Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, July 19-22, 2007

Returning from his second business trip to the US this summer, Pat met me in downtown KL at the Shangri-La Hotel on July 19th (Jen’s 25th birthday) and we drove north to the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia’s most extensive hill station at about 1300-1829 m above sea level. The area is actually within our home state of Pahang, but is only accessible through the state of Perak. The Highlands were named after William Cameron, an English surveyor who mapped the area in 1885. Soon afterwards, tea planters, Chinese vegetable farmers and wealthy colonists arrived to settle the area and escape the heat and humidity of the lowlands.
















We really enjoyed the cooler temperatures for our three-day stay and actually needed a light jacket or sweater in the evenings! The winding roads between the small towns in the Highlands gave way to breath-taking and lush green tea plantations as far as the eye could see.















Typical of the area is the English Tudor-style inn as at Lakehouse, overlooking the lake north of the town of Ringlet. We enjoyed a pint on the outdoor patio of their pub.
















We stayed, however, at YTL’s Cameron Highlands Resort, which has recently undergone a major facelift from the former Merlin Inn Resort. It overlooks the golf course and the busy main road, which we noted had traffic well into the night! We enjoyed their delightful spa which promotes tea baths before each treatment…heavenly! Check out their website at: http://www.cameronhighlandsresort.com/

Above is the main lounge with silk upholstery and window treatments from the Jim Thompson Silk Shop (Bangkok). An American who is credited with having founded the Thai silk industry after World War II, Jim Thompson was holidaying in the Highlands and on Easter Sunday, 1967, he left his villa for a pre-dinner stroll and never returned. His unusual disappearance remains a mystery to this day…was he kidnapped, taken by a tiger, or did he plan his disappearance and commit suicide? It is a strange but compelling story.
















The view from our balcony















Front entrance of the resort
















Market garden stalls line the roads with fresh produce
















Strawberries grown in the Highlands are a treat of "pure gold"-these packets of 15 berries cost about $4.00CAD!















Many of the flowers sold in Malaysia are grown here, particularly roses at RM1 per stem! (That's about 30 cents!) I bought 3 New Guinea impatiens plants for RM10 and enjoyed them outside our front door until early December!
















The BOH Tea Company, which stands for "Best of Highlands" has two plantations and tea rooms you can visit, well worth the lovely walk through the green tea fields.
















You can see the village where the plantation workers live and send their children to school. Many of them are of Indian descent.














Tea bags, anyone? The factory tour was interesting showing us the process from the freshly picked green leaves, to the drying and roasting, then packaging in these heavy sacks! We stocked up on our favourite flavours of BOH tea, some of which aren't available in the local grocery stores.