If you are a big fan of the green colors of mountains, hills and forests, the Cameron Higlands might be the perfect place to visit. It is the most beautiful spot I visited on the mainland of Malaysia and it is a cheap destination to travel to. It is easy to reach since there is a direct bus from Kuala Lumpur going to this little paradise.. A must visit!
The best towns to stay in are Tanah Rata and Brinchang. I decided to stay in a dormitory of a low budget but social hostel called Orchids heaven located in Tanah Ratah. The hostel has a nice common room where you easily meet some awesome people, perfectly fine for a solo traveler like me. The town is small but close to all the must visits. An not unimportant.. This town has a great Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisine to explore!
The Cameron Highlands are mostly known for it's tea production. With it's 1.200 hectares of tea fields of tea plants called Camellia sinensis is it the most tea producing area of Malaysia and maybe the place with the most beautiful views what attracts plenty of tourists. The best way to come here for a low budget traveler is hitchhiking. It is very common in this area so I guess you will find a ride within 5 minutes and it feels more adventurous than doing a tour. But for the less adventurous tourist are there tours available as well.
The tea production is started in the colonial past by the British who conquered Malaysia and it is for England the reason why they are famous for their ''english tea''. The British made a road and developed the ground to make it suited to plant hundreds of teaplants. The plantation became bigger and bigger to what it is today.
The tealeaves
When the leaves are ready to harvest, the employees cut the leaves with a machine and put them in big bags. In the fabric they will make 3 main types of teas, ranked on oxidation. How more oxidation, how darker the leaves will turn, the more caffein the leaves contain and the less nutrients they contain. Black tea is the most oxidate tea and white tea the least. Green tea is in the middle of the two. That makes white tea the healtiest choice with a light, sweet and flowery taste. Black tea has the strongest taste and is bitterer than the other two.
When we spend quite some time viewing the tea plants, we felt like we had to try some. There is a beautiful hilltop teahouse overlooking the tea fields, the perfect place to try out some tea! They have all kind of tea flavors and I recommend you to choose an unflavored white tea to give you the opportunity to taste the real flavors of the Cameron Higlands tea without any sugar. I can promise you, it taste so good! You can even buy some boxes to bring home as souvenir.
The mossy forest is an other famous spot of this area. It is even so special that it isn't even allowed to visit this spot without a guide to protect it well. The trees are covered in mos and if someone damages it, it will take many years for mother nature to recover it self. And since people are very thoughtless and selfish, they give the guides the task to protect the area.
The mossy forest is located high in the mountains. We drove up there in the fan with our group. Most people in my group were western tourists which travel alone or in a couple through Asia or Malaysia. That made it easy to make contact with the people in my group and while having nice conversations, we arrived already up the mountain. The driver opened the door and it felt cold up the mountain. the view was very misty and I was happy I had a jacket with me again the cold mountain temperature.
Water drops captured in a spiderweb
The trees were indeed totally covered in mos. I have never seen this kind of landscapes in my entire life, it is definitely an unique place to visit, one to cross off my list. This forest is even more special since this is the place were they recorded the movie lord of the rings. So if you think you saw this place before? That can be the reason!
The mos is growing very well on the trees since the air is so humid. No change for the mos to dry out what gives the forest an unique appearance. There are just a few forests covered in mos in the entire world, and this is one of few which is so easy to reach by van. The hike is very easy and way to short as well, it took us just 15 minutes and it makes it possible for older or less fit people to join the tour. But people like me might be very disappointed in the duration of the tour.
When we left the forest, our guide pointed us on a pitcher plant. It is a plant with a kind of cup with a kind of smell that attracts insects. Yes, this plant is a carnivorous plant and get it's nutrition out of flies and other small insects! Our guide told us that he sometimes tells people who touch it that they can eat their finger to scare them. It isn't true of course. It sounds like an excelent way to protect those plants againts thoughtless tourists though!
Pitcher plant
So that is how great the Cameron Highlands are! It is the perfect place for an active holiday to recharge your energy and to fill up your soul with peaceful vibes those landscapes will give you. I hope I reached my goal and encouraged you to book a ticket to beautiful Malaysia to visit the Cameron Highlands.
Regards,
Sha