Though officially surveyed in 1885 by Sir William Cameron, the Cameron Highlands was pretty much off the map until the 1930s when British officials, searching for a respite from the muggy Malaysian heat, began to settle down in these rolling hills where the mercury barely touches 30°C. Today, the tea plantations and strawberry farms of the Cameron Highlands are major tourist attractions in Peninsular Malaysia. Read on to find out the top things to do in the Cameron Highlands.
CAMERON HIGHLANDS / MALAYSIA
For just RM 35, you can hop onto a bus bound for Malaysia’s only hill station: the very Tudoresque Cameron Highlands. The district was originally surveyed by one William Cameron who had gone on a mapping expedition to draw the Pahang-Perak border in 1885. He was so impressed by the rolling hills and the pleasant climate that he spoke of it in glorious terms but it would only be after another expedition forty years later that the officers of British Malaya would start flocking to these hills. The tea plantations were started in the 1930s and soon English-style cottages and tea rooms began mushrooming along the stretch from Tanah Rata to Brinchang.
The Cameron Highlands is heaven for nature lovers for here in the ancient jungles that surround the little towns grows the world’s largest and stinkiest flower, the fleshy rafflesia. The forests are full of endemic orchids and a variety of moss, lichen, and ferns in the shadows of which live a multitude of insects, reptiles, and mammals. Besides tea plantations, the salubrious climate has led to a booming agribusiness. Strawberries, roses, lettuce, beans, and a host of other vegetables and fruits are farmed in greenhouses and hydroponic farms that hug the slopes. Along the main drag and hidden behind parking lots are clusters of Chinese restaurants that serve delicious steamboats and Hakka Chinese dishes. A steady stream of local tourists and international tourists from the neighbouring countries of Thailand and Singapore pours in year-round to escape the equatorial heat and this has translated into increased construction and deforestation in and around Brinchang.
There’s plenty to do in the Cameron Highlands and you’ll need at least two days here to see what the place offers. If you are into hardcore hiking, plan for more days. There are 14 well-marked trails that you can explore! So without much ado, here’s a list of 13 things to do in the Cameron Highlands.
Also read: Plan a trip to Malaysia with our guide: 2 weeks in Malaysia: A Complete Itinerary.
Top Things To Do in the Cameron Highlands
- Best Thing to do in the Cameron Highlands: Go on a Sunrise Tour
- Visit the Tea Plantations
- Summit Mt. Brinchang
- Go Chasing Secret Waterfalls
- Hike in the Mossy Forest
- Shop for Produce at the Kea Farm
- Offbeat Things to do in the Cameron Highlands: Spend a night at Jim Thompson’s Bungalow
- Tour a Strawberry Farm
- Visit the Time Tunnel Museum
- Visit the Mah Meri Art Gallery
- Indulge in High Tea
- Things to do in the Cameron Highlands for Foodies: Enjoy a Steamboat Dinner
Best Thing to do in the Cameron Highlands: Go on a Sunrise Tour
Our top thing to do in the Cameron Highlands is to watch the sunrise over the green hills! Not many things can beat the beauty of watching the sun rise over the rolling tea gardens of the Cameron Highlands. You’ll have to sign up for the tour with DS Tours and Travels or with Cameron Highland Secrets; they will pick you up around 5 am from your hotel and drive you to a vantage point into the mountains from where you can, like Tithonus, watch Aurora emerge on her gorgeous chariot. The scenery is magnificent— the golden glow of the sun suffusing over the dark tea plantations, the night sky breaking into pink, then gold, the contours of the land slowly becoming visible— and even if you are a late riser, set your alarms and don’t miss this experience.
Visit the Tea Plantations
The Cameron Highlands is at the heart of the Malaysian tea industry. Established by Europeans who found the weather salubrious and conducive to tea cultivation, Cameron Highlands continues to produce almost all the tea in this part of the world. Both the major plantations, Bharat Tea owned by an Indian-origin businessman, and BOH (Best of Highlands) Tea owned by a Scottish family, offer tours and tea-tasting opportunities. The tea room at BOH offers breathtaking views of the rolling tea plantations; on the menu are a variety of cakes and pastries, including desserts made with fresh strawberries, and a selection of teas. Visiting the tea plantations is definitely one of the top things to do in the Cameron Highlands!
While the process has become more mechanized and workers are entitled to better benefits, the price of collecting a kilo of tea leaves has increased marginally from 7 sen to 25 sen post-independence. Increasing costs of living mean that over the decades, production has fallen as more and more workers immigrate to urban centres for better opportunities. The original Hakka Chinese who migrated from China to work in these plantations are mostly gone. Today the workforce is dominated by seasonal immigrants from Bangladesh and other SE Asian countries. Community-based tourism can help these families and while there are efforts to educate tourists about the hardship plantation workers face, a lot more can be done to improve the economy at the grassroots level.
Summit Mt. Brinchang
If you are an experienced trekker, summit the highest peak in the Cameron Highlands, the 2031 m tall Mt. Brinchang. Trail #1 goes starts from Brinchang town and traverses some of Malaysia’s oldest rainforest tracts to the top of Gunung Brinchang. Due to the altitude and the tropical climate, the trails are rarely dry so be prepared to slosh along muddy trails. The damp, cloudy forests are home to endemic orchids, ferns, fungi, moss, and lichen. Due to the fog, you might not be able to glimpse the surrounding mountainside from the summit, but this tropical trek is a one-of-a-kind experience. For details on hiking in the Cameron Highlands, read this.
Go Chasing Secret Waterfalls
There is no dearth of secret waterfalls in the Cameron Highlands! A dozen colour-coded trails zig-zag through the ancient jungles that surround the settlements of Tanah Rata and Brinchang. Near Tanah Rata, there are Parit Falls and Robinson Falls but due to torrential rainfall that is common here, parts of the trails often get washed away. Enquire beforehand at your accommodation before you set off on a hiking adventure and always let your hosts know where you are headed.
PS: If you’re up for some rafflesia spotting, hire a naturalist/guide and head into these damp forests.
Hike in the Mossy Forest
Perpetually damp and blustery, Cameron Highland’s mossy forest is a unique ecosystem home to a wide variety of orchids, lichens, moss, ferns, and old-growth trees. A hike in these jungles is surely one of the best things to do in the Cameron Highlands. Due to the elevation, the mossy forest is almost always blanketed in swirling low-lying clouds which lends it an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. A host of birds, reptiles, and insects inhabit these forests. A 2 km boardwalk winds its way through the trees; on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mt. Brinchang from the watchtowers. The trek to Mt. Brinchang passes through this forest; if you intend to trek, ensure that you get your permit from the ranger. Wear shoes with a good grip as the boardwalk can be slippery.
Also read: Wondering where to go next? How about Ipoh? See Top Things To Do In Ipoh to find out more.
Shop for Produce at the Kea Farm
At the Kea Farm, an agricultural district 3 km north of Brinchang, you can fill your bags with the freshest produce. The open-air market has an unbeatable stock of juicy strawberries, salad greens, golden ears of corn, fresh mushrooms, and a mélange of locally grown flowers. Check for bouquets of roses and local lavender and while you are there, stop by at the Rose Centre, the Butterfly Farm, and the Ee Fung Gu Bee Farm.
Offbeat Things to do in the Cameron Highlands: Spend a night at Jim Thompson’s Bungalow
Jim Thompson, the man who single-handedly saved the Thai silk industry from extinction, disappeared on Easter Sunday in 1967 from trail #4 near Brinchang. Years of searching coughed up no clues, instead leading to a wildfire of conspiracy theories. Some say he was killed by communist agents; others say he was mauled by a tiger but to this day, his death remains a mystery. You can stay at the Moonlight Bungalow, located above the golf course, where Thompson spent his last night and perhaps work your detective skills to solve this impenetrable mystery! Definitely one of the more unique things to do in the Cameron Highlands!
Tour a Strawberry Farm
The climate here is great for growing strawberries and all along the way, in every stall, you can find plump, red strawberries just off the vines! For a tour, drop in at Raju’s Hill Strawberry Farm or at the Big Red Strawberry Farm in Brinchang. At the Big Red, they use hydroponic farming and besides strawberries, you can see a host of salad greens, lettuces, and flowers. There’s a gift shop and a café that serves a selection of dishes all having strawberries in some form or the other. From strawberry-filled samosas to scones with strawberry jam and luscious scoops of strawberry ice cream on fluffy pancakes, there’s something for everyone. You can also opt for a strawberry picking experience; enquire about the rules and rates.
Also read: George Town, Penang is a must-stop on your trip to Malaysia. See 3 Days In George Town, Penang: Street Art, Mansions, & Mouth-watering Food for an itinerary.
Visit the Time Tunnel Museum
The eight galleries in the Time Tunnel Museum offer quite a lot of insight into the history of the Cameron Highlands. Founded by See Kok Shan, the museum with over 4000 relics is said to be Malaysia’s first memorabilia museum. Expect to see lots of kitsch, vintage photographs and prints, posters, signage, and curios. Also, on display is a selection of artefacts used by the Orang Asli people.
Visit the Mah Meri Art Gallery
Brinchang’s Mah Meri Art Gallery houses a selection of some 300 masks carved from mangrove hardwood by the Mah Meri indigenous people of Selangor. The guided tour of the gallery offers historical and cultural insight into the lives of the Mah Meri. Tickets to the private collection are priced at RM 37 but if you can afford them, you will definitely feel enriched by the experience.
Indulge in High Tea
Indulging in high tea is always one of the top things to do in the Cameron Highlands! Don’t miss your chance to indulge in an English-style high tea while you are in the Cameron Highlands. The Smokehouse Hotel, Cameron Valley Tea House 1, and Jim Thompson Tea Room serve an excellent spread complete with fresh scones and clotted cream, muffins, strawberry jam, cucumber sandwiches, and local tea.
Things to do in the Cameron Highlands for Foodies: Enjoy a Steamboat Dinner
A cool clime calls for hot soup and perhaps that’s why steamboat options abound in eateries in the Cameron Highlands! In Brinchang, there’s OK Tuck, Cameron Organic Produce Steamboat, and You Hoo Seafood Restaurant, each with its signature soup base and a spread of local produce, seafood, tofu, and sliced and cubed meat. In Tanah Rata, locals swear by the Mayflower where besides digging into your piping hot seafood steamboat— here the specialities are the tom yum and a Chinese herbal soup— you can also order a mean tongue-numbing chilli pork and some oily, spicy fried mee hoon noodles. A steamboat dinner is undoubtedly one of the best things to do in the Cameron Highlands!
What are your favourite things to do in the Cameron Highlands?
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