Travel Log: Mountains of Malaysia via Cameron Highlands and Cameron Holiday Tours and Adventure Review

Cameron Highlands isn’t necessarily one of the most popular travel destinations in Southeast Asia, but it is certainly a unique one.  It is about a 1.5 hour drive from Ipoh and 4.5 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur so it isn’t easily accessible.  Be careful though because the last hour is a windy one! Cameron Highlands is known mostly for its tea plantations, strawberry farms, and breezy mountain views.  We visited for about three days and enjoyed the cool (60s F in the winter) weather and beautiful vistas.  I couldn’t imagine staying here for more than a few days, but am glad I visited (this is a nice place for nature lovers).  The hotels and/or furnished apartments can be anywhere from $20+/person and our meals were usually $3/person so it is also an affordable destination.Warning: Taxis do not commonly run past 9-10 pm so if you venture out, bring along the phone number of a driver. We ended up asking a nice local to help us ring a driver and another one even gave us a ride himself!

Cameron Holiday Tours and Adventure Review

We participated in a tour for 40 Rs, listed originally at 60 Rs (about $13) from Cameron Holidays Tours and Adventure, who I would not recommend.  The fast-talking tour operator fit 9 people in a Land rover from 1962 (including elderly people) and didn’t deliver on the guide (ours only spoke when he led us through the Mossy Forest and did nothing besides drive the rest of the way).  The main tourist strip is in Tanah Rata and has a number of tour operators so do a little research there first.

Tip: When you are selecting a tour company, talk to a few first, compare, and get terms and locations down in writing.  Negotiate price and/or locations visited because they always set a higher price expecting it to come down.

Here is my review of the main attractions in the area (in order of preference):
Tea Plantation (Boh Tea Plantation in our case)
This is one of the oldest tea plantations in the area (since 1929) and its largest producer of black tea.  Some tea plantations may charge admission, but Boh Tea plantation does not because it can make quite a bit of money from tea sales anyway.  I liked seeing the tea making process clearly laid out and the views were definitely worth it.  Try to spend more time to relax here if you can!

Brinchang Point and Mossy Forest Walk
This was an interesting walk through one of the highest points in the area and supposedly an inspiration for the scenery in Avatar.  A guide will walk with you for about 20 minutes.  Wear comfortable shoes with traction and pants that can be easily washed because it is wet and muddy in there!  Brinchang Point is another nice hike.  I enjoyed any chance to leisurely stroll and enjoy the crisp mountain air.

Brinchang Night Market
This is very local and very fun. My mom and future sister-in-law had a ball selecting fresh rambutans (thorny fruit that taste a little like longans), devouring freshly roasted chicken, and pointing and picking through a wide selection of other noodles and roast/fried vegetables (corn or yams).  It isn’t very clean and there aren’t many tourists, but I really enjoyed seeing how locals ate and lived.

Taman Rama Rama Butterfly Farm
We visited the butterfly farm, which was really more of a mini zoo.  The front section had dozens of butterflies (the guide will help place them on you for photos though we are not sure if the one on my hand got dirt or something worse all over me), but there are also everything from snakes, indigenous flowers, rabbits, and pigeons.  I actually enjoyed this because of the great interaction with the insects.  My brave future sister-in-law even posed with a snake!

EQ Strawberry Farm and Honeybee farm
Strawberry and honey paraphernalia is everywhere in Cameron Highlands.  However, a visit to the EQ strawberry farm was severely disappointing.  There is no admission and though we were told that we could pick strawberries as part of the tour, the pick your own strawberries section was closed.  All we could do was view strawberry plants for 50-100 feet behind a wire fence.  Skip it, or at least this location.
The honeybee farm was small and was located in a small garden with a few honeybee combs nestled in wooden structures.  While the fresh honey products looked interesting, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to come here.