Visiting 2 countries in 1 day within Malaysia

It was decided that we will do a half day visit to Bukit Tinggi, specifically the French Village of Colmar Tropicale and the Japanese Garden on a Saturday.

We woke up late that day.😅

It was 1.30pm when we arrived at Bukit Tinggi. The drive was about 1hour away from Kuala Lumpur. Driving on a Saturday noon, the traffic was rather smooth. We came in mid July, weather was quite hot actually, at about 32'Celcius, albeit the slight overcast. 🥵

We headed to the Japanese Garden first.

Japanese Garden, Bukit Tinggi🎋🎎

It is a little tropical Japanese themed garden, offering gentle cool breeze and a lovely little stream as you walk around the place. You can observe graceful koi fish in the water and pretty butterflies fluttering about.

For RM20, you can also rent a yukata for pictures!

However, I should give a gentle reminder that it is hilly. We had to walked up a little slope and climbed a number of stairs to get to the Japanese garden. Funnily, there was even a warning sign before you walk up the stairs to caution anyone who may have selected health issues. Honestly, it wasn't too bad. A good exercise, it was. I would recommend bringing an umbrella if you are walking in the sun, a little shade makes such a difference.

Also, there was a photo op stall on the way up to the Japanese Garden who will insists they need your picture for recording purposes, and tell you it is okay if you don't purchase any after. Do note that it is okay to reject their request and keep walking.

This little garden took us about 30minutes to stroll. So if you are up for a short walk in the hills, this is a nice nook to visit.

There was supposed to be a Japanese restaurant and even a spa on the hilltop too, but when we were there, these were already announced as "temporarily closed" on Google Maps.

Colmar Tropicale, French Village ⛲🏰

Then we headed to the French Village of Colmar Tropicale. This place is themed based off the medieval town of Colmar in France, apparently. Colmar Tropicale is firstly a resort and an entertainment park second. What you will observe is a little "moat" bridge into Colmar Tropicale and be welcomed by a tower arch. The area within the French Village is mainly filled with hotel buildings, and the ground floor are also occupied by restaurants, a bakery, arcades, and even a massage parlour.

Entertainment park is an overstatement in describing Colmar Tropicale.😅

The parking area is marked for visitors or hotel guests, so you will be directed accordingly. Visitors' parking is situated opposite the French Village in a castle-looking building that overlooks the little village.

It makes a good family short getaway, with a small enclosure for rabbits, ducks and swans, cute bus and train rides, VR rides, and the typical fun fair games such as hook-a-duck. There is also a 3-storey lookout point tower you can climb up for a view of the place and the hills surrounding it.

However, as of July 2024 when we visited, the lifts in the vicinity are all not operating. So this place may not be wheelchair-friendly.

This resort could use some sprucing up. For example, the convention centre opposite the French Village has such lovely frescos on the walls and ceilings, but alas it was closed. I wished there were more activities to do and corners to take pictures at. We were done with the place in about 2 hours, that includes an hour at the restaurants for a sit down after all the walking, and a little walk around the resort.

We were at Bukit Tinggi for approximately 3.5 hours. We even did a little detour to the Four-face Brahma temple on the way back to KL. For food, I'd recommend having your meal on the way at Selesa Hills instead for more choices and fresher ingredients. If you got nothing much to do over the weekend, I'd say this is a decent place to drive to for a bit of exercise and a couple of pics. But will we visit again? Hmmm... No regrets, but perhaps once is enough. 😋