Jungle Trekking and Tea Plantations
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
87
141
Trip End
Ongoing
Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands),
Malaysia
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Cameron Highlands are located in north-central Malaysia at an altitude varying between 1300-1829 meters. It is a beautiful and green area, full of rolling hillsides and a few mountain peaks. Originally settled as a cool escape from the sweltering lowlands and capital city, the Cameron Highlands are dotted with tea plantations, vegetable farms, and strawberry fields throughout the hills. The climate is cool and wet - raining every evening, and sometimes during the day. Throughout the year, the temperature lingers between 10 and 21 Celcius - neither hot nor freezing. Perfect to explore and hike the nearby jungles, and sip a cup of tea from one of the many plantations!
We travelled here with our new friends, Lynn and Murray from Glascow (Scotland)
a river runs through it
. They were our next-door neighbors at our last destination, the Perhentian Islands. We took the speedboat (30 RM per person, about $9 USD) from Perhentian Kecil at 8am to the mainland. From there, we caught a private mini-bus for the 5 hour journey to the Cameron Highlands (45 PM per person, about $14 USD). There are several villages throughout the Cameron Highlands. We chose to stay in Tanah Rata, as it has the largest selection of hotels/restaurants/etc and is a good base for nearby hikes. We lucked out and stayed in a great hotel -- the Hillview Inn. Very clean and recently renovated. Frank and I got a private room with shared bath for 55 RM. A living room with TV and sofa was just outside our door, so it felt more like a house - quite comfortable! The hot water shower was a big plus. We highly recommend this hotel for you fellow travellers. If you're looking for something a little cheaper - then try Father's Guest House - we heard great reviews of it. Don't bother with Daniel's Hostel - it is a dump.
The Cameron Highlands has about 12 different hikes in the surrounding area - ranging from about 2 km to 10 km (my estimate based on the "map not drawn to scale"). Some of these hikes end up near tea plantations or other tourist sights.
Amazing Valley
There are many tour agencies in town offereing half- and full-day tours of the area to go to butterfly farms, strawberry farms, flower farms, the night market, visit a local tribe, jungle hiking, tour a tea plantation. The tour prices are fairly inexpensive - ranging from 20 to 80 RM (about $6 - $24 USD). We instead opted to use our two legs and the well-marked trail maps to visit the area. On the first day, the four of us (Murray, Lynn, Frank, and I) set out for Jungle Walk #9A, which goes by the Robinson Waterfall, through a portion of the jungle, and ends up by some vegetable farms. It is a fairly easy hike, though very slick and slippery from the rain - watch your foot! It ended up on a road that Lonely Planet claimed was an easy 45 minute walk to the Boh Tea Plantation. After walking for about 15 minutes up the steep and winding road, I flagged down a local farmer driving by. The four of us jumped in the back of his truck and he took us to the entrance of the Tea Plantation. On the way up, we passed by and picked up a couple we met at our hotel earlier - Till and Hazel from Germany. When the driver dropped us off at the entrance (about a 15 minute drive), we offered him some money in appreciation. He refused to accept it and was curious to know where we were from and how we liked his country. Another typically kind and generous Malaysian we would meet on our journey
another obstacle
!From the entrance, we walked about 45 minutes up a winding road up to the tea plantation gift shop, cafe and factory. The tea plant-covered hillsides are a beautiful sight to walk through! We relaxed in the cafe for a while, cheering ourselves for a good hike, and enjoying a pot of tea and pasteries. After a quick tour of the factory, they called a taxi for us and we made our way back to the hotel for a needed hot shower and nap. Naomi and Igor joined us for the taxi van back to town. They are a French couple travelling for a few months with their 8-month old girl Aiko.
That night, we dined at a restaurant called Restoran Kumar - a fantastic and cheap south Indian place. Freshly baked naan, tandoori chicken, lamb curry, strawberry lassi -- yum! All for about $2 USD per person. That night, we met up with Naomi, Igor, Aiko, Murray, and Lynn for a few pints of beer at the only bar in town.
The next day, we decided to tackle a more strenuous hike - Jungle Walk #1 which goes up to the tallest peak in the area. Gunung (which means "mountain") Brinchang stands at 2031 meters. We grabbed a taxi for 6 RM to takes us to the trail head in the next town, Brinchang
Falls all by itself
. From there, it was a super steep 2 hour climb uphill to the peak. I mean really steep -- we used the tree roots as a ladder for the full 3 km trek/climb. It was a lot of fun, very very muddy, and very rewarding. At the top of the mountain, there is a viewing tower you can climb up to see a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding hillsides. Except, being the highlands, it was mostly cloudy! We then took the main road back down. The sign indicated it was 10 kilometers down (though you can't always trust these signs!) the mountain, with several more uphills as well. The road took us out of the jungle, past a large strawberry farm, then through a massive tea plantation. It was a lovely walk, but we were exhausted after 2 hours down hill. I flagged down another local farmer who gave us a ride in the back of his pick-up truck down the hill and back to the main town of Brunching. We gave him 10 RM in appreciation - our feet were so thankful! Then we grabbed a taxi (4 RM) back to Tanah Rata and enjoyed another huge Indian meal at Kumar's restaurant.
That night it rained, rained, rained, so we stayed in and taught Murray and Lynn how to play the card game "Hearts".
We loved this area - it was really pretty and there are many more hikes to tackle. It would be very easy, and enjoyable, to stay here for another week or so! But we know we have more hikes in our near future, so we decided to save our energy and move on to our next destination - Teman Negara, a dense tropical jungle that the Malaysians claim is older than the Amazon!
The next morning, we caught a private minibus to transport us to Teman Negara (85 RM per person, about $25 USD.
Cheers,
Kay
