Cameron Highlands: tea lover’s and hiker’s paradise

After my wonderful time in Ipoh, I went to the Cameron Highlands. This area is known for its tea plantation as well as strawberries and other produce. It is also a beloved hiking spot.

There are many places you can stay around the highlands, Tanah Rata is the town where the coach arrives and departs, so that might be a good spot to stay. I was only there for two full days, so I decided to take one of the day tours they offer for tourists. With RM80 (~€15,80 or ~$18,70) it is certainly not the cheapest thing. However, with this tour, you can visit all the famous spots in Cameron Highlands and also have a tour guide giving you information about places and things. As some of the must-see spots are to far away to hike or walk there and taxis or Grab are not really reliable in this area, it is the best way to go to these spots other than renting a motorbike or car.

The tour I took is called Highland’s Fullday Discovery. They pick you up at your hotel or hostel and there are up to eight people in one jeep. You visit a Buddhist Temple, a gallery of the highlands called Time Tunnel, where you can see the history of Cameron Highlands, Cactus Point, where you can buy cacti and other plants, you can visit the tea fields and then the BOH Tea Factory, where you can buy the delicious tea, you visitthe peak of Gunung Brinchang, the highest mountain of the highlands and there ypu can walk around the Mossy Forest, you visit a Butterfly and Reptile Farm and Raju’s Strawberry Farm as well as a local farmer’s market, although we skiped that as it was raining. If you like to get to know the area, I would recommend doing the tour. If you’re as lucky as me you will also get a competent and funny tour guide.

On my second day, I decided to go hiking. There are many trails to follow, so I chose one that was supposed to be easy. Well, the beginning certainly was, the middle and end, however, was not what I would consider easy. It was quite steep and some parts of the trail you had to climb through the jungle. I did get lost as well, as the trails a poorly marked, so if you go hiking there, be careful. By the end of my hike I was exhausted and because the map was slightly misleading, somewhere I was not supposed to end up. The trail literaly ended in a fruit farm. And it also happened to be about 14 kilometres away from Tanah Rata. I was incredibly lucky, that I found someone to hitch a ride back to town. Otherwise it would have been a long, long walk home. If you plan on going on a hike, here is a great website with all the information you’ll need on the trails and which ones you should only do with a local guide. I wish I knew about this website before I went on my hike.

Despite my little jungle adventure, I really enjoyed my time in Cameron Highlands and would go back there in a minute. Have you been to Cameron Highlands yet? Did you enjoy your time there? Would you like to go? Let me know in the comments.

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