MALAYSIA
PENINSULAR MALAYSIA – WEST COAST •• Cameron Highlands lonelyplanet.comRooms are musty but there’s a nice mangrove-
fringed beach and a pool. Camping gets you
access to the amenities and includes a tent,
floor mat and kerosene lantern.Getting There & Around
Hourly buses depart for Seremban (RM4, one
hour), from where you can get connections to
KL, Melaka and beyond.
All buses arrive in Port Dickson town from
where local buses (RM1) run about every hour
and will drop you off anywhere along the
beach. Ubiquitous share taxis are more relia-
ble and cost RM2 for the first few kilometres –
expect to pay RM5 to RM15 to get from Port
Dickson Town to your hotel.CAMERON HIGHLANDS
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If you’ve been sweating through jungles and
beaches for weeks and another sticky day
will make your clothes unwearable, we grant
you a reprieve: the Cameron Highlands. This
alpine-scape of blue peaks, green humps,
fuzzy tea plantations and white waterfalls has
a temperature that rarely drops below 10°C or
climbs above 21°C. Trekking, tea tasting and
visiting local agro-tourism sites are all on the
to-do list; you can also meet other backpack-
ers, as this is one of the major nodes on the
banana-pancake trail.
Unfortunately, development, erosion and
poorly planned agriculture have taken their
toll on the highlands, and landslips and floods
have been the environmental by-product.
Tourists are the backbone of the economy in
this part of the country, and their purchas-
ing power will have a huge impact on what
the Cameron Highlands eventually becomes:
blighted blockhouses scarring the hills, or
the cultivated, beautiful heart of the upland
Malaysian peninsula.Orientation & Information
The Cameron Highlands stretches along
the road from the town of Ringlet, through
to the main highland towns of Tanah Rata,
Brinchang and beyond to smaller villages in
the northeast.
Tanah Rata is the main highland town
for budget accommodation and other es-
sentials. Most guest houses offer internet ac-
cess for around RM5 an hour. See p532 for
volunteer opportunities.
Maybank (Pesiaran Camellia 4)Tourist Information Centre (%519 7246; mctic@
tm.net.my; off Jln Dayang Endah; h8.30am-12.30pm
& 1.30-5pm Mon-Fri, 8.30am-2pm Sat) Very helpful with
maps and trail information.Sights & Activities
Taking in a jungle stroll is often the best way
to reach some of the area’s other tourist attrac-
tions. Most walks and sights can be accessed
by the local bus, a rattler that chugs up and
down the main highway.
Visiting one of the tea plantations is a must.
The rolling hills are carpeted with hectares
of green and occasionally speckled with tea
pickers wading between the rows, snipping
the tender green tips. Sungai Palas Boh Tea Estate
(Gunung Brinchang Rd, Brinchang; admission free; h9am-
4.30pm Tue-Sun) is the easiest plantation to visit
on your own. Tours are free and the tea rooms
out the back offer grand vistas. Take the local
bus north from the main (Tanah Rata) bus
station, past Brinchang towards Kampung
Raja. In between is a tourist strip of straw-
berry and butterfly farms; hop off the bus at
the roadside vegetable stalls and follow the
intersecting road.
Boh Tea Estate (Boh Rd Habu, Ringlet; admission free;
htours hourly 10am-3.30pm) below Tanah Rata,
8km from the main road, is also open to the
public. It’s only a 45-minute walk from the
end of jungle Trail 9A, which you can pick
up outside Tanah Rata.
Sam Poh Temple (Brinchang; admission by donation) is
a typically Chinese kaleidoscope of Buddha
statues, stone lions and incense burners. It’s
accessible from Tanah Rata – take Trail 3, near
the golf course, and then connect to Trail 2.
When you head out on a trail, go in pairs
and take lots of drinking water and rain
gear. Check with the Tourist Information
Centre about the state of the trails and rec-
ommended walks. Guest houses in Tanah
Rata often employ informal guides who lead
daily walks. Inexperienced walkers are ad-
vised to employ a guide on the longer trails;
in recent years, several people have become
lost. Single women have also been attacked
in remote areas.
Tour operators in Tanah Rata offer a va-
riety of day trips that include visits to a tea
plantation, strawberry farm, flower and cactus
nursery, honey farm and butterfly farm for
around RM25 per person. Tours operating
out of Father’s Guest House include a good
jungle-flora trip perfect for plant nerds.456