Rounding Malaysia - Day 4 (p.m.)

After that 'almost there' anti-climax, Din took over the wheels and we headed southwards towards Cameron Highlands. Wheezing by via highway soon brought us ascending the hills. We caught the beautiful sunset amongst the trees, but as the surrounding black of night engulfed us, the situation turned to fright when the driver realized the tank was close to empty. Tempers rose and finger pointing ensued. It was still a long way up and there’s no turning back either. We were in the middle of nowhere, with the closest petrol station nowhere in sight.

It was the longest hour ever and everybody was holding their breaths thinking of ways to minimize fuel consumption. Thank god the temperature was cold outside, so turning off the air-con was not a big deal. Taking in the breeze in the dark of the night, the thought of the car stalling in the middle of the narrow, winding road was a chilling thought.

As we finally made the climb and reached the first hotel, we parked the car and took a breather. It was freezing cold as we headed for the hotel lobby. This had to be the worst time for a holiday – Christmas day with no prior hotel reservations. It was super peak period and hotel rates are up by 250%. By now we had two problems – we still had no petrol, and we had no place to stay for the night. The hotel had a superior room available but no way was I forking out RM600 for a double-bed room each for just a couple of hours sleep. Another query at a nearby hotel also was not to our favour as all their rooms were taken. Along the way we saw a billboard for Hotel Titiwangsa and decided to call up for any available room. There was a family room available and resigned to the cut throat rates, we asked to have the room reserved.

So we continued our search for petrol and this time to add to our woes, the traffic was inching its way in the direction we were heading. This had to be a nightmare, not a holiday. The tank was already in the red and we were thinking of various Plan B. Thankfully, after the jam, which was caused by rampant parking by visitors to the Pasar Malam at Tanah Rata, we reached a Petronas station. Although it was quite late, almost 10pm, there were people walking and cars parking everywhere. We grabbed burgers to go at a roadside stall near Petronas and huddled in the warmth of the car.

With one problem solved, next mission was to find the hotel we had called earlier. It was located among many other newer, nicer hotels, but since we asked to reserve the room, we had to honour our words.

There is no need for air-conditioned rooms in Cameron Highlands as the weather is so cold even with windows closed. The room was comfortable enough for the four of us with a king-sized bed and two single beds. I believed the room was an add-on as it sits on the top fourth floor with creaking wooden floor boards, and walls of gypsum board that sounded hollow when tapped.