Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Cameron highlands

The British, including Tea and silk tycoon William Cameron, did what the colonizers do and founded an area in the tea fields and higher altitude regions outside of Ipoh to find some respite from ultra tropical stickiness.  Cameron highlands has 2 towns, Tanah Rata at the bottom, and Birchang at the top.  Both have markets and an abundance of hotels and food options as well as flower, bee and butterfly, and strawberry operations.

We stayed at the swanky Cameron Highland Resort right between the towns.  It is a grand property owned by the Ritz with spas, koi pools, a snooker table, and 2 restaurants on site.   

Again, like KL, Cameron has zero concern about options to stay…it is not unlike wine country in Cali where every 50 meters there’s a b&b or guesthouse or hotel.  On arrival our guide brought us to an Indian restaurant in Tanah Rata (link here_.  An older man stands with a traditional street food cooking apparatus and makes your parathi and naan from scratch.  The food is also prepared as you ordered so, to be honest, all of it was some of the best Indian food we have had.  There are a ton of little shops and small markets to explore afterwards.

That evening we experiences the main food attraction to the region, called the Steamboat.  It is a hotpot that one side is a lighter chicken broth and the other is tum yum base.  The staff then give you a giant platter of noodles, seafood, chicken, veggies, and fish balls that you heap in together and cook just before eating.  It was fabulous at Lemon Button, but if you are a small eater, you may want to make more friends first.

Our second day was supposed to involve a hike in the Mossy Forest, which is now closed indefinitely as of 1/7/25 due to a massive landslide.   Malaysia has been having significant issues due to climate change with periods of excessive rainy season and this is just one of the places that have recently been affected.  Instead, we went to coffee and tea plantations, strawberry farm, rose and orchid garden, and our own hike associated with the hotel.  The resort we were staying at has a mystery walk aimed at discussing the disappearance of its founder under mysterious and likely foul play circumstance on Easter afternoon almost a century ago.  There are a lot of theories on what happened, and this tour focuses on the history but also the local natural wonders.

We then took a walk to Birchang, the other town nearby.  It is an interesting place with a lot of backpacker hotels and a usually large mall.  The market is hidden behind the mall as well which is kind of amusing, but it is open every night and has some great food and shopping stalls.

Cameron highland resort, if you wanted to have culture immersion, however, is probably a bit too European. It is gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but you wouldn't know inside or out if you were in Malaysia or a golf resort in England. In saying this, the service is top notch for sure.

Tea: BOH is the biggest plantation and has a really nifty visitor center with great views and walks through the plantation grounds. There are free samplings and a full tea shop with amazing desserts to be shared. There are several other smaller areas but unfortunately time did not allow.

We then visited a strawberry and veggie farm, all of which are housed on the hillsides in massive covered greenhouses. Cameron strawberries are some of the best in the world, and they will make you a fresh strawberry smoothy or juice on site. Home to over 90 strawberry farms, the choices are endless for sure. But very neat to see such a large greenhouse utilizing fresh mountain water to irrigate.

Roses and orchids: In addition to being the top non-tree fruit and veggie haven in Malaysia, the flower gardens are abundant, as are the hummingbirds in all hues. We could have spent a lot more time in the gardens, which housed >30 acres on a path down the mountain, but our guide had been instructed to get us to the smoke house for lunch so we had to miss a little of the sites.

The Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant on the main road south of Birchang is a gem, another time warp into colonial Britain. The food is also British in orientation but better than normal British food (this is not to offend people of Britain...everyone knows that the cuisine does not tend to have, you know, a lot of veg or flavor). I ordered the Wellington, because, well it was there. Tim had a lovely mutton pot pie as well and a bit of wine helped brighten what was quickly becoming a gloomy day.