Monday, October 4, 2010

Cameron Highlands 3

We stayed in Titiwangsa Hotel in Cameron Highlands, RM 129 per night, with complementary breakfast and steamboat dinner. The hotel is located just beside the main road, next to Cameron Highland Golf Club, on the Brinchang side.

The hotel is not big, but clean and tidy. Lobby (left), there is a row of shops on the ground floor of the hotel (second left). The room is quite small and just enough for two. Without air-cond, we had to open the windows at night. We were not disturbed by the noise from the traffic as our room was not facing the main road.

We really appreciated the hotel management to arrange the free steamboat buffet dinner for us, and we hope that this offer will last forever. Dishes such as chicken, fish, squid, and toufu was provided once only (upper left). While the chinese tea, the soup for steamboat, and the veges were unlimited (lower left). Cameron Highlands' steamboat is highly recommended. You can find several steamboat buffet shops at Brinchang, just in case your hotel doesn't provide the meal for you.

We are not strawberry lovers, but cannot avoid been lured to get some strawberry products. So, we visited Strawberry Moment in Brinchang. Located beside Star Regency, the shop serves all sorts of food and beverages with strawberry. We didn't really like the food there. However, a stop at the eatery might be a good experience for its decoration.

Strawberry drink (left) and strawberry pancake. Nice to see, but the taste is far from good.

We visited the Green View Garden, a shop selling local products next to Strawberry Moment- Although the shop keepers claimed the products are made by local resources, we actually found that the information given was not quite precise. The chocolates and the coffee sold in the shop aren't local to Cameron Highlands. We bought some jars of jam (strawberry, blueberry and blackberry) from the shop, which later we found that blueberry and blackberry are imported fruits as well.

Honey and strawberry favoured vinegar from Green View Garden.

If you wish to buy some plants, Arked Peladang (Farmers' Arcade) (left) and Uncle Sam Farm (right) are highly recommended. Both places located side by side, between Brinchang and Kea Farm.

Photo taken in Arked Peladang with various plants and cute flower pots on sale.

To reach Cameron Highlands by car, we have two alternatives- through Tapah and another one, through Simpang Pulai. Advised by our friends, we took the more challenging Tapah's route uphill, and followed Simpang Pulai on our way down. There are two interesting parts of the Tapah's route- the majestic Lata Iskandar Waterfall and the settlement of the indigenous people. These two attractions are just steps away from the main road. Simpang Pulai on the other hand, offers less surprise mostly with green hills cover by primary rainforest.

Latar Iskandar Waterfall, located on the halfway from Tapah to Tanah Rata. You will not miss this waterfall as it can be prominently seen from the main road.

Huts built by indigenous people are scattered along the main road, forming some picturesque scenes, as the one shown in this photo.

One thing to mention, Land Rovers are everywhere in Cameron Highlands. These antiques are still moving on the road! In fact, Cameron Highlands is the place with the highest number of Land Rover over the population on earth. Range Rover should pay some advertising fee to the people there for their profound interest in the vehicles.

If you have the chance to visit Cameron Highlands, don't forget to take photo with this antique vehicle. The one in this photo is older than LS.

Overall, Cameron Highlands is not as cold as we had expected. T-shirt and jeans, with a sweater might be sufficient to keep ourselves warm. The best way of getting around is by car. If you are not driving, then you might consider to take a taxi. We can check with the hotel for the fare.

If you really wish to walk around by foot, here are some information about the distance of the places of interest in Cameron Highlands from Tanah Rata. From Tanah Rata towards Ringlet- Cameron Valley Tea Plantation (4.5 km); Habu Boh Tea Plantation (14 km); Ringlet (12 km). Tanah Rata towards Brinchang: Brinchang (4 km), Kea Farm (6 km), Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation (9 km), Mount Brinchang (12 km). Most of the attractions are nearer to Brinchang than Tanah Rata.
There are various types of reasonably priced food on the highlands. So, you can leave cup noodle, snacks, and other instant food at home. The buffet steamboat dinner in Hotel Titiwangsa is RM18.90 per person for non-residents. Lunch at Tanah Rata with Asian dishes and coffee is around RM6 per person.

Among all ticketed entrances, Rose Center and Time Tunnel are the two worth a walk in. The butterfly "center"? Oh, forget about it.

A stop at Bala's Chalet, Smoke House and other historical buildings, which had turned into nicely decorated hotels and guesthouses might be good way to get the idea of how the Cameron Highlands originally looked like.

Night market at Brinchang offers veges and instant food with very low price, only if it's raining. Even a brief rain for an hour around 6 pm will make a significant drop in price. Lastly, the prices for flower trees and other types of plants sell in Cameron Highland is almost the same with the nurseries in Kajang. Anyway, we still bought a flower plant from there, not because of the price, but just wish to keep it as a "souvenir".

Some good websites about Cameron Highlands: Cameron Highlands Online with tourist friendly maps and local tourism companies, Cameron Highlands Destinations with a long list of hotels, and Tripadvisor about the visitors' opinion over the places. Besides, Rinaz blogged about Cameron Highlands as well, take a look!


Back to All Our Destinations page.



7 comments:

  1. Please stop writing in English. You're killing it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for your kind reminder. We will work harder for better English. Anyway, we will not stop writing :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought the best way to kill a language is by NOT using it. Don't stop.
    Cheers

    Jason

    ReplyDelete
  4. 我的英文不好,但你的内容不会太深,让人一目了然。
    很抱歉不知道你看得懂中文吗?由于英文不太流畅,还是选择用中文写感想给你,很感谢你的部落格,你的介绍很齐全,感激相助。
    希望我和朋友们的金马仑之旅能和你们一样知性、有趣,谢谢。

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 不用客气。我们看得懂华语。希望你有个愉快的旅程。

      Delete
  5. i glad u write in english.. and thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete