Scott & Kerry's Southeast Asia Adventure: Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands refers to a valley high up in the mountains in the middle of Malaysia. Like Dalat in Vietnam, it has its own "micro-climate" and is much cooler than the rest of the country. Downright cold at night in fact! Due to the temperature, fruit, tea and other food is grown here that cannot be grown in the heat in other places. The British established this area as a hill station, building several lodges and developing a few towns, to serve as vacation spots to escape the heat in the 1800s. We enjoyed the cooler weather and did a bit of cliche sightseeing but there are old lodges and long hikes through the jungle that we'll have to check out next time. :)

Our first stop was a bit random, a small museum in a basement called The Time Machine. It was an interesting/eclectic collection of "stuff" from different time eras. Old coca cola advertisements, variety of coffee mugs from different decades and places, a few Guinness posters, etc, etc. More interestingly, it had pictures of the Cameron Highlands throughout the decades; parts of the town we stayed in looked exactly the same as when it was first established over 100 years earlier. It also had some very simple posters and a few newspaper clippings noting Malaysia's history and involvements in the World Wars and their own independence struggle. It was not the place we thought we'd get a history lesson but was very helpful!

Nest stop was the top of Gunung Berinchang, the tallest mountain with the ricketiest viewing platform I have ever seen (we obviously survived)! The views of blues and greens were beautiful.

Next was a strawberry farm where we enjoyed strawberry ice cream of course. I don't usually like strawberry ice cream but when it's freshly made with strawberries picked right there, its delicious. Like Dalat, the strawberries here are celebrated because they can't grow anywhere else in the country due to the climate.

Last stop was at the Tea Plantation, established in the 1800s by a British entrepreneur who recognized the perfect climate for tea trees. The tea is exported worldwide, famous in Malaysia and is still family owned and run. It's huge! I would screw up the stats but many hundreds of hecta-acres. The tea trees are groomed and kept short and grown on the rolling mountain sides creating truly beautiful views. The pictures here just can't do it justice.

We didn't stay long but enjoyed our time in the Highlands!

Stuff from the Time Machine