Exploring the tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands

Due to the earthquake at Mount Kinabalu we had to cancel our trip and look for elsewhere to go. As it was last minute everything was either booked or very expensive so we ended up going to the Cameron highlands which were only a 1 hour flight away. We flew on Friday afternoon to Ipoh in Malaysia. The drive from Ipoh to the Cameron Highlands was meant to only take 1.5 hours but due to the public holiday –Hari Raja – the traffic going through the hill station towns was terrible. The first hour of the drive was beautiful with changing scenery. It only took a couple of minutes to get out of Ipoh and then we were driving past the limestone karsts and quarries. The scenery then got more and more steep and we wound around the mountains covered in dense jungle. Once we were at the top the mountains plateaued and the landscape turned into farmland with the jungle being ripped down and replaced by white poly tunnels growing fruit and veg. As we kept on driving we reached the first main town and that is where the traffic started. The town was packed as everyone was traveling to go to the night market. The hill station town consisted of hundreds of hotel. So of them concrete monstrosities. It was such a shame as it ruined the scenery. We finally drove through both towns and made it to our hotel the Cameron Highlands resort. The first thing we noticed when we got out the car was how cold it was compared to Ipoh. The hotel was located just outside the main town and was beautifully decorated.

Downstairs there was a library with open fireplace and restaurant. Next to the lobby was a lounge with a bar and billiards table and a pianist playing the piano and a Jim Thompson shop. The whole decoration was colonial and relaxed. We were led to our room which was on the first floor. Our room was huge with a four poster bed and sitting area and had a private balcony although it was a bit cold to sit outside. We hadn’t packed very well for the weather and I had forgot to bring a jumper and Rich had forgotten to bring trousers! We went downstairs for dinner to the main dining room and we were told that we were not able to sit in the main dining room as they had a strict trouser policy. The managed to set up a table for us in the adjoining private function room and we had a delicious meal of steak and red wine in our own private room. The next day we had a delicious breakfast and then went on our tour of the mossy forest and tea plantations. We were picked up on a minivan and taken to the highest point in the Cameron Highlands - Gunung Brinchang. We

drove up past the tea plantations to the watch tower where we climbed up and took photos of the amazing view. Afterwards we drove down the hill a kilometre and then got out and headed into the mossy forest. The mossy forest is a dense rainforest but because of the climate the trees, routes, branches are covered in moss. The path was damp and the air was moist. We clambered up and down the twisted pathways covered in roots and made our was back to the minivan. We then carried on driving back down the hill to the tea plantations. We were given a brief overview of the different techniques of picking tea leaves. The traditional way is to pick the leaves by hand but now they work in pairs and use a machine that chops of the tops leaves. We were able to walk through the tea plantations and take some more photos. We could see locals working in the fields. We then visited the BOH tea plantation museum. Our final stop was at the butterfly farm where along with butterflies they had different types of reptiles and snakes. We were put onto a large coach and ferried back to our hotel. Just as we made it back it started raining and didn’t stop until we left the next day. Luckily our hotel was fantastic so it was the perfect place to relax and unwind.