Cameron Highlands

After the heat of Penang and Ipoh, it was time to cool down a bit by visiting the Cameron Highlands, which are situated at 1600m altitude. We stayed for four nights in a studio apartment nestled among local homes, which sounded super cozy, but was a bit different than the pictures shown on the booking website. Just like in Penang, the windows and doors are mostly a visual cover and, like the walls, provide virtually no sound proofing. Sounds like a non-issue in a small mountain village but combined with neighbors moving furniture all night, the nearby mosque blasting prayers through loudspeakers directed at our house, and the store downstairs starting their day early by hammering and chopping stuff changes things significantly. The bathroom even had “windows”, made of a few glass slats, which we couldn’t close at all. So yeah, additionally to the noise, we also shared the bathroom and shower with ants, flies, spiders and what-have-yous. Besides that, it got relatively cold during the night, so we had to wear long pajamas and be covered in a blanket. It felt like the temperatures in Switzerland, which we were just not used to any more! But enough with the complaining ;)

During our stay in the Cameron Highlands, we visited two tea plantations called BOH Tea Plantation and Bharat Tea Plantation. The lash green bushes were arranged in a grid-pattern and looked absolutely stunning, especially from above. Another natural place we visited was the Lavender Garden. There you can find plenty of flowers, a place where you can pick strawberries, a lot of locations to take pictures, and stalls that sell souvenirs and food. We tried lavender ice cream, which was special to eat because we felt as if we were eating soap.

Matthias had a special encounter with a guy who entered the garden’s restroom after him. This guy used the urinal next to Matthias and repeatedly glanced down at him, which he freely could since there were no walls between the urinals. He then started a conversation by asking where Matthias is from while still glancing down at him from time to time. Finally, while washing hands, he asked if Matthias was married. Upon replying “no”, he looked down at Matthias one more time and just said “big! - I like!”. Matthias then just laughed and left. At least this made for a funny story, right?

While finding a Grab taxi in the village to go to any of the sights in its surroundings is easy, finding one for heading back can be a challenge. We got caught by this when leaving the Lavender Garden where we had to wait about one hour to get a taxi back. But at least we met a German couple who suffered the same faith. On our way back, we stopped by the Forestry Office to ask about the state of the hiking trails and get some recommendations because what we previously researched on the internet was very confusing. As it turns out, there is a good reason for the confusion because the official system is simply ridiculous. It’s the Forestry Department’s decision which trails they officially open and it is difficult to figure out which ones without physically going to their office. Then, if you choose to do a hike, you would have to go to their office to buy a ticket that allows you to hike a specific trail. And finally, you should tell someone which trail you do and let them know when you’re back. While this last part makes sense, the rest just doesn’t and wherever you ask people tell you that you have to buy a tour with a guide if you want to do a hike. And if you do a hike yourself without buying a ticket, which would most likely work fine, there is a slight chance that you could be sent back by a ranger should you encounter one. So overall, it seemed like they just wanted to get some money out of tourists who go hiking and unfortunately they do so in a way that ruins this top tourist activity, which might backfire in the long run. So either you don’t care about all this and just do hikes by yourself (or spend money on a guide) or you will just be frustrated.

We involuntarily chose the second option and anyhow did not feel like doing a hike on our last day so we rented a scooter instead. With it we zipped through mountain roads, heading toward the Mossy Forest, a magical and misty jungle. On our way there we met the German couple again and ended up walking the last bit up to the Mossy Forest and through the forest with them. After this, we chilled a bit in our apartment and worked on this blog before returning the scooter and preparing for our last night in the highlands.

Good cafés, restaurants:
- Amsterdam Café (There are not a lot of breakfast places with good options in town, but if you are looking for one, this is it.)
- Highlands Spices (Yummy Indian food, delicious Roti!!!)
- Scott’s Café (Good Burgers and Spaghetti Bolognese)Læs mere