When I visit a country for the first time—like I did recently in Malaysia—I always want to see everything right away. Ideally, the whole country at once. That’s pretty unrealistic. So I try to plan my trip so that I visit just a few areas—but ones that are as diverse as possible. Fortunately, that works well in Malaysia; the country is small, and you can get around quickly and comfortably by bus, train, car, plane, or boat.
So after a weekend in Kuala Lumpur, I took the bus to the Cameron Highlands, to Tanah Rata. In the middle of the interior, in the middle of the mountains, in the middle of the tea plantations. Pure nature. And pretty much the complete opposite of busy Kuala Lumpur. And the fresh air. A little cooler – but pleasant in summer. And the nature here was really good for me: you can find out everything you can do in the Cameron Highlands in this article!
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Cameron Highlands: Malaysia’s tea paradise
The tea plantations ensure that the landscape is dotted with lush green fields. This is because only the very young, light green leaves are picked for our tea, while the older, dark green leaves remain on the bush. And so the tea plantations stretch like a bright green blanket over the mountain landscape of the Cameron Highlands. Incidentally, the tea plantations here are – how could it be otherwise – a legacy of the British, who found perfect conditions here in colonial times to grow their beloved tea. Mild tropical climate, not too hot, not too cold.
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Original BOH tea from the Cameron Highlands
Around the time I was in Malaysia, I became an absolute tea drinker. And after being able to enjoy really good tea right at the source in the Cameron Highlands, so to speak, I am now quite discerning when it comes to good tea.
But luckily I can now order my tea happiness from the Cameron Highlands directly to my home! In the Salacca tea house you will find a wide variety of BOH tea from Malaysia!
And it wasn’t just the tea that the English brought with them, but also plenty of Land Rovers to get them through the adventurous landscape. To this day, the world’s highest density of Land Rovers can be found in the Cameron Highlands!
Sunrise in the Cameron Highlands: the magic of nature
As a city kid, I never considered myself particularly close to nature. But that’s been changing for a while now. Maybe it’s because of my age—oh dear. Or maybe it’s because Berlin, the city where I live, is just too much of a city: too rough, too gray, too crowded. That’s annoying and sometimes makes my enthusiasm for city life fade. In other cities, on the other hand, I find my way around right away. New York, Bangkok, São Paulo—it doesn’t matter. Big cities are my territory. And they don’t impress me at all anymore, because there’s no challenge.
What really blows me away: a simple sunrise. In Berlin, you might catch one at most on your way home from a club. But a sunrise over the mountains of the Cameron Highlands, filled with lush green tea plantations and pristine tropical forest—that’s truly mind-blowing. And suddenly you’re drawn into this vast, everyday natural world—and you feel so small yourself.
The Mossy Forest in the Cameron Highlands
The tea plantations are certainly impressive. But in the Cameron Highlands, you’ll also come across a strip of rainforest, high up in the mountains. It’s humid and covered in moss from top to bottom.
It takes an incredibly long time for it to grow just a few millimeters. That’s why there’s a section of the Mossy Forest that you can explore via a wooden walkway—and it’s best to do so early in the morning, because otherwise you’ll have to share this impressive natural experience with many other tourists.
Tips for the Cameron Highlands: Enjoying Tea and Hiking
There are two major producers with tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands: BOH Tea and Bharat. Both operate visitor centers where you can buy tea, sample it, and watch it being produced. Or you can simply take a walk through the green fields. That’s nice, too.
There are numerous hiking trails around Tanah Rata. They are not necessarily well signposted, but pretty much every accommodation has more or less accurate maps. But you should be really careful, the paths are sometimes adventurous and lying injured somewhere in the Malaysian jungle is stupid. So it’s better to set off at least in pairs and always have a small survival kit with water, cell phone, etc. with you.
By the way, the strawberry farms are another major tourist attraction in the Cameron Highlands. But that didn’t really blow me away. The Butterfly Farm is small and easy to navigate, but it still gives you a nice sense of the surrounding nature. And that’s where I saw butterflies for the first time that were as big as (and looked almost like) bats.
Overnight stay in the Cameron Highlands or Tanah Rata
Accommodations in Tanah Rata are more expensive than elsewhere in terms of value for money—and also much simpler. But that’s okay, because in the Cameron Highlands you’re just walking around all day anyway, and by evening you’ll fall into bed exhausted from all that fresh air and natural beauty. Two popular places to stay (which were even recommended to me by my Uber driver in Kuala Lumpur) are Gerard’s Place and Father’s Guesthouse, which are part of the same establishment and have a similar style: simple rooms, but functional, with a friendly, sociable backpacker atmosphere.
Tanah Rata has a good selection of restaurants and cafés—even a Starbucks, for those who just can’t do without it. But I found the best breakfast right on the side of the road, at one of the self-service stands with plastic stools and folding tables. It came with lots of rice, chili, and sickly sweet Nescafé. Sounds bizarre. It was. And incredibly delicious.
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