Kuala Lumpur-Genting Highlands 30 km ± 1 hour
All the roads we used, be it highways or just local feeders were mostly excellent or being repaired. The road to genting Highlands which is a Malaysian "Las Vegas", is a wellkept road going up into the highlands around KL. The situation is quite specific. Most of the hotels in the midst of the climb and on top of it seem to belong to one company. Some visitors choose the first and then go up using a cable car. The reason to go up is because most of the facilities, themepark, casino's, restaurants etc. are at the top. There were almost no private bungalows, shops, buildings or other hotels on this climbing road and that made it pleasant to reach the top unhindered. The reason to choose for the lower facilities would be to avoid driving all the way to the top and getting everyone in the car sick because of the hairpins and turns.

For unexperienced drivers some hairpins have been widenend and yellow stripes mark the road telling you to slow down. The 1.5 liter Proton could easily climb all the way to the top in third and ocassionally second gear and was driving quite pleasant with an easily changing transmission, allthough it had done more than 160.000 km's. Reaching the top we found out that gasoline was leaking from the engine. I immediately called the AAM (highway patrol) who responded by arranging for the car to be towed back to KL. Since it was a Sunday I proposed to wait until Monday and then ask the carhire office for advice. That was a good decision since the carhire office sent me another Proton in exchange and we could resume our journey with a different coloured Proton.

The theme park is like any other theme park. The hotels are a bit spartan and save the owner a lot of electricity since there were no aircon units. It sufficed to open a window. The views were nice, we got a city view, meaning you could see Kuala Lumpur on a clear day. We did see KL for a short time before it was all clouds. The hotel was just above the clouds. Hotels are not very cheap like in Las Vegas but not more expensive than elsewhere in Malaysia. Video's and camera's are strictly forbidden in the casino's. While we were there we saw a spanish David Copperfield pulling all kinds of illusionary tricks. Tigers and beautiful gorgeous young girls disappeared in a blink of time. Persons who do not have the gift of orientation, risk getting lost while wandering in the puzzle of the interconnected hotels, restaurants, in- and outdoor themeparks. But there is plenty of personnel to ask your way. Escalators spare your energy. There was an internet cafe somewhere but the computers were so old, they should have disappeared instead of these beautiful ladies. So if you like gambling and can't stand aircon's, this is the place to be, otherwise stay away.

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