Cameron Highland : The journey

YES, we just came back from CAMERON HIGHLAND. With my family of 5ive and my mom. 

I browsed through a few weather forecast websites prior to our departure and it stated that there will be thunderstorm throughout our stay in Cameron. But it turned out Cameron was sunny for three days and not that cold at all. Alhamdulillah.

I have rented a fully-furnished apartment (for Muslim) with 3 bedrooms and 2 toilets at Tanah Rata. It has complete cooking utensils and the most important thing is our rented unit is located at the ground floor. I chose Tanah Rata because it is the biggest town in Cameron Highland and has the most number of facilities and amenities. It is also more relaxing and not too crowded as to compare with Brinchang. Brinchang is only 4km away. 

This is our apartment. Next to Heritage Hotel.

On the first day, we didnt have specific plan on which place to go first.  I have the list of places that we HAVE TO VISIT, but not in particular order. So we just went up to Brinchang and stopped by at any of these places which have available parking space. School break means that there are hundreds of cars on the narrow road all the times and we have to be very observant and quick should we need to park. Our first stop was at the Bee Farm. 

I am a fan of bees and honey :) This is where they keep the bees for educational (and honey production?) purposes. We are free to walk in the farm with bees flying around us. Nazran was freaked out so we kept our visit short.

Then we stopped at Kea Farm and the famous Brinchang Night Market (photos will be added later).

The next day, we went to Sungei Palas Boh Tea Plantation. The  journey up was a bit crazy and scary because the road is too narrow. Then we have to walk up another 200m from the parking lot to reach the visitor centre. We choose to walk between the tea bushes on the way up (not recommended for 7 months pregnant women [me] and warga emas [my mom] - it was so torturing) and we went down via proper road. 

See the housing area down there? We parked the car over there and walk through the tea plantation to reach the visitor centre. This is not even at the top yet.

After enjoying various type of freshly brewed hot tea (we chose passion fruit, mango and vanilla tea) and some freshly baked bread and strawberry tarts at the cantilevered Tea'Ria, we headed to the tea shop and the factory. On the way down, we diverted to Mountain Strawberry Farm, near to the tea centre. 

My mom and my kids were having fun harvesting fresh organic vegetables and play with rabbits, chickens and goats. The farm management has assigned one worker to every group of visitor. It was great to have an experienced guide because the trip will be more structured and you will save more time. He gave advise on how to grow vegetables, which vege is ready to be harvested and how to do it correctly. 

We had strawberry popsicles, strawberry milkshake and fresh strawberry juice near the fish pond. It is not that we are the biggest fan of strawberry but they only have strawberry-based beverages on the menu. The most interesting part is they teach my kids the step-by-step of making the strawberry juice and strawberry milkshake.

Then we stopped at the S'Corner where you can pluck your own mushroom. There are many types of mushrooms ready to be harvested but we just bought the packed mushroom ;p

At night, we went to a couple of souvenir shops at Tanah Rata.

On the last day, we went to *again* souvenir shop at Tanah Rata and Kea Farm.

Then we headed north to Tringkap where we stopped by at another Bee Farm and Cameron Valley Tea Plantation. This plantation is more friendly because it is located at the roadside and the tea bushes is located next to the parking lots. No more tiring climb to the top.

Afterwards, we made an unplanned stop at Avant Chocolate Factory. This is the first time we heard about this gourmet chocolate factory. We bought a pack of strawberry coffee and of course, chocolates.

Since I was already worn out, I had to pass my husband's offer to stop by at flower farm in Blue Valley. I am not a fan of flower so it is ok. We headed back to KL via Simpang Pulai. The road is wider and less winding as via Tapah. 

It was a great journey. I love it more because my husband suggested to bring my mom along :) She enjoyed it very much.

More entry on our Cameron's homemade breakfast (here) and evening snack / dinner (here). Thanks to my friends Reeza, Karimah and Fahimi for sharing some pointers on the trip to Cameron Highland prior to our departure.