Malyasia is home to many beautiful places, tourist hotspots, and exciting nightlife. If you’re on your way from Singapore, you’ll probably stop in the historic town of Malacca on your way to Kuala Lumpur, the city of endless skyscrapers and architecture. Or maybe you’ve just spent a week in Penang and need some rest. For us, after following the tourist path, we were ready for break from the large crowds, and from the heat. So, we made our next stop in the Malaysian mountains, in the area known as the Cameron Highlands. Here’s why you should do it too.
Contents
Cooler Temperatures
If you need a break from the staggering heat of SE Asia, you’ll consistently find temperatures at least 10 degrees cooler in the Highlands. That means there were people walking around wearing puffy coats (huh? I said 10 degrees cooler, not 10 degrees). The rest of us just pulled out out our trusty sweatshirts and leggings to wear in the evenings.
A Break from the Crowds
As an introvert, I sometimes find the crowds of backpacker travel a challenge. Add the noise and chaos of the big city, and I need a break from time to time. We headquartered in Tanah Rata, because it is the home of the bus station that services the area. There are around 12,000 residents of Tanah Rata, one main highway, some evening marketplaces, and great food. Want to go even farther from the crowds? Look at the other CH towns: Ringlet, Habu (not much there), Bertam Valley, Brinchang, Tringkap, Kuala Terla and finally Kampung Raja.
Hiking
One of the things we were most excited about was getting into the hills for a little hiking. There is a system of around 13 numbered trails in the area, some longer than the others. Unfortunately, with the buildup of the area in recent years, and also to support the tour guide industry, some of the best trails have been shut down, or cannot be taken without a guide. Despite that, I still recommend coming to CH for a hike. One good hike that is still available is to follow the nearly 5 mile loop of Trail 3 to Trail 7, back down Trail 3 to Trail 4. I’m not an expert on the trails, and second the advice of TripSavvy to pick up a trail map before planning your treks.
If you want to be guaranteed a good hike, and better access to the tea plantations (did I mention those yet?), you might want to take a guide. Choose carefully, as the area is overwhelmed with guided hikes, and you want something that will give you a quality experience. We went on a 6 hour hike with Jason, the guide at Father’s Guest House. It was 80 RM each (Around $20 USD) for a full day of hiking and some good explanations of the jungle as well as the tea. We ended the hike in the Cameron Valley Tea plantation with exclusive access to walk through the rows of plants and get some amazing photos.
Tea
Cameron Highlands is famous for their tea plantations. The hills roll with green tea plants as far as the eye can see, giving plenty of opportunity for photos as well as the chance to drink some very good fresh tea. Did you know all the different types of tea come from the same plants? It just depends on which part of the leaves, the drying process, whether they ferment them or not, etc. So whether its on a hike or on a scooter, or car, get to one of the plantations. Our favorite was the Boh Tea Plantation near Habu. There are two Boh Plantations. This one is small and quiet, but you can get amazing views, especially if the sky is clear.
Where to Stay
If I’ve convinced you to go, you’ll have to figure out where to stay. Like I mentioned, you can stay in any of the local towns, but if you want to be nearest to the bus station and the majority of the tour companies, then Tanah Rata is the place. I highly recommend Father’s Guesthouse. The only negative is that they have no kitchen and their restaurant is currently not open. However, they have single and double private rooms for very reasonable prices, good common areas to play games or mingle with other travelers, rent scooters for just over $12 USD for a full day or less for half, and have some good tours (we did our shopping around). They are a few minutes walk off of the main road, and enough to feel like you’re not in the heart of everything, but still within easy access of all the restaurants and shops. If you’ve never used a referral to Booking.com and want to book Father’s Guesthouse or any other hotel and save $25, use my link here. But if they are booked or aren’t you style, there are numerous home available on AirBNB, hotels, and hostels all throughout the town.
Getting There
Unless you have your own car, you’ll be busing it to the Cameron Highlands. I’ll be honest, the bus was quite the experience. The trip from the south takes you on a narrow winding road that makes you glad you are not the one driving. Our bus driver actually handed out sick bags before the hills began, but I think he was being melodramatic. It was bad, but not that bad. If you’re coming from the north, you’ll take the bus either the entire way from Penang, or from Ipoh. This drive (which we took on our way north out of CH) was not nearly as exciting. I’d recommend booking your ticket through Redbus. They have complete schedule information and I couldn’t find a difference in price between them and the posted price at the bus terminal. For your bus out of Tanah Rata, you’ll be fine picking up your tickets at the station.
Final Word
I’m so glad that we decided to take the “detour” up to Cameron Highlands. It ended up being my favorite stop in Malaysia. We actually extended our time there, and I heard plenty of other travelers doing the same. As a note, sometimes its hard to find western breakfasts in SE Asian countries, especially early enough to eat before a tour or bus. We were pleasantly surprised by the options in Tanah Rata. There is a very good Indian food restaurant that opens its doors at 7am, Restoran Kumar, that will serve scrambled eggs, their amazing thin pancakes with fruit in them, coffee and white coffee, toast, etc. Come to think of it, they had some pretty great dinner food as well.
We hope you decide to check out the Highlands and if you do, let us know what you thought! Enjoy.
Sounds like the bus ride could be harrowing. Glad I don’t get carsick. Would love to see the tea plantations.
They were pretty incredible to see and we also learned a lot about the production of tea. I had no idea all of the different types of tea came from the same plant, just varying by the part of the plant/leaf and the production method. I’m glad you enjoyed the post!