Genting Highlands is maybe best known for the Resorts Word complex, which can be seen glistening on the mountains on clear nights from the city. The amusement park connected to the monstrosity of shopping cum gambling centre has been closed down for some time, and is meant to be opening as 20th Century Fox World Genting Malaysia theme park next year. There is an indoor theme park, but just walking through the cruise-ship like interiors to get there gives me a headache, so we haven’t been in years.
That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a beautiful day out in Genting Highlands. The air is cooler and the greenery is soothing – and it’s just a quick 45 minutes drive from the city.
Getting to the top of Genting Highlands
The cable car is long and well worth the RM12.80 ticket price for a round trip. It’s almost 4 km long so there is plenty of time to take in the greenery – or clouds, as was the case on our recent trip! More information on tickets and such here.
At end of the line, the architectural masterpiece appears. One can only imagine how all this was built up here! Other than the indoor theme park with kiddie rides, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and a snow world (we haven’t been but Tripadvisor reviews call it a “huge refrigerator”), there are shops and restaurants at the top. We were looking for fresh air, and hopped straight back on the gondola and down the way we came.
Chin Swee Chinese Temple
Close to the top of the hill, a short drive from the cable car station, Chin Swee Temple’s pagoda tower reaches for the sky. The temple was built by the founder of Genting (Lim Goh Tong) to honour Buddhist figure Chin Swee. Apparently it took 18 years to finish this complicated building complex.
The area is quite big, and there are steps to climb and caves to explore. Go up to the observation tower to get an even better look around. The giant buddha is impressive!
The graphic statues on the “Seven chambers of hell” walk were too much for the kids, but there are plenty of other paths to take. We had a delicious lunch at the vegetarian restaurant attached to the temple.
If you just want a quick respite from the heat, or take visitors on a little day trip, the temple and cable car make for a nice little outing. They also have a strawberry farm and a little insect/butterfly garden in the area but I haven’t been to either. As always, if going on a weekend or a public holiday it’s good to leave early to avoid queues both at the cable car and at the toll leading to Karak highway.
3 Responses
Life saver. I was struggling, trying to figure out what to do with my nephew that I could swing in a day and that didn’t involve shopping centres. Yay for this Genting post!
I especially love to go Genting when there is hot season with little rain in Kuala Lumpur. I can get away from hot weather and enjoy myself at the highland with cold, breeze air.