there is a surcharge of 50 percent of the normal fare for travel between midnight and 6 am. Larger groups can hire air-conditioned coaches, choosing from a fleet of 44, 26 or 20 seaters.

Getting around the resort itself is easy, as there is a free, regular shuttle bus service running between the Resort Hotel and the Awana Golf and Country Resort. It operates hourly on weekdays and every half-hour on weekends.

The Awana Skyway, a 12-minute ride departs from Sri Layang every 20 minutes from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm on weekdays and until 9.30 pm on weekends. The fare is RM 3 (Rs 33) for adults and RM2 (Rs 22) for kids aged between three and 12. The latest mode of transportation from the foot of the hill at Batang Kali to the Highlands is by way of the Genting Skyway, and is an easier and more convenient alternative. Spanning 3.4 km it is the longest cable car system in Southeast Asia. It is also the most advanced and fastest mono-cable car system in the world, states a press release, traveling at 21.6 km per hour, and has a detachable eight-passenger gondola, which utilises, state-of-the-art technology and a double circuit that is claimed to be absolutely fault-safe. The fare is RM2 (Rs 22) one way.

Admission is free to both the indoor and the outdoor theme parks, and one can pay individually for the rides. Alternatively, you can buy a ride card for RM 10 (Rs 110), which allows you to visit a number of attractions (except video ma- chines, skilled games and some separately priced rides.) Day passes for 20 RM (Rs 220) adults, kids 15 RM (Rs 165) are also available. The various hotels have differing tariff structures. Check with your travel agent for appropriate packages.

Entry to the Casino de Genting is free for foreign nationals. However, a dress code is enforced for male patrons, who are required to wear long sleeved batik shirts (available on hire) or any long-sleeved shirt with a tie, or a lounge suit or a bush Jacket.