Malaysia — Exploring the Cameron Highlands
A fun few days in The Highlands
August 2015
William Cameron (a government surveyor) discovered the Cameron Highlands in 1885. Sir George Maxwell, Chief Secretary from 1920 to 1926, "was responsible for putting the Cameron Highlands on the map of Malaysia”.
Now that is what the information board at the BOH Tea Plantation said. I’m uncertain if "was responsible for putting Cameron Highlands on the map of Malaysia” meant he literally put the area on a map or he made it famous.
I assume it means that Maxwell made the place famous because he helped the area develop a hill station. And this attracted people to the area because of the cool weather.
Besides the cool weather (average temperature of 23 ºC, compared to 32 ºC in the lowlands), the area also has fertile soil. The soil and the low temperatures mean that certain crops could be grown that can't be grown in other parts of Malaysia. For example, strawberries. And there are a lot of strawberries in the Cameron Highlands.
Today, apart from farming, the Cameron Highlands is one of the largest hill resorts in Malaysia, with three towns: Ringlet, Brinchang and Tanah Rata.
As with everywhere in Malaysia, I was spoilt for choice when it came to eating out. As usual, I managed to get three excellent meals.
Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia. I had a very good Tandoori set meal (tandoori chicken, plain naan, lentil curry, and two other sauces), plus a side order of cheese naan (I loved the cheese naan in Malaysia).
For lunch, on the second day, I ate at the Restoran Highlander, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia. The lunch stop was part of the Hill Top Tour I was doing. Lunch was a typical Malaysian Indian buffet consisting of vegetable and meat curries served with rice. It was all very good.
On my last evening, I ate at Rosette Restaurant, Tanah Rata (Main Road), Tanah Rata, Pahang, Malaysia. At the Rosette Restaurant, I had a delicious ginger beef and rice dish (with a fried egg) at a reasonable price. Rosettes also had free Wi-Fi.
Overall, I would describe my visit to the Cameron Highlands as great fun and would say the are is worth visiting.
My Next Stop
Perth, Australia, was my next stop after the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.
Going to Perth as part of a ‘world tour’ of SE Asia may seem odd. Still, as I was in the area, and I wanted to visit Australia to catch up with friends. Plus I also wanted to visit the Pinnacles, which I have been trying to see for nearly 18 years. On all my previous visits to Perth, I had somehow managed not to get there. Also, I wanted to take a look at Stromatolites in Lake Thetis.
