The Cameron Highlands – Tea for Two!
4 February 2007
The morning of Chris’s 29th birthday begun with the sweet sound (erhemm!) of me singing happy birthday to him followed by a mad dash to the bus station to catch the first bus to The Cameron Highlands.
After a bumpy four hours, during which Chris was as quiet as a mouse reading a copy of ‘four four two’ he had managed to get his hands on (memo to self – next year all I need to do is buy him ‘four four two’!), we reached our destination – Tanah Rata. Tanah Rata which means ‘flat ground’ is the main township nestled in the Cameron Highlands and is one of Malaysia’s most popular get-a-way destinations due to the cooler climate (approx 25 degrees during the day).
The Highlands are named after William Cameron, a British colonial government surveyor who discovered the plateau during a mapping expedition in 1885. The Cameron Highlands then grew during the colonial era when British planters realised the potential of its fertile mountain slopes for growing tea, then a prized commodity and today it is home to Malaysia’s biggest tea plantation – The BOH Tea Plantation.
Wanting to make the most of Chris’s birthday (not simply marking it with a bumpy bus journey and a copy of ‘four four two’) we dropped our bags off and boarded a local bus where we then sat for the best part of half an hour while the bus conductor shouted at the local school children making some children get off the bus to board an alternative bus. The poor children were then immediately shouted at by the driver of the other bus and sent back to the one we were sitting on – this continued with the children never really making it back to either bus before they were turned around again. Eventually some sort of agreement was reached and the dizzy children were back on our bus and we were off on our days adventure.
We were heading for Malaysia’s biggest Tea Plantation. The Lonely Planet helpfully noted we had to disembark when the bus reached a vegetable stall (we were hoping the vegetable stall owner had not found a better patch since the time the book went to the publishers) and then head off on foot up the intersecting road….so this was exactly what we did. What the Lonely Planet did not mention is that we had to head up the intersecting road for 40 minutes before we got to the factory and tea rooms. However this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we walked through the plantation and were able to take in the beautiful rolling hills covered in tea plants.
On reaching the ‘BOH’ factory we learned why BOH has ‘Ummph!’ and all about the process behind a good cup of tea. We then enjoyed Chris’s official birthday drink – a pot of gold blend BOH – with a scone overlooking the plantation. It was all really quite civilised (a first time for everything eh!).
On returning to Tanah Rata we found a Chinese restaurant and enjoyed a nice evening meal. Following the meal Chris decided he wanted to sample another locally produce – strawberries, so he ordered desert of strawberries and ice-cream. He got to his last mouthful and spat out (fortunately!) a large shard of glass that had been in the ice-cream! Chris, still in shock at his narrow miss of having his insides ripped to shreds, sat still while I marched the glass up to the management to complain (although even I have to admit it did look suspicious that the ice-cream had been devoured in its entirety!) the outcome being that the ice-cream was on the house!
That brings me to today. This morning we had the most wonderful Indian pancakes ‘Roti Canai’ with bananas for breakfast and then headed of into the Jungle for a 5km Jungle Walk taking us past waterfalls and landslides.
Tonight we leave on an overnight bus into Thailand. Sadly our time in Malaysia has been far too short but in order to extend our stay here we would have to compromise our other plans for Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam; which we have decided is not something we want to do at this time. Unfortunately we simply can’t see everything!
Tags: Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, Pre-travel, Thailand
Chris and Charl
A cup of BOH (Best of House!) tea in the Cameron Highlands does taste rather wonderful yah! Loved Linda’s non-prejudiced comment on the “typing all night” likes / dislikes of Oz!!
2 wins in a week – what are the boys doing??!!
Cheers,
Pete
Wait for it … “same same but different”. It explains everything to the Thai’s – how you can order two of the same meals and them be completely different; how you can agree a 50 baht tuk tuk ride that amazingly costs 100! Don’t be too concerned at the fact that you will get ripped off; they’re a lovely race and it’s an amazing country, I got a bit absorbed in the fact that everyone will try and rip you off that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have and I’m gutted.
If you’re staying on/near Koh San Road try the Bella Bella hostel; it’s brill and cheap and much nicer than the hostels on Koh San Road. Whatever you do … don’t be lured by the thought of the hostel beginning with D (it’s on the right as you look down KSR towards Maccy D’s!) the swimming pool isn’t all it’s cracked up to be … I bet it still hasn’t been cleaned since I was there!
Have a brill brill brill time and take care.
Love and hugs
Beth xx
P.S. It’s definitely worth a trip to Ayuthaia (spelt completely wrong) and Kanchanaburi.
Hi Beth
Tried emailing you the other day to wish you haoppy birthday but it kept getting sent back to me – I know it was a while ago now – but hope you had a good one!
Trisha said you went to Red Chilli?
I couldnt agree with your comments more – it does seem that people are trying to rip us off left right and centre at the moment – so we have decided that we will pay what we are willing and if not walk away.
Will definately look into Bella Bella when we get to Bangkok. Hope everything is good with you.
Charl xxx
Hey you two,
Glad you’re still enjoying your trip!
Nic and I got up at 3.30am this morning to watch the cricket and seem them win . . . again! It’s a shame that they didn;t beat the Ozzies when you were in Australia! Perhaps if you’d left Australia earlier we would have had a better chance in the Ashes!!!
See you (not too) soon,
Steve
Hi Pete!
Linda has clearly been in Oz too long, and is beginning to show the kind of bias to all things Australian that they are streamed through channel 7 / 9/ 10 all day (what happpend to channel 8?). Actually, to be fair, she had a valid point!
I can’t believe that now we have left the country England have decided to turn up and play cricket, typical.
Hope all is well back home.
P.S. I didn’t think BOH was a patch on Yorkshire tea!
Hi Steve
I think you have got it about right – we should have left Australia long befor the Ashes started – shame the same logic doesn’t apply to Newcastle this season!
Managed to catch their win over Liverpool though – Shearer’s right – Bellamy’s shite!