Things to do in Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands is a place you either love or hate. For those who love it, like me, it is an idyllic place to relax and unwind. People who like exciting, happening venues will find Cameron Highlands boring without the hectic, hustle and bustle that a city offers. The locals are mainly farmers and the entire town is asleep by 10.00 pm or earlier. Once, we took a walk at 10pm and the main road was empty of cars and all the shops are shuttered. Compare that to Kuala Lumpur where I'm from, there are still quite a few cars out on the road at the wee hours of 3.00 am and small groups of people dining and chatting at the 24-hour mamak (Indian-Muslim) eateries.

That said, there is plenty to do in Cameron Highlands. Things that you can't do in a fast-paced city. My list is in the order of my personal preference. Yours may be different.

First on my list is be a "farmer". There are farms that let the customers pluck the vegetables and fruits themselves. Ask for a basket and scissors. You're not allowed to pluck the vegetables or fruits with your bare hand for that will damage the plant or tree. 

Since I'm not a shutter-bug by nature, I did not take pictures of all the vegetables and fruits that I had plucked. There is a hybrid fruit called Cameron Highlands Apples whose pictures I took and covered in another post here. 

Cherry tomatoes

My haul

Chili peppers

There are quite a few strawberry farms where you could pick your own strawberries. But be warned that the strawberries in Cameron Highlands are not the big, sweet, juicy ones you're used to in countries with four seasons like the UK or Seoul. They're smaller in size, and some could be rather sour. Sour as in sharp, not sweet and slightly tart. I had to smother them with whipped cream before I could enjoy them.

Second on my list is eating all the scones my stomach could handle! While scones are available in Kuala Lumpur, they are the American version, dry and dense, which some Americans, by the way, called "biscuits". They're eaten on  their own or with gravy. The scones in Britain are soft and fluffy, and eaten with jam and clotted cream. You can get these at Cameronian Inn, Tanah Rata. The ones at Copthorne Hotel are the American version. 

These are the scones I like, the British version

Trivia: How you eat your scones in the UK can tell where you are from. In Cornwall, London, Bournemouth and Isle of Wight, the jam comes first, then the cream. In Devonshire, the cream comes first, then the jam. How does the Queen eat it? Jam first, then cream. How do I eat it? Same as the Queen, of course! Not because I emulated the Queen, but because I had lived in Bournemouth and London for some years.

Third on my list is to just walk aimlessly around, admiring the flora and fauna, and tea plantations. Since Cameron Highlands is cooler, between 16 degrees Celcius on rainy days and 24 degrees on bright sunny days, cooler climate flowers like roses, lilies, sunflowers and birds of paradise thrive here. 

Birds of paradise are quite a common sight in Cameron Highlands

Thunbegia Mysorensis aka Lady's Slippers

Lilies are common in Cameron Highlands too. Tiger lilies, trumpet lilies and striped barbados lilies. Below is a Striped Barbados Lily.

There is a Rose Valley at Tringkap, near Brinchang, which houses hundreds of rose species and cacti. Do drop in if you are a plant or flower enthusiast like me. On the day I visited, there was a sudden rainstorm just after I paid the entrance fee (RM5 / USD1.12). The ticket wasn't refundable so I had no choice but to step inside and get drenched. Still, it was enjoyable, especially when I saw a black rose. No photos were taken as I didn't want to risk damaging my phone.

I've tried persuading my hubby to go again through the years but he wasn't keen. He finds plants and flowers boring.

One of the tea plantations

If you like looking at things in the past, there is a Time Tunnel that you might want to visit. It's a museum in Brinchang. There are lots of memorabilia and junk to ogle over. There was one particular pinned laminated note that caught my attention'. 

It seems there was an unusual weather occurrence on a certain day in the early 1960s. A gentleman claimed that snow fell in a small area at Parit Waterfalls for forty-five minutes. It does NOT snow in Malaysia. If it did, it was an anomaly. That was why the photo and note below fascinated me enough to take a picture of it.

Related Topics:

Where To Stay in Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands Apples

Resources:

Cameron Highlands Travel Guide

Where to Stay in Cameron Highlands

[Updated - a newer hotel, Avillion, was added in]

One of my favourite local holiday destination is Cameron Highlands. I've been to Cameron Highlands so many times that I could be a tour guide for Cameron Highlands if I had wanted to. And with each trip, comes a post or two in this blog.

Looking back on all the different posts on Cameron Highlands, with many of them covering more or less the same hotels and the same activities - I'm a creature of habit and tend to stay at hotels which I'm familiar with - I've decided to amalgamate all the posts into two posts, where to stay and what to do.

Most people choose to stay at either Tanah Rata, the lower ground near the town centre, or Brinchang on the higher ground. Some may choose to stay at Ringlet if a golf course is what they're after. This post will cover four hotels, two at Brinchang and  two at Tanah Rata. 

Brinchang is sometimes 2°C cooler than Tanah Rata. It's also closer to the farms where you could pick (read: harvest) your own strawberries and vegetables. There are quite a few restaurants and cafes at Brinchang but you'll have to drive. Or, you can choose to eat at the hotels.

Tanah Rata is more convenient in that the cafes and restaurants are within walking distance of the hotels. It's also closer to Robinson Falls, where a number of jungle trails begin.

That said, Brinchang has its merits. There are strawberry farms, cherry tomato farms and other fruit and vegetable farms where you pick the crop yourself and you'll charged by the weight of what you had harvested.

There are two hotels that are my personal favourite in Brinchang. Copthorne, for its proximity to the street market where a large selection of fresh vegetables and fruits are sold. 

And Casa dela Rosa for its reminiscence to The Outlook Hotel in Stephen King's Shining. 

The corridor - do you hear "Wendy, I'm home!" or, "Knock, Knock, who's there? Here's Johnny!". Too bad hubby opened the door that led to the gardens just as I snapped the picture. The overall impression was lost a bit.

The room is rather sparsely decorated, not like what you would expect from a hotel, but it has a nice garden for guests to lounge around in.

The garden

The room

At Tanah Rata, my preferred accommodation is Century Pines Resort and Avillion. Century Pines is decades older than Avillion, but it has a charming garden which Avillion does not have.

This entrance is at the old wing. The new wing is not visible from the entrance.

View from the entrance

The rooms at the new wing

It is situated off the main road, so there is peace and quiet. Rows of shops and cafes are just  five to ten minutes' walk from Century Pines Resort. There're western food, fast food, South Indian food, Chinese food and fusion food.

Avillion, on the other hand, is located above a shopping complex. While it lacked a charming garden, it made up for with spacious rooms and an absolutely delectable complimentary breakfast buffet spread. My only gripe about Avillion is that I had to walk through the shopping complex from the car park to the hotel.

The room

The restaurant where the complimentary breakfast buffet spread was 

A hotel staff making an omelette for me - it's made fresh to order

Cafes and restaurants are all within walking distance. I would recommend staying at Tanah Rata if food convenience is a priority and you don't drive or didn't rent a car. The interstate bus terminal is located at Tanah Rata, across The Lord's Cafe, though I'm not sure if it's still opened now. The last time we were there, it was closed. Perhaps there was a church event that day.

Related posts:

Cameron Highlands Apples

Things To Do In Cameron Highlands

Resources:

Cameron Highlands Travel Guide

Cameron Highlands Apples

My first thought when I walked into a farm at Brinchang, Cameron Highlands and saw those plants was "What are these? Eggplants??" I wasn't alone in thinking that. A woman very authoritatively told her husband and kids that those were definitely eggplants. However, I wasn't as one hundred percent sure as she was. And hubby was certain those were not eggplants. So I went and asked one of the farmhands. He said those were apples. Apples?? Yes, Cameron Highlands' very own apples. Are they sour or sweet? Sweet. They taste like honeydew. Ohhh.....

The farmhand said all the ripe ones had been plucked. Being someone who love to try new things, I didn't want to go home without getting some. After badgering him, the farmhand said if I saw any that was yellow with red stripes, I could pluck those. But I'd have to keep them in room temperature for about two days for them to completely ripen, otherwise they won't taste good.

Ready to be plucked, and should ripen in two days

We only managed to find six apples that could be plucked. I guess there must have been a lot of tourists that visited during the May 1st holiday, as this is not the peak season. 

Today, three of the "apples" ripened and they exuded a rich honeydew smell. After chilling them in the fridge for a few hours, we sank our teeth into them. And....they were wonderful. Very juicy, juicier than regular honeydew, and sweet, those apples taste exactly like honeydew. The skin was a little funny, though. Felt like plastic. I couldn't peel them with a peeler, but after I had cut them, I could peel it off by pulling at the edge and dragging it off in one neat tug. A hybrid??

The "apples" were very juicy and sweet

Related posts:

Where To Stay in Cameron Highlands

Things To Do In Cameron Highlands

Resources:

Cameron Highlands Travel Guide