Perhaps the weirdest place I’ve visited so far in Malaysia
Imagine a beautiful Malaysian hillside, covered with that mysterious deep green jungle. Perhaps you’ll picture a tea estate, miles of rolling hills and tea plants, and possibly some colonial style buildings, relic of a past long gone in which the British retreated up these cool slopes to escape the heat and humidity of the plains. That’s more or less what you expect when you head out to the Malaysian highlands. What you don’t expect to find is a continental European style ‘town’ hiding away amidst the peaks.
![P1280175.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXteLRVwvRPKg7VETcD5KGPPWNERRsvG9pJzXWgbSMquH/P1280175.jpg)
Well, this is (sort of) just what we found when we eagerly headed up one weekend to visit Colmar, ostensibly modelled after Colmar in Alsace, France. I’ve visited the French version, a beautiful ancient town, and so I was full of anticipation about paying a call on its twin here in Malaysia. Surely I wasn’t going to be disappointed?
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After parking the car in a fake castle, which I guess should have alerted me somewhat, we headed down the road to the town itself. If I’d been willing to make allowances for the carpark castle, my critical eyes were now fully peeled, and before we’d gone fully 50 metres those critical eyes were having a field day. “Wrong!”, I cried on spotting the drawbridge lined with fluttering flags, which we would have to cross to enter Colmar. “Inauthentic!”, on seeing the moat curving away below.
To be fair though there is a river in real Colmar, so full marks for going to the effort of actually creating a waterway, and wait! What’s that down below. Swans?! Unheard of in Malaysia, there on the moat were a pair of white swans. Watching them regally gliding along I allowed my critical stance to soften, just a little. Clearly someone has been paying attention to the details, I thought, nostalgically.
![P1280172.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQme8aSUB8NRYbYtffjEjPfMcyzTdVC7jcobDx8SgLrGaBd/P1280172.jpg)
I just hope those swans are enjoying their unexpectedly tropical lifestyle. Not sure how they are coping with the monkeys, but at least the tigers are fake. This one scared me to death lurking in the bushes like that. So glad they put the clarificatory notice there or I might have thought it was intended to frighten me off.
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Hope renewed we stepped through the castle-like archway and into Colmar itself.
![P1280093.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmW4b4JRc9CtTZunZkq98JyyW1ywhkj6CFYxyshbdKYjZ3/P1280093.jpg)
And there was France, encapsulated in cobbled streets, timber-framed buildings, sidewalk cafés, and a Chinese acrobatic show. Full marks to the performers though, it was a really good show.
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In fact, although the ‘town’ was smaller than I had expected (I had very high expectations as you can see) the buildings satisfied even my critical eye. I’m no architecture expert, but I did feel for an instant like I was back in Europe, and that’s nothing to be sniffed at. The detail was actually quite impressive, especially once we climbed the tower at the end of the street and saw that some of the roofs had been tiled in those famous colourful patterns.
![P1280098.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSgQJA18SahTJNLNW6zdyofhLsi8nVoroEznq9yAgWFXt/P1280098.jpg)
I love colourful window boxes, and although these were not the brightest I’d ever seen, I was willing to let it pass for the nostalgia value.
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While there certainly was at least one fountain in real Colmar, it didn't look anything like this one, being far more ornate and with a statue on top, but I decided to be forgiving. Who knows, there might indeed be one just like this tucked away somewhere in Colmar.
![P1280104.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQFPGEK1qmCxnUwjbg5fiJfTDo2o58NkcJGKpbFKkEPqs/P1280104.jpg)
Now for the moment of truth, how does it compare to the real deal? I couldn't find my photos from when I visited real Colmar several years ago, so here's one I borrowed from the Internet. Spot the difference?
![Restaurant-scene-Colmar.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmWqYAtHCk48ECbQxjempZdDDtkoWdsU24joXsHjUXYe2m/Restaurant-scene-Colmar.jpg)
Not bad huh?! And now that I look more closely at real Colmar I see that their window boxes are not the brightest either, so I will fully retract my snippy comment above.
All it needs now is a little of that French je ne sais quoi (I mean 'arrogance' - joking! but seriously, Malaysians are way too polite to pass for French 😉) and I would feel like I was right in the heart of Alsace.
So there you have it - Colmar Tropicale. The tigers are the fakest thing about it, and if that's not a ringing endorsement I don't know what is.
All photos by @freewheel except where otherwise stated
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That is super weird...did the tiger work though?
It has a bit of a European vibe but was too colourful to me. It felt mostly like a fairytale town ;)
I didn’t see any monkeys so based on that it’s a surprisingly effective deterrent :) maybe the bright orange is enough to scare them off. You’re right, it does feel a bit unrealistic, not quite like Disneyland but on those lines
Very unexpected place. Once I saw your first picture I thought it was taken in Europe. It looks a interesting cross between Europe and Asia even if Malaysia is far from Europe :)
It’s funny isn’t it, a little bit of Europe in Asia :)
yes it is a funny corner of Europe in Asia :) :) Thanks for sharing and enjoy your trips!
That is so interesting. It reminds me a bit of Huis den Bosch in Japan. Check over here to be dazzled.
Hah! How funny. That looks quite an impressive spread of tulips and windmills :)
Although the tiger fails big time, not bad though people can have a mini euro town resembling a real one in Malaysia.
True it’s actually not bad! Much cheaper than flying to France :)
hah .. its a beautiful place Colmar Tropicale ! I guess you dropped by Genting as well on the way back ?
We’d already made a separate trip to Genting last year, got lost in the casinos, but that’s another story :)
Nice .. hey @freewheel , do use #teammalaysia tags in ur future posts and message me on discord for our teammalaysia invite link if you are not already on it.
Hey thank you so much @bitrocker2020, I will do that and will find you on discord. Thanks!
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I cringe when I see these type of tourist attractions. We have something similar at one of the most famous tourist spots in Taichung where all hotels are modelled on European locations such as Old England, The Provence....
Hah, that sounds quite a melange - will have to note it down for a future visit :)
"This stuffed tiger is to ward off the Monkeys"
Well what else would it be for?
what a strange place. Loving your post.
It was surreal. Yeah the tiger was hilarious! I didn’t see any monkeys so I guess it’s working 😄Thanks for reading!