Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Let's go to Cameron Highlands, Malaysia (named after a British Surveyor of the 1880s). First, let's visit the tea plantation. A British man started the tea plantation in Cameron Highlands in 1929. He named it the Boh Plantations totaling an area of 1200 hectares which accounted for 70% of the total tea production in Malaysia. The plantations produce about 4 million kg or 8.8 million pounds of tea annually which can make approximately 5.5 million cups of tea a day!

Here is the picture of a woman prunning the tender tea leaves with a pair of shearers that has an orange funnel like gadget attached to it. The leaves that she prunned will be trapped into the funnel and she then threw them over her head into the huge basket hanging on her back. The tea leaves are ready for picking 2 years after planting and the same bush is picked once every 3 weeks. I asked how many years of good tea leaves can a tea bush produce and if my memory doesn't fail me, it's either 16 or 26 years.
For those who are interested to know the tea processing details, click here. Other attractions in Camerion Highlands include the Strawberry Farms, Flower Nurseries, Markets, Vegetable Farms, Butterfly Farms, etc. which I do not have all the pictures, but you can find them here.

I would like to share with you the cacti farm. I had never seen so many cacti in my life. The center of attraction was a cactus which was 25 years old. Compare its size to my hand and arms.


You will not be left out on your food. Steam boat (hot pot) is very popular. I like my hot pot with lots of vegetables. This is a modern hot pot using gas with the soup in the pot and the raw meat, seafood, etc. on the table Picture from Wikipedia.

The steamboat below is outdated. It uses charcoal so you see the fire coming from the center. The outer ring is filled with soup which you cook your food when it boils.
Picture Source.

If you have a group, you may want to book for chalets or a bungalow depending on the size you need. There are some hotels there too. I went there a few times and we organized a church retreat there once where the guys planned on playing golf. Unfortunately, the king booked the whole golf course and the guys were disappointed. So we had time to go to places like the waterfalls and walked around the market.

On one occasion, I went on a small jeep and was driven from the bottom to the hill top terrain. I closed my eyes and prayed for our safety so I did not take any pictures to show you. We were cornering or going in circles as we went higher and higher up. I was afraid we would slide downhill. I wonder how the farmers did that for a living traveling up and down constantly on the hills with steep gradients. I wasn't sure whether I would survive on one ride up and down.

Other activities you can do in Cameron Highlands are camping, jungle treking, and mountain hiking besides golfing. My husband simply likes the cool highlands.