Who knew tea was so photogenic?

Why did we go?

I had the opportunity to visit the Cameron Highlands when I was backpacking through Malaysia fifteen years ago. The idea of visiting highlands in a tropical country was intriguing but I had decided to stay on the coast and travel to Sumatra instead.

So all these years later I was interested to finally take the trip. Geographically it also made sense as we were heading north from Kuala Lumpur: the Cameron Highlands lie in between KL and Penang, although they are off the coast by around 50 miles.

CH was “discovered” by the British in the late 1800’s, but development did not start in earnest until the 1930’s. With its cool climate, it was identified early-on as a potential resort area, and the colonizing British sent soldiers to CH as relief from the Malay heat.

It is now the largest tea-producing area in Malaysia, with tea plantations throughout the hillsides.

What did we think?

We booked four nights and by the second night we were fairly ready to leave.

This is my least favorite area I have ever travelled to. It was cold and damp, the roads made me car sick, the hiking trails are dangerous, 90% of restaurants were mediocre, and the overall hotel quality is much poorer than in KL.

There are plenty of valid complaints about this part of our trip but I want to be fair and not too focused on the negatives. We met several very nice people and visited some breathtaking sights.

After passing through deep green valleys filled with tea, I finally understood why this place remains so popular. Instagram! The bright green backdrop of tea leaves is stunning and there are photo ops set up everywhere. Every few blocks there were signs like “I ❤️ CH.” Every landmark had places for photos, but so did dusty strawberry farms.

How we filled our time?

Self-guided walking tour

We chose to stay in Tanah Rata, as it is the most-developed of the three CH towns, and is also centrally-located on the main road. Corey and I spent the first two days on foot, exploring Tanah Rata and the nearby town to the north, Brinchang.

We explored the dining options around town then took a street route past a large golf course. The sidewalks appeared and disappeared throughout the journey. We also met several dogs. There was a puppy that followed us for a quarter mile before he found new friends to follow.

We eventually walked to the large Sam Poh Buddhist temple and spent some time walking around the property.

From there we walked into Brinchang. It looked pretty much the same as Tanah Rata, but smaller. Several older hotels, some restaurants, and lots of cars driving around.

We did stumble on to a fantastic restaurant in Brinchang called Restoran Tasty. A very nice family and the kids gave us candy from their own stash. We had a great meal too! They specialize in rice-noodle rolls, which is an item we have eaten in Seattle at Cantonese restaurants.

The rain began to fall after lunch, so we called a Grab to our hotel.

Quick Tea Tour

Dale and Linda, Corey’s parents, were still traveling with us. One day all four of us piled into a taxi together to visit a nearby tea plantation, Cameron Valley Tea.

There are a few tourist spots right on the main road with food and drinks served with spectacular scenery. After eating strawberry cheesecake with tea, Corey and I also walked down into the tea valley and explored that area. It was a steep and beautiful walk.

Hiking

CH has a network of “jungle trails” or “jungle walks,” each identified by a number. But they do not appear to be “official” trails, and they are neither well-marked nor well-maintained.

Some of these are marked on Google Maps, but we consistently found the “maps.me” app recommended for hiking the area. We agree with that recommendation, but would also emphasize finding recent information on trails. Trail conditions change frequently. Especially with the frequently rainy weather, trails could be washed out or too dangerous to traverse.

We attempted to hike Jungle Trail 10. We followed the directions listed in comments for the trail and still got confused. There are two places to pick up the trail and they are close by each other at the end of a residential street.

The trailhead we first encountered was an upward dirt path next to a landslide. It looked kind of like a road and the valley between the tracks was deep and filled with tall grass. The incline was fine but I was really worried about snakes in the tall grass. The locals told us that the trailhead was cleared out by someone looking to build a house, but the construction stopped due to a lack of a permit.

So we turned around and walked around the neighborhood when a nice lady noticed us and helped us find the other trail entrance. It involved sliding behind a chain link fence and walking through a garden and some bushes.

The lady said we would really need a walking stick to make it up and through the trail, and potentially also for warding off any wild dogs we may encounter! She also said that to get across the cleared construction site requires that hikers hold onto a rope so that they do not fall down the hillside!

The entrance started with deep steps dug into the hillside. We could not find good walking sticks lying around. It’s one item I wish we had packed on our global trip!

We stood there evaluating our options when another hiker walked up. She hemmed and hawed about the trail condition, decided to go for it, and then she literally injured herself on the first tall step! It looked like she pulled her calf. At that, we decided to opt out from this jungle trail. We hope that the solo hiker made it where she was hoping to go!

Instead, Corey and I headed back into town and went straight for a massage. It was in an old shop house. Definitely not a glamorous experience but it did the trick! I could hear both Corey and his therapist grunting next door as Corey received a “Chinese chiropractic” experience.

All Day Land Rover Tour

Cameron Highlands is best viewed from a Land Rover.

Land Rovers are lined up down small streets, set to carry tourists to all the hot spots around the Highlands. The tours basically all go to the same combination of places.

Our tour did not start out on the right foot. Be warned: these Land Rovers are a tight squeeze!

When we booked the tour (through a reseller), we were told that there would be six people, plus the driver. Instead, they squeeze eight passengers in the rear section, and one in the front. Add the driver and you have ten strangers packed into one vehicle!

Fortunately, we contacted the company, and after much back-and-forth on WhatsApp, we ended up booking a private tour for the following day. This was a much better idea!

Check out this reel on Insta to see what it looks like to drive around Cameron Highlands in a Land Rover

Our driver, Balla, picked us up in a Land Rover and we drove north to the famous BOH Tea Plantation. We stopped a few times to take in the stunning tea valley views.

Once we arrived at the plantation, we found a table near the window and enjoyed beautiful views while staying warm by sipping hot tea.

We then toured the area learning about the production and history of the facility.

Here’s a fun fact: 800,000 cups of tea are harvested everyday from BOH. That’s a lot of tea!

Our driver picked us up right on time and we piled into the back. We all thought about how nice it was to be able to stretch out our legs and not have to fight over foot room in a non-private tour.

We then drove up the mountain to Mossy Forest. This area will be on any list of CH attractions, and as it sounds, it is a forest area with a mossy floor. Going up the hills, the tea plantations gave way to trees. On arrival we walked to a viewpoint and could see the beautiful lowlands in the distance. With our greater elevation, we could also see the clouds rolling in to block the views!

Because the moss floor is so fragile, there is just one boardwalked walking path that everyone is directed to, which is also where the forest service collects the entrance fee. The officials had not opened the path so our driver gave us a short and informative walking tour from the road, pointing out flowers and fauna, and giving us botanical facts about the forest.

More and more Land Rovers arrived, and a large crowd of tourists formed at the path entrance. Eventually the gate opened, but with the crowds, and the clouds, and the additional charge, we decided we had seen enough of the Mossy Forest. We jumped back in the car and continued to our next point of interest: Butterflies!

We drove back down the hill and toward Brinchang, and arrived at the butterfly farm. We had just visited a butterfly farm in Kuala Lumpur but this was more like a large plant nursery that had butterflies and many other animals.

Our driver then took us to lunch. Dale and Linda ordered the same mee gorang (fried noodle) dish that we did. They ordered non-spicy and we ordered spicy, but both dishes came out basically the same: flavorful but not spicy! I have no photos of the dish so we will move on with the tour details.

After lunch we visited a strawberry farm. The cold climate of CH makes it a good place for strawberry farms. The farms we saw use raised beds where they grow the berries in cut-open soil bags. We had saved some room in our bellies for dessert, and the farm had many choices. There are also to-go items. My favorite was the dried strawberries, and we also picked up some jam.

We then toured the Time Travel Museum, a neat history museum filled with several rooms of antiques, memorabilia, and old photos. Corey had read reviews stating the the place was a waste of time but we really liked it! I could have spent about two hours examining old photos and letters and learning about the history of the area. We only had about thirty minutes to walk through so we felt a little rushed.

The tour concluded with a brief visit to the old Buddhist temple (that we had already visited on our self-guided walk). As we were showing Dale and Linda around, the skies opened up and the rain sent us scurrying back to the Land Rover.

Planning a Trip to CH

Overall, we would not make Cameron Highlands a top priority for a Malaysia itinerary. But if you still want to go, we suggest the following:

• stay 2-3 nights (longer is overkill)
• Fully research hotel and reviews for location, and especially for cleanliness!!
• Book an all day private tour (we used Discover Camerons)
• Read updated reviews for trails for location and walkability (look for recent posts on travel blogs)

Getting Out of Town

I booked a private van to take the four of us to Penang, Malaysia. Since I got quite carsick on the drive up the hills, I devised a plan for the ride down. Right before our driver showed up I drugged myself with Pepto Bismol and Benadryl, and I brought a bottle of Sprite with me. As the van twisted down the mountainsides, I was able to nap and not get carsick!

Once back on the main freeway, the drive to Penang took another 3-4 hours, and involved a very long bridge to get to the island. More to come from the city of Georgetown and the island of Penang!