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Symphony of Sheer Delights

It is not a run-of-the-mill hill resort. Perched 6,000 feet above sea level on Ulu Kali mountain range in Malaysia's Pahang state is Genting Highlands -- one of the world's best-known cities of entertainment.

Virtually hidden in a cascade of clouds in a grey day, the cool refreshing resort is a premier hub of recreational and sporting facilities, luxurious hotels and condominiums, imposing shopping malls and casinos and offers a fabulous view of the lush Klang Valley.

Only 51 kilometres and 45 minutes of journey away by taxi from capital Kuala Lumpur, is the highlands' peak of joy that most Malaysian's peg as 'the first choice destination for a vacation and convention'. You will feel the thrill of the journey when you will continue to go up down a four-lane steep and winding road from the foothills of the mountain, take in cooler air in every bend up in tropical Malaysia and a cluster of mist-like clouds will awash you through the car window.

I was still basking in the delight of getting lost in the rain-laden or at times fluffy clouds, when our Mercedes pulled in front of the imposing First World Hotel that houses a stunning 3,300 rooms in the summit. Kim Teoh, senior marketing executive of Genting Resorts World Bhd, the company that owns the resort hilltop, tells the media delegation from Dhaka that the biggest hotel in Asia in terms of rooms is currently constructing a second block of 3,000 rooms.

"It will make the first world the world's largest hotel and give the rest of other hotels around the world a run for their money," she says, with an aura of gratification hanging in her smile.

As we wait in front of check-in counter No. 31st of 32 of the hotel, we find hundreds of people from around the world who arrived in the city without hotel booking mill around the counters for accommodation. Some form long queues before the counters, some sit out for hours and some even sleep on the floor before their check-in turns.

Genting has six large hotels with over 7,000 rooms the rates of which range from RM 75 to RM 1,890 and can accommodate at least 12,000 people of every budget and taste. Despite the facility, such scenes repeat every year, spelling out the global tourist rush for the city as well as for Malaysia.

Malaysia, a country of 2.38 crore people (2001 Census), expects 1.5 crore tourists this year and saw 65 lakh of them from January to May this year. Despite Iraq war and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, 1.06 crore foreigners visited Malaysia last year, down from 1.33 crore in 2002. Tourism is currently the Southeast Asian nation's second largest income spinner after the manufacturing sector and fetched $702 crore in 2002 and $581crore in 2003. "I hope tourist arrival rate will grow beyond 6.9 percent a year and will surpass our target of 14.3 million (1.43 crore) by 2005 set in the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2001-2005)," Datuk Ahmed Zahid Hamidi, deputy minister for tourism, told a media briefing.

A cornucopia of delights in Genting Highlands will erase the despair of footloose and fancy-free tourists who do not care for hotel booking and other preparations before going to a city.

The indoor and outdoor theme parks of the First World Plaza that borrows themes from Venice, Chams Elysees, Genting Walk, England, Universal Walk and the Swiss Alps, are the heart of animated Malaysia.

A paradise for all who crave excitement and adventure, the parks are a hive of activity with dozens of amusement games, high-tech rides and lively shows.

You can experience the euphoria of unaided fly and feel the rush of winds and the weightlessness of your body at Genting Sky Venture in the pulsating indoor park in a sky diving simulator close to actual skydiving.

The RM 1 core venture, the only one of its kind in Asia, is an enclosed wind tunnel where winds of up to 198 kilometres an hour will shoot you up to more than 12 feet in seconds.

At the RM 3 crore Snow World, pegged as the first indoor-themed place in the world, you can catch a glimpse of snowmen, igloos and snowball fights, in a built-up space of 18,000 sq feet.

In winter jacket and boots at 5 degrees Celsius in the 50-feet high room, equipped with a 90-metre-long toboggan slide, a rustic log cabin with children slides, lover's benches and snow-cover trees, you will get a real-life feel or arctic weather.

The walls, covered with Swiss Apls prints on vinyl sheets, give a special 3D effect and take you to the Alps in an instant.

The highlights of outdoor park are monorails that go around the hilltop giving a panoramic view of the cityscape and a range of swift-moving rollercoasters, including the corkscrew, the only double-loop roller coaster in Malaysia that speeds and spins up to a height of 90 feet above.

Another exciting attraction of the highlands is the Genting Skyway, the fastest cable car system in the world that moves at 6 metres a second. Constructed at a cost of RM 12.8 crore, the cable car links Highlands Hotel with the Genting Lower Skyway Station near the Awana Horse ranch.

If you take the 3.4 km skyway, the longest cable car system in Southeast Asia, you will soar above clouds and savour a fantastic view of the breathtaking beauty and animatronics (animation of sculptured animals and 'orang asli') in the rainforest bellow through the beaks of clouds along the way.

Many tourists head for Genting Highlands for its nightlife. There are international dinner shows and discos and punters can try their luck at the world class Casino de Genting that offers Blackjack, Baccarat, Keno, French Bull, Roulette, Tai Sai and slot machines.

For shoppers, the First World Plaza shopping mall houses over 90 retail and F&B outlets and for food gourmets, there lies scores of restaurants with a range of tasting pleasures.

For meetings and conventions, only a few places in Malaysia can rival the facilities of the highlands that house among other centres the storied Arena of Stars, a 6,000 people capacity hall with state-of-the-art projector screens, light and sound systems.

Before heading to Genting hilltop, you can take a break at Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort to enjoy over 30 sports and recreation facilities including a challenging 18-hole, par-71 golf course, eco-sport centre and swimming pool. Awana horse ranch offers equestrian activities, rides for children and lessons for beginners.

Genting highlands showcases Malaysia's path to development. Started off as a retirement home in mid-1960s by its founder, Lim Goh Tong, who came to Malaysia from China as a young man with a few hundred ringit, the highlands is now prime destination for the young and old, men and women, families and friends to indulge in an exciting holiday.

Lim hit the gold with construction business and founded the Genting Bhd, now a corporate empire that owns Genting Resorts World Bhd and scores of companies owning palm oil plantations, power plants and cruise ships and earned RM 423.71 crore last year.

Lim handed over the chairmanship of Genting Bhd at age 86 to his son, Lim Kok Thay, in last December.
(1 RM=Tk 16)

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Shakespeare Shil