We visited Cameron Highlands during Labour Day holiday. Being one of the popular locations for vacation, we were lucky to find a place to stay at Eight Mentigi Guest House few days before our departure. We departed around 7:45 am from Kampar, took our breakfast at Tapah, and reached Lata Iskandar at around 9:40 am. We took a 50-minute break there to enjoy the refreshing environment and nice coconut drink. The traffic was smooth and we managed to maintain the speed at 50-60 kmph.
Then, we took 45 minutes to drive from Lata Iskandar to Bharat Tea Plantation, 4 km away from Tanah Rata. We stayed there for almost 2 hours. Afternoon, we took a leisure trip to two strawberry farms and night market at Brinchang. As expected, the night market was congested. To avoid being caught in heavy traffic, we parked our car far away from Brinchang town center. We drove smoothly back to hotel at Tanah Rata while the traffic was congested at the opposite direction.
Second day, we went out early for breakfast and started our journey back to Kampar. On our way down, we stopped by Boh Tea Plantation in Habu and again, at Lata Iskandar for a snack break. We would share our experience through photos. More about our previous experience in Cameron Highlands (2010) is available here.
9:40 am at Lata Iskandar. Not many visitors were there. Refreshing air and cold water make this place a popular resting spot between Tapah and Tanah Rata.
This is the area where people can dip in the cold water flow from the hill.
Not many cars were on the road (upper left). Fruits (upper right, lower right) and souvenirs were the main items sold by the stalls nearby the waterfall. The coconut was sold between RM 4 - RM 5 depending on the size. The souvenirs were sold with reasonable prices. However, many of these souvenirs were not local products.
This was where we rested and enjoyed coconuts. The fried noodles and nasi lemak were nice too. The location- opposite of the waterfall, next to the entrance of the public toilet. The owner of the shop could speak in English.
11:15 am, we reached Bharat Tea Plantation and the road side was full with cars. We had to park our car some 100 meters away from the tea house (upper left). Again, we were lucky to find an empty table to sit down for original Cameronean tea break. The original tea was RM3.70 per cup while flavored teas were RM6.35 - RM8.50 per cup.
Having afternoon tea here is an experience of a lifetime.
After a nice tea break, we strolled around the tea plantation. The view was breathtaking.
Another view at Bharat Tea Plantation. The plantation was established by Mr. Shuparshad, who was also a famous grocer and transporter in Cameron Highlands. The plantation covers an area of 1620 acres.
It is a great place to take photo. Located just beside the main road, this place can be easily reached. It is a place that worth a visit in Cameron Highlands.
After lunch at Tanah Rata, we visited Healthy Strawberry Farm located between Tanah Rata and Brinchang. The compound of the farm was planted with nice flowers and cacti (upper right). Strawberry? Not that much. We tried the strawberry ice cream and pancake (lower left). Both were nice with reasonable price. Due to the super peak holiday, the dining area was full with visitors (lower right).
Big Red Strawberry Farm in Brinchang was still the better one (upper left). The farm is big, organized, clean and of course full with flowers, cacti, and various types of vegetables (upper right and lower left). The canteen was clean and full with visitors. The price of the food was more or less the same with Healthy Strawberry Farm. The only problem was to find a place to sit at the dinning area.
Flowers and cacti available in the strawberry farms.
More flowers and cacti.
Brinchang night market is located at the northern end of the town. The night market started as early as 5 pm. To avoid traffic jam, we visited the night market around 5:30 pm, bought some food and fresh baby tomatoes, and left the market around 6:15 pm. The sea coconut drink, steamed sweet potato, fried rice with chicken, and sweet corn were nice choices for dinner. The night market is getting more organized by moving away from the road side.
On our way back to Kampar, we stopped at Habu to visit the vegetable plantations and Boh Tea Plantation there. Vegetable plantations can be seen on our way to the tea plantation. For us, the best location to see the beautiful farms is at the Hindu temple some 500 meters from the main road.
Vegetable farm at Habu.
Boh Tea Plantation is some 6 km away from the main road. There are two guard houses stationed starting 2 km from the visitor center.
We climbed up to the viewpoint, 170 meters uphill from the visitor center (upper row). There is a clear area on the hill top (lower right) with a boulder in the middle of the area.
Climbing up to the view point is not a very hard task, and the reward was the great view from the hill top. The whole tea factory can be seen from the view point.
This photo shows the patch of the tea plantation that cannot be assessed by visitor.
The workers' quarters in the middle of the plantation.
Eight Mentigi Guest House is near to Tanah Rata town center. Located at Mentigi Road, it is just 5 minutes walk to the town center- easy assess to food, groceries, transportation and services. The guest house offers very simple room (upper right). Television is placed in the living room with the coffee making facility, which we need to share with others (lower row). It is definitely not a first class guest house, but still worth the money spent if what we need is just simply a place to rest and stay overnight.
We took our lunch at May Flower Restaurant at Tanah Rata (upper left). It is a Chinese restaurant located at Camelia 4 Road (near to our hotel). The portion of vegetables was big, while the taste and the price were average (upper right). The good thing was, the prices for the dishes were clearly shown in the menu. Restaurant Sheng Ming at Besar Road offered Chinese style breakfast, where we tried the fried bee-hun, noodle, and flat noodle. The price was a little bit expensive but the taste was good.
Cameron Highlands is really crowdy during public holiday and school holiday, so do expect long queue all over the places. We can avoid the crowd by being early, but still we cannot stay ahead of the crowd whole day long. The road to Habu Boh Tea Plantation is very challenging, especially when the small hilly road is full with vehicles from both ways. We have to be patient and prepare to give ways to others so everyone can keep on going. Both strawberry farms have sufficient parking place for visitors, but for Brinchang night market, we will try to park our car a bit further from the market site. Well, 15 minutes of walking is always better than 30 minutes of traffic jam.
Cameron Highlands is not that cold during the day, but might get colder during the night. The price for the food offered by the restaurants around Brinchang and Tanah Rata is not much different. The price for the steamboat is quite standardized as well. We didn't try any of the steamboat so we couldn't comment on the quality of the food. For shopping, try to buy items produced in Cameron for a better deal. Cacti, flowers, local vegetables and fruits (like strawberry, tomato, and cabbages) are some of them.
One thing get lesser in Cameron Highlands, compared to our previous visit- antique land cruisers. For more about our previous visit to the highlands, please read our older posts as below.
Other nearby attractions:
