On a cool Sunday morning, we left from Butterworth around 8.30am. After pumping a full tank of petrol and checking the car tyre pressure, we started our journey. With petrol price at RM1.90 per liter, it costs around RM40 one-way to Cameron Highlands, and one full tank of petrol is enough for the drive to Cameron Highlands plus going around visiting the places.
The drive was smooth without much traffic and after one and half hours of drive, we reached the newly constructed Jelapang toll. After paying RM16.80 at this toll and resuming the drive for another 20 minutes, we exit Simpang Pulai (RM1.80 at this toll) to use the new road up Cameron Highlands which is wider and less winding compared to the old road.
At the first two traffic lights after the toll, make right turns. From here, it is all the way to Cameron Highlands. We took a leisurely drive up the mountain while viewing the natural beauty around, and enjoy the cool breezy air.
Around 45 minutes later, we saw the first tourist shop on the right. We didn't stop here but continue on to the next shop, the 88 Holiday Fun Garden, just to look at what it has. They sell tea, honey, groceries, etc. It is not recommended to buy anything from this shop or earlier shop as the price is simply exorbitant. Maybe they are the first few shops so people might be unaware that cheaper products can be purchased further on at Brinchang, where there are more choices and prices are more competitive.
A couple of shops later on, it was already 12pm and we decided to stop at the 99 CH Family Food Center to have lunch there. There were chicken rice stall, economy rice stall and fried koay teow stall. The place was infested with flies though, so we would recommend trying other places with less cleanliness issues.
After lunch, we continue our journey to Bharat Tea Estate a.k.a Cameron Valley. We took pictures of the tea estate and bought some tea products there. Although it is not the best tea estate but it is definitely the more accessible one (along the road to Brinchang town) compared to 'Boh' Tea estate at Sg.Palas (more about that later). Disappointing thing about Bharat Tea Estate is there is no guided tour on tea plantation, tea extraction, etc.
There are many stalls along the road. At one of the stalls, we stopped and bought a small bottle of honey. Honey price is not cheap in Cameron Highlands. They range from RM28-RM35 for a big bottle and RM18-RM20 for a small bottle. One word of advice is bargain. We manage to bargain for RM12 for the small bottle of honey at the road side stall (later we bought the exact same honey for RM9 at Kea Farm). We also bought a pack of strawberry for sample back in the hotel.
We made a stop at one of the mini mart and bought strawberry jam and dried strawberry. Two bottles of strawberry jam for RM10 is pretty reasonable.
A little while more, we saw the Sg.Palas 'Boh' tea estate signboard and decided to go for it. The road to the tea estate is one of the most narrow and curvy we have ever driven on. Imagine almost 2 km of one-way road, next to you is the ravine and a car coming at you. When you see one coming, you have to look for the widest part of the road and just wait there for the other car to squeeze through. Also, remember to honk at the curves as it is impossible to know whether there is a car coming at the opposite direction! The horrible part is some unthoughtful drivers who drives so fast even though they know that there are traffic coming the opposite direction.
But Sg. Palas 'Boh' tea estate is a nice place. Despite the horrendously dangerous one-way road, it is worth a visit at least one time. You should go there to experience the drive and the place itself. The place is well design and well taken care. After parking at the designated car park, there is a 200m pathway of steps leading up to the tea estate. There is a nice sky cafe where you can enjoy tea. We guessed they try not to be too English like hence there was no scone to go with the tea. From the sky cafe, the view of the tea farm is simply picturesque.
Here they also have guided tour on tea plantation, tea extraction, etc. We bought some tea products. Not sure if it is any cheaper to buy them here than from hypermarkets like Tesco, Carrefour, Giant, etc. We spent quite a while there until it was nearly time for them to close about 4.30pm since it probably is our first and last trip to 'Boh' unless they do something to widen the road. 'Boh' estate can ease the way to the estate at least by putting safety mirrors at the curves as it is impossible to see the opposite traffic. Setting up traffic lights at narrow one lane part to allow only one traffic to move at a time would really help. As we left, we still see cars coming in. It could be that they are not aware that the place closes at 4.30pm or they must have started their journey thinking that they can make it to the place before it close but little did they know the road is so narrow, it takes really long time to get in.
Next stop was at Cactus Point. We bought two pots of plants for RM9. By then we were already tired and decided to drive through Brinchang straight to the hotel and check-in at 5 pm. After rest and shower, we headed out for dinner at Brinchang town. We had steamboat set dinner for two persons that cost RM15 per person. The portion was quite a lot but the quality was average. Just share the set for one person and try other food in the Brinchang town.
The next morning, we had breakfast in the hotel. We could see Old Smokehouse from our hotel room. Strawberry Park Resort is also nearby so we decided to take a look in case we would want to stay there in our next trip. The drive up to Strawberry Park Resort is also winding and land slide prone. A night at Strawberry Park Resort costs RM450 upwards (http://www.strawberryparkresorts.com/html/rates.html). Having to cope with the winding road to the hotel and everytime you want to go out, we decided it is not the place we want to stay next time.
At the foot of Strawberry Park Resort is the Kasimanis Strawberry farm. We recommend this place if you would like to get strawberries from Cameron Highlands. They let you sample the strawberry and also the prices are reasonable. You can get a box of chunky strawberry for RM5 here. Elsewhere a box of pathetic small strawberry was going for RM4. The chunky ones are sweeter.
Then we stopped at the Multicrop Central Market. This is a place worth to stop by in our opinion. They sell lots of things - plants, vegetables, pots, stones, key chains, etc. But remember we warned you not to buy (or cheated to buy) any roses from the stall outside Multicrop Central Market. They sell 'treated' roses. A packet of 3 stalks cost RM2.50! You will find way better deal at Kea Farm where a packet of 6 stalks is RM3. There is a cafe inside the Multicrop Central Market. We were little hungry and decided to try the hot drink and apple strudels.
Beside the Multicrop Central Market is the Uncle Sam Farm. Can't really say what is worth to buy here except for the cherry tomato. RM6 for one kg of cherry tomatoes and you get to pick from the basket and the cherry tomatoes are huge. At other place, not only are the tomatoes small and comes pre-packed, they are also expensive, RM7-RM8 per kg.
Next stop was Kea Farm. Look out for the first stall on the right. The Malay lady here sell honey very cheap. Small bottle of honey - RM9, elsewhere RM18-RM20. Big bottle of honey - RM14, elsewhere RM28-RM35. We had lunch at the Strawberry View Restaurant. The food is good. It was already 4pm, time to head back home.
It was a nice trip to Cameron Highlands. There is still so much to be explored in Cameron Highlands. Share with us your own trip to Cameron Highlands, places that you recommend for food or buying Cameron Highlands products.
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