We Made it to the Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands has always been on our list as a place to visit.

Ipoh to Cameron Highlands

To get from Ipoh to the Cameron Highlands, we needed to catch a bus from Ipoh’s main bus terminal – Aman Jaya.

Our research told us that the weekends were a particularly crazy time in the Camerons.  Unfortunately for us we were travelling there on a Saturday so we were prepared for some weekend madness.

There were plenty of options for bus travel so we didn’t worry about pre-booking our bus tickets.  We also figured that there would be more people coming out of the Camerons than going.  It is a very popular weekend destination for locals.  Even for a day trip to get their weekly veges and strawberries (famous in the Camerons).

We ordered our GrabTaxi and travelled to the main bus terminal in Ipoh (around a 20 minute drive).

As soon as we walked in, there were small ticket offices all in rows and they are all yelling at you to get your business.  A little overwhelming at first.  

We’d done our homework thank goodness so knew what time we wanted to depart and how much we should be paying.  It was just a matter of finding one that matched.  Thankfully it was pretty much the first counter we came to.  All the boxes ticked, we purchased two tickets and were directed to an area to wait for the call to board.

The bus trip takes 1.5-2 hours depending on traffic.  The tickets cost us 40MYR ($13nz) for two tickets.

We were treated to spectacular scenery as we seemed to be endlessly meandering uphill the entire trip.  The bus was in good condition and comfy seats and a very competent driver.  I’m not too sure how people would cope who may suffer from motion sickness as the roads were extremely windy.

There are three settlements in the Cameron Highlands.  The first one you arrive at in the bus is Ringlet, Brinchang then Tanah Rata (where the bus finishes the journey).  

As soon as we got close to Brinchang, the traffic started to build. It soon became clear as to why we read so much about how the Cameron’s are crazy over the weekends.  We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.  There was literally people everywhere.

Tourists and locals alike were queued up at all the venues that the Cameron’s are famous for.  Strawberries, tea plantations, fruit and vegetables.

Accommodation

We usually like to book at least two nights accommodation before arriving at a destination.  Looking on all the booking sites, it was clear that Saturday night was going to be an expensive stay.  The rest of the week, the prices dropped right off to less than half.

Because of this, we decided to ‘wing it’ – suck it and see, and hopefully we could secure 4 nights at a good price.

We had heard good things about Hillview Inn and decided to head to there first.  We were worried about vacancies as the town seem to be heaving.  

It was around a 800m walk up to Hillview Inn.  After a conversation with the owner at the front desk, it appeared we were in luck. We secured the last available room. The downside was that although we had our own shower and toilet room, it was way down the other end of the corridor……huh?  Never had that before!  

Well the room did only cost us 99MYR ($32nz) for the night – which was a lot better than some of the prices we had been researching.  It was only going to be for one night and then she assured me that a better room will be available for the rest of our stay.

Sure enough, we managed to get a room on the top floor with a balcony and a bathroom inside our room……bonus!  We paid 120MYR  ($39nz) for the bigger and better room so we were happy to pay the extra.

What’s the Cameron Highlands all About

I don’t like my blogs to sound like a Wikipedia page so if you want to know all about the history and details of the Cameron Highlands, click here.

We really wanted to visit this area to see what all the hype was about.  Coming from NZ, we have been missing the cooler climate (yes, even me who doesn’t do the cold very well).  We have been travelling for 6 months and not once have I had to wear the thin sweatshirt I have been lugging about all these months.

As soon as we hopped off the bus, we could instantly feel the thinner air and the crispness.  Although not as cold as NZ in the winter, it felt more like an autumn day with the cooler nights.

Walking Tracks

Now you probably know by now that we love to walk.

Tanah Rata is the main town centre and there are 13 different walking tracks you can take, but some have been closed so in reality about 10 tracks,  all starting within the town at some point.  They all vary in length and many join up with others.  As usual, we did our research on the level of difficulty and any other comments other travellers had made regarding the state of them.

We could easily locate the tracks on MapsMe so weren’t too concerned that we didn’t have a paper map to follow.

We decided that Track 10 had the best write up so set off to see what it was all about.  It was a pretty tough climb up hill.  Thanks to some rainfall overnight, the track was quite muddy so extra care had to be taken.  It took us a good 45 minutes of climbing to reach the top.  We hiked around 10kms in total for the day.

The track reminded us so much of the trails we have done back home in NZ.  The trees and foliage was felt very familiar as well as we wound our way up to the top of a rather large hill.

We were rewarded at the top with some pretty spectacular views across the stunning rainforests that make up the Cameron Highlands.

There is a downside to the beauty of the area though.  Many parts of the tracks were in a bad state of repair.  It seems that the local authorities do not think that the upkeep of these tracks are a very high priority.  Some of the adjoining tracks to Track 4 had been closed due to slips and hadn’t been repaired.  Parts of the track we were on were quite dangerous with no signage or warnings so we had to keep our wits about us and watch our step all the time.

The next day we set off to explore Track 9.  We had heard warnings that tourists should not walk this track on their own and that there was safety in numbers.  Seems that there had been some incidents of mugging in the recent months, particularly solo female tourists.  I figured that they might not be so keen to take on a couple of burly kiwis. 

Keeping this in mind, we kept alert as we started out on the track.  It seemed that it wasn’t so much the local lads we encountered but a rather gnarly and large German Shepherd.  His demeanor and body language indicated to us that he was not prepared to let us pass his part of the track.  After a bit of a stand-off, guess who won.  We turned back and decided that fate was telling us that Track 9 will remain unexplored.

We managed to complete 2-3 more of the local tracks, covering quite a few kilometres as each track joined into another one.  It was great that they are all so close to town and easily accessible.  

Tourists for the Day

As much as we try to avoid ‘guided tours’, sometimes you just have to admit that it is the best way to tick some attractions off the list. The venues we wanted to visit were too far out to walk and we weren’t keen to rent a scooter so we researched which company had the best reputation and itinerary that suited us.

There are a lot of attractions to see but not all of them were on our list.  Our accommodation had various itineraries to choose from with one company but we decided to book with a different company called Discover Camerons.

They offered a half day tour for 100MYR ($32) for two of us – including a pick up from accommodation.

Mossy Forest

The Mossy Forest is situated 2032m above sea level near the top of Gunung Brinchang (the highest mountain).  The low level of clouds cover the forest with constant mist and moisture creating plenty of moss, orchids, ferns and medicinal plants not normally found in Malaysia.

BOH Tea Plantation

The BOH Tea Plantation is one of the oldest and biggest plantations in the area.  BOH Plantations was founded in 1929 by J.A. Russel, a British businessman during the British colonial era in Malaya

BOH Plantations owns three tea gardens.  The rows and rows of tea bushes resembles the rice paddy fields in Vietnam.  Terraced tracks makes for a gorgeous view.  We learnt all about the tea industry, viewed a tea factory in production and there was an opportunity for a cuppa in the very spacious and new cafe.  As the queue stretched out the door, we decided to miss out on the cuppa tea and opted to wander the around the hills, through the tea bushes back to our waiting 4×4.

Strawberry Farms

You can’t help but notice the acres and acres of plastic houses when driving into the Camerons.  They are built on all sorts of angles, slants and diagonals.  If there is spare patch of ground then you would expect a plastic house to be on it.

Because of the climate, the Cameron Highlands is excellent for year-round strawberry growing and has encouraged many farmers to grow this fruit.

Strawberry production is such a big business here, the Camerons have associated themselves very closely with this fruit.  You can find hotels named after it, clothes with strawberry prints, strawberry toys, souvenirs, pillows, jam, ice cream and a large range of Malay food infused with it.

Unlike the strawberries in NZ, they are not as big or sweet as what’s available there.  The craze for everything strawberry seems to only apply to local tourists or those who do not get to see this fruit grown in a large scale.

We stopped off at one of these well established farms and the group wandered around the hydroponic plastic house and got talked into buying the strawberry smoothies and juices.  We had a taste of a strawberry and decided that it just wasn’t worth partaking in the hype (must have been spoilt with our juicy Christmas fruit at home!).

Summary

The Pro’s

The best part of visiting the Camerons was the cool and refreshing climate.  We have been travelling for 6 months and have been immersed in tropical sticky heat of SE Asia for all of this time.  It was a pleasure to be able to wander for kilometres without being drenched in sweat from the minute you walk out the door.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed walking the tracks and experiencing time wandering in the oldest rainforests in the world (even older than the Amazon Rainforests!).

The vibe of the town of Tanah Rata is laid back and quite relaxing.  There is a strong Indian population and the food is divine.

The Con’s

Try to avoid visiting in the weekends.  Friday to Sunday sees the numbers swell as tourists take to the Camerons for a weekend’s escape destination.  We even met a couple who had flown up from Singapore for the weekend.

Like so many places we have visited in SE Asia, the area is undergoing massive development.  Unfortunately, not in a good way.  Ugly huge highrise resorts are being erected and they are dominating the area.  Astonishingly enough the rainforests are not protected so one can’t help but feel that they will be destroyed in the name of progress.

The local authorities have the psyche that ‘if you build them, the people will come’.  Well, they are not coming to see resort city, they are coming to see the very thing that they are destroying.

Investment into the infrastructure is sadly lacking.  I mentioned earlier about the poor condition of some of the walking tracks.  They just don’t seem to understand that this is one of the very reasons why tourists come.  They should be doing their best to preserve the rainforests.  The walking tracks are a huge drawcard.  Money and time spent on track maintenance and signage would mean tourists would feel safe and confident about walking them.

One of the tracks we took lead us to a waterfall.  It was heartbreaking to see a large amount of rubbish had gathered at the base of the waterfall.  This had obviously drifted down from upstream.  Ironically it was very close to a large Ranger Station and Nature Information Office.  I couldn’t see a great deal of activity from the staff,  even saw a guy with a weedeater cutting some already very short grass.  How about organising a team to get the rubbish out of the river??

If you are planning a trip to the Cameron Highlands, I would recommend that you visit sooner rather than later.  Once these natural assests are gone they are gone forever.  My only hope is that the local authorities will wake up to this before it’s too late.

Click on the video below for the highlights of our visit.