Jade
Visitor
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Wonderful Cameron Highlands - 2003/12/29 11:50
My family and I just returned from a fantastic vacation to Cameron highlands. We spent a night in KL on 25th Dec and headed for Tapah the next day. After the long drive to CH, we were initially very happy to reach Equatorial Hotel where we made our reservations for 2 night stay in a 2-bedroom apartment. (Neo, sorry to break you heart. But we did not enjoy our stay at the Equatorial for various fundamental reasons.) The next day we cut short our stay by one night and checked into the Merlin Inn.
We visited the following places:
The Bharat Tea House - this is located at a very scenic part of CH, between Ringlet and Tana Rata. You get a very good view of the Bharat Tea Plantation. Order a pot of tea and enjoy delicious scones served with strawberry jam, fresh cream and butter. Yummy, PERFECT FOR THE COOL WEATHER IN CH! This is highly recommended.
Boh Tea Plantation, North Div - Proceed if you wish to subject yourself to a very challenging drive....the drive is far worse the uphill climb to CH. The road into the plantation is very narrow and windy, the width of a one-car lane. Imagine what it is like when you have 2 cars going in opposite directions! The factory was interesting but lacks proper organised tours by the operators. So you would have to figure out the details yourself. There is also a litte shop selling Boh Tea products. Please check out your prices before buying. We paid RM8 for a box of gold blend tea (25 packets) which was selling for RM4 in Tana Rata and Brinchang. Better to buy from town than to buy from the plantation.
Honey Bee Farm above Brinchang - Watch out for steep uneven steps leading to the gardens where honey bees and flowers are. Strikes me that the operators are more interested in selling their honey products. So do not expect any organised educational tours.
Strawberries - We visited a strawberry farm near the Merlin Inn. Like all the other strawberry farms, no picking of strawberries allowed. This was disappointing as we expected to be able to do so like those that were operated in Australia. We bought a box of strawberries topped with fresh cream and sugar....very delicious. Better than the strawberries that we bought from the night market that were sour and completely lacking any strawberry taste. On the day we left CH, we learnt from the friendly front desk staff at Merlin Inn where to buy the most delicious, juicy, red and tastiest strawberries and homemade strawberry jam. This is not one of those that is listed on the tourists' CH map, kind of known to the locals only. It is located in a village called Taman Sedia off the road leading to the Smokehouse. Apparently the breed of strawberries is from Holland and I would say they are very juicy and tasty. The strawberry jam was fantastic too! Highly recommended.
Accommodation - We visited the Lakehouse although we did not stay there. The staff were very kind and showed us one of the family suites upon our request to view it. This hotel is very clean and very well maintained. The setting is Tudor style and very romantic. Wonderful for honeymooners. The downside is that it is located in Ringlet, which is quite far from the other amenities in Tana Rata and Brinchang. Strawberry Park was also very well maintained and very cosy. Because the resort was fully booked we did not get to view the rooms. The staff were friendly and even invited us to make use of their facilities. The Merlin Inn is a very pleasant place to stay. Although a bit old it is generally clean and well maintained. Value for money.
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