There is still room at Cameronian Inn for 23/4 May. Just give them a ring directly: 05-4911327 or email:nasan56@streamyx.com

Sorry guyz but it has been raining on the weekend. On Saturday we planned to walk path no. 9 starting at MARDI(Malaysia Agriculture Research and Development Institute)up to the Boh plantation to visit an Indian temple festival. The rain was so bad that we spent a vigorous day either in the internet cafe, downtown cafe, Malay gerai or Bala's. Late afternoon the rain eased off and we took a little walk to the Smokehouse and had tea and scones there.

Sunday we followed no. 9 which is going past Robinson Falls and ends at a vegetable farm near Boh Tea Estate Road. Although steadily uphill, this is a very scenic road where you have the sensation that you are drifting up through a vast ocean of tea plants, surrounded by mountain hills all around and where you can see the old houses of the past colonial era scattered all over the plantation. Unfortunately there was no festival but we were still rewarded by the heavenly smell of the processed tealeaves upon arrival at the factory. This is my second visit but my mates are visiting for the first time.

Arrived back from our downhill walk it started raining cats and dogs again and we needed to find shelter in one of the tents of the Sunday market.BTW, the Sunday market at Sungei Palas junction is worth visiting where you can view the numerous stalls with strawberries, other fruits, honey, jams, vegies, fried pisang, sweet potato fritters(kue bola ubi), fried mushrooms etc. There is market everyday except MOnday when the plantation is closed but on Sunday many locals come from as far as Ipoh.

Next to the market is the honey bee farm where they conduct guided tours and explanation of how the royal jelly is extracted. Oh, and the bus was supposed to come at 3.pm sharp but came one hour late. The other farms are not in too far walking distance but if you don't have too much time a taxi is not expensive.

BTW, I interviewed quite a few local people here and they told me that the main living was not tourism but agriculture. Most people either own their own farm or work on such a farm. I must correct myself too, Boh is also pure privately owned by a multimillionaire.
I'm now by myself without my friend but it doesn't disturb me much. While waiting for the bus to the Lakehouse I spend some time on the net.

Although i haven't reached the end of my trip yet, I will write a conclusion before heading for the Lakehouse.

Tomorrow afternoon I will go to KL and have another seat in the front. They promised to drop me right in front of Swiss Garden HOtel. I forgot my ID card in KL and could not retrieve anything with my credit card and i forgot the password to use the ATM.

I had a real wonderful stay here at Cameron despite patchy rain. Bala was wonderful with a romantic English Garden where you really feel that you are in a little West in the East. The library, the little blue lounge room where I spent hours of writing and playing with Bala's cats and the restaurant with its cosy fireplace. The antiquities are imitations and not real but add a great deal to the atmosphere of an old English house here.

The landscape,the mountains despite the obvious thread of too much developement was something I really fall in love with. Some plants I was allergic too hence the glasses because I couldn't wear my contacts.

So, tomorrow my journey will end

Arrived in KL yesterday and deadtired.A little warning for Kurnia Bistari. On our way to CH we had a driver who was not only very friendly but his driving style was very stable and safe, before every curve he honked and used his horn. I didn't experience the slightest bit of motion sickness. On our way back to KL it was different. The driver was unattentive but worst of all was his driving style. The bus was ugly, stinky and old as always, the door wide open and I felt I could fall out at any time. His driving style was rough, way too fast and at least 4 times he nearly bumped into a car or bus coming from the other side. It was 2 times when it became so dangerous that he had to slide slightly to the edge of the ravine. Obviously Kurnia Bistari has not learnt a thing of their past experiences and I'm going to complain to the company. I would really recommend the train and the taxi because our lives are worth the money you have to pay in this case

The more positive side was that there was just a small very nice group in the bus. A few local CH's, Chinese from KL, a KOrean girl who explored Malaysia on her own and who enjoyed trying any type of Malaysian food, The Malay couple from KL whoem I met at Bala

Woh.. Christine.

Your stay in CH was definately a very, very long one. And it seems that you really enjoyed yourself very much. How I envy you.

I look forward to enjoying myself also. I will be there for 2 days only but I already know that the next time I plan to go CH, my stay will be at least 5 days.


My warmest regards & best wishes to you, Christine.

Thank you Lee for your greetings and glad that you have enjoyed your visit as much as I did.
Reading Ferret's post about G. Jasar I would like to mention that I didn't forget G.Jasar and G.Berembun. Since it was my first visit I didn't notice it was higher or greener than before but I greatly enjoyed climbing it.

I also hiked from Dept. of Forrestry to G.Berembun, slightly more challenging and I got lost because I was by myself without a map.
Again, I would suggest buying a map for RM 2(old one) and RM 4(new) at the bus station where the friendly guy with the hat will give you tips.

Another tip would be the official Tourist Information. At the end of the Jalan Besar Tanah Rata, just opposite the hospital(left side), turn right into Dayang Endah Road(is the spelling correct?) and you'll see an intersection signs among others Robinson Falls).

Now comes the little trick, many people incl. myself have taken the right intersection going to Shanaz Inn( nice hotel BTW), so please take the middle part on the right hand side of the playground pointing to the library.(Perpustakan awam) Not only that the library is interesting but the official tourist information who offers non-commercial information is also located in this building.

Wow, very helpful info as I'd be going that way too this September. May I ask a couple of questions?

Where in KL is the train station? What's the comparison between bus and train in terms of: travel time and fare, etc.

From what I've gathered in my many researches, I think I'm falling in love with Brinchang. What do you thank having been there? You see I only have 2 days to spare in all of Cameron so I'm thinking of the better place (Brinchang or Tanah Rata) so the farms and tea plantations will be more accesible. And I want to be where it is coldest at any given time. IS that in Brinchang?

Where of the two areas can I find good budget accommodation? Own bathroom is a must.

Thanks in advance. Happy travels forever!

Do you have a map of KL? You can reach central station by monorail. Go to any of the monorail stations and simply ask the staff for info. Puduraya station(I don't know the phone no.) is near the end of Jalan Bukit Bintang. You can view Istari's very good thread on bus timetables for CH. He(she) also provided taxi fares from Tapah(train station) to Tanah Rata. Take the express bus from Kurnia Bistari, more expensive by 4 Rm(?) and leaves about midday. From Ch unfortunately 8.00am. Train is slightly more expensive than bus but safer IMO

When you're interested in farms and cooler climate, pls go for Equatorial, located in the middle of Kea Farm. When you are Malaysian or Singaporean, or foreigner who is a resident of the 2 countries you get a special discount. Equatorial is the highest point and thus the coolest

Christine wrote:
I am really happy at Bala and I got everything I wanted. No, next to me there was a big Malaysian family and they were happy and not treated any differently than Mat Sallehs. Another Chinese Malaysian family gave me a lift and they were treated well either. Just the standard rooms were cramped like kampung houses and no cupboard, I asked for a suite for RM 150,-. The bathroom is also a kampung bathroom with no shower cabin and long bath. So the bathroom will be wet and unpleasant for me when I want to go to the toilet. I wouldnt recommend anything below Raffles Suite at Bala's unless you're a single person with minimum luggage like many Mat Sallehs.

The Bala family took over the whole chalet and bought out Mr.Blumbach. I have the impression that they are rather stressed than racist. Of course they are proud of having studied in England and urge their children to speak English. Many people here in CH don't speak English very well but it is good for my Malay practise. They are totally understaffed, most of them are foreign workers who don't speak English very well. In a small hotel everybody is responsible for everything. The maintenance man has to do reception and sometimes as a waiter, the housekeeping manager has to do reception and very often clean the room by
herself.

The house and rooms are superclean, they do nothing than just cleaning the house and grooming the garden.The nicest person in the hotel is the gardener when I may admit. It is also in walking distance but the traffic is heavy and the roads narrow and winding and can be dangerous at night. Bala offers shuttle service at certain times but when I call them they will come at any time

I found FAther's Guesthouse truly racists. The majority of the guests are Anglo-Saxon i.e Australia, Ireland and UK. The whole program is geared towards Anglos and even germans and other Mat Sallehs are made to feel unwelcome. I met nice French people with whom I went on several tours, among other Palas Tea plantation and Gunung brinchang. They stay at FAther's and not treated very well, there is a clear difference and I would not mention how Asians would be treated.

Greetings, I am from Penang and for the last 7 years or so I've been heading down to Cameron Highlands twice a year. I love going to the Father's Guesthouse coz the staff there and people in general are really cool. I've stayed at the Cameronian Inn, Daniel's Guesthouse and Father's Guesthouse. I love the Cameronian and Father's because of the people there. I highly recommend either Cameronian Inn and Father's.


FathersGuesthouse.com

Just to add to my story: I visited the mossy forest and rafflesia. Unfortunately I don't remember on what day exactly, it must have been one of the last days. On one of the last days I ran into someone who specialized on deep forest tours.

I haven't visited the Semai tribe yet, will do next time. One of the locals provided information on orchids and other species in danger....Til the next journey because it will be a story on its own

Hi, just like to share my stay at CH.

Well, my college sent me to Brinchang for the all-expense paid 4D3N Journalism & Photography Course at Rosa Pasadena early this month.

Never been to CH before, I asked my brother-in-law for the route leading up to CH, as my beautiful sister-in-law is from CH(Ringlet).

College foots the mileage claim, so i drove my pick-up truck up there.

I went up the CH from Tapah-Ringlet-Tanah Rata-Brinchang.

I was amazed by the sight of so many Land-Rovers all over this highlands.

My stay at Rosa Pasadena was sweet, it was at the middle of Brinchang town, my room overlooks the view over the town.

Most of the time, during the course I could not hlep but to observe the life going around this Brinchang town (the course was conducted at the topmost level of the hotel).

Second surprise is thre is no a/c, but hey, you don't need a/c in CH!.

Shower without heated water is nearly impossible, as I found out.

During the lecture breaks, I strolled the Brinchang town to savour the cool, fresh air, and it gets better when it rains.

For the assignment, we tracked to Sg. Ruil Orang Asli Settlement and managed to shoot a few photos and wrote some stories about the people there.

On my way home, I used the new highway, which leads from Brinchang-Kea Farm-Simpang Pulai route.

Bought some strawberreies too, at Tanah Rata.

To sum it all, I fell in love with CH!

I like the place "Cameronion Inn". It gave me the feeling of very comfortable and free. And I like the homemade scones and pancakes.

Anyway, I'm not so familiar with the acommodation in Cameron Highland. Actually, i would be glad to know if anyone can let me know more acommodation at CH with not so high of the cost ( Below RM100).

[Hai, I'am Jane from Batu Pahat, Johor. I will be going to CH this January 2009 with family of 40 pupils.Can anyone suggest chalet or hotel for staying for 1 night only. If can please advice about the rate and the room situation (including the bed?)and how far from the town. Thank you.

Hi Jane, for a group of 40, its not going to be easy to get accomodation. You should arrange with a travel agent, they might be able to get you a discounted rate.

But I have seen groups like yours staying at Heritage hotel, Equatorial hotel and even Strawberry Park Resort. If you contact them direct and negotiate with them you may be able to get good discount also. I understand most hotel will entertain group stay. 40 people is not a small group.