The four hour bus ride from KL to the Cameron Highlands took me from palm trees to pine trees, and a cooler climate which I was grateful for. The journey was interesting along the windy and twisty roads, but my stomach didn’t enjoy it as much, and it took considerable effort not to be ill. Motion sickness for the first time since I was a child!

I arrived in Tanah Rata at about 2:30pm, made dinner arrangements with an Aussie girl I’d met on the bus, and checked into the Twin Pines Chalet, where I’ve discovered you get what you (don’t) pay for. $5 a night for a mattress on the floor in an attic room, where the only spot I can stand straight is right at the door. I’m sure once upon a time this place might have been quaint. Now it’s all a bit old and run down. The elderly French lady in the room next to me loves it though and I look at it with new eyes. At least it’s clean. She inspires me and I hope I’m still doing this at her age.

The Cameron Highlands are known for their tea plantations and there’s a variety of tours that can be done, taking in various other activities along the way. All the tour agencies offer pretty much the same standard itinerary, though they choose different places to visit as there are an abundance of them and none of the places I visited were overwhelmed with other people.

Butterfly and Insect Farm
There are a few of these located throughout the region. I visited Tamam Rama Rama Butterfly farm. OMG some of those butterflies are huge……and scary. I really would not like one to land on me. They were beautiful though, and there were hundreds of them fluttering about, trying to avoid the webs of the many spiders in there with them (shudder).

Ee Feng Gu Honey Bee Farm
The woman running this place was hilarious. “Don’t fight with the bees” she warned. “If one stings you’ll have 10,000 bees chasing you, and I’ll be the first one out!” Thankfully most of the bees here are a small ‘stingless’ bee that only live in suitable climates such as these. We tasted the honey from the regular bees, and then from the stingless bees, and there was quite a difference, with the latter tasting almost like maple syrup, and afterward we were able to wander around the hives, and try not to pick a fight with the bees.

Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation
The first thing that hit me when I entered the factory part of the plantation was the aroma of the tea, that sharp scent that became quite overpowering when watching the leaves being dried. The Boh ‘brand’ of tea has four plantations, 3 of them in the Cameron Highlands. We visited the 3rd largest, which produces enough tea leaves to make 820,000 cups of tea per day! The views from the café are gorgeous, stunning rolling green hills of tea plants, where you can relax taking it all in while sipping a lovely cuppa.

Tringkap Rose Valley Garden
Roses are red, and yellow, and orange, and pink. And there are other flowers besides roses, and some pretty funky cacti too. What more is there to say about a rose garden, except with photos. There was a pretty yummy corn on the cob stall there too, which was handy as I was getting hungry!

Royal Berry Strawberry Farm
My favourite place of the day was left till last. I’m pretty sure most strawberry farms have you bending over and breaking your back to pick the strawberries out of the ground. Not so here. I was able to leisurely wander amongst the strawberry plants and pick those of my own choosing from the pots hanging from the ceiling and lining the troughs. Bright red, and oh so sweet, I topped them off with a fresh strawberry milkshake with cream. Yum!