Tea Plantations
No trip to Cameron Highlands is complete without a trip to the tea plantations. This is one of the main attraction that’s got to be in your “must see” list. You can visit the factories to learn about the tea making process and you can also sit down and enjoy a cup of tea at the cafe. The view overlooking the plantations is beautiful and perfect for the picture album.
BOH Plantations Sdn Bhd is the leading tea grower in Malaysia with four tea gardens – Boh, Sungei Palas and Fairlie situated in Cameron Highlands; and Bukit Cheeding in Selangor – constituting a total land area of 1200 hectares. With a production capacity approaching 3000kgs per hectare, the Company produces 4 million kgs of tea annually which translates to about 5.5 million cups per day. This represents about 70% of all tea produced in Malaysia.
This is another tea plantation owned by Boh and it is located further up north from the mail plantation. A definite must on the list of things to do in Cameron Highlands is a visit to the new Sungei Palas Tea Centre. Recently opened by BOH Plantations at the Sungei Palas tea garden, it is just above Brinchang, in the very heart of the Cameron Highlands tea country.
Located on a hilltop, amidst rows of tea bushes and close to Gunung Brinchang, it offers the best possible introduction to Malaysian teas in a truly spectacular setting.
Tourists heading towards Tanah Rata from the old Tapah-Cameron Highlands road will not miss the beautiful Bharat Tea Plantation which covers a whole range of undulating hill slopes. Located only 5km before Tanah Rata, Bharat which was established in 1933 is the second largest tea producer in Cameron Highlands. This tea growing company also has a tea estate in Tringkap town further down along the main Cameron Highlands road where its signature brand ‘Cameron Valley’ tea is produced.
However, its primary Bharat tea estate is the one most visited by tourists as its located just along the main road near Tanah Rata. This particular plantation has two tea houses situated several hundred metres apart, both serving good fresh tea, a variety of cakes, scones and strawberry jam, as well as English biscuits.
Both tea houses sell souvenirs too and receive a good number of visitors during weekends and holidays. But the older one that first greets tourists from the lowland is where one can take a path that leads down the tea estate for visitors to explore the tea plantation. The second tea house, however, has a much larger car park to cater for tourist arriving by cars during the peak season and both centers offer impressive views of the valley.
The amazing nature Cameron Highlands is bestowed with is indeed the main reason for its touristic appeal and top in its natural attraction list must surely be its Mossy Forest. Depending on its location, this forest may also be called Cloud Forest, Elfin Forest, or Upper Montane Forest with all displaying similar characteristics and vegetation that can only be found in a constantly cool, windy, wet, and misty environment.
In Malaysia, the Mossy Forest occupies the ridge and valleys at elevations above 1,800 metres where it is constantly shrouded by mist and lower clouds with temperatures ranging between 10 to 18 degrees Celsius. The Mossy Forest of Cameron Highlands is located at the ridge of the 2032 metre-high Mount Brinchang, the highest mountain in Cameron Highlands. Here, the view of the hills and valleys below and the plains at the distance are magnificent and sunrises and sunsets are amazing.
For those who dare venture at night, the sight of the stars and Milky Way above on clear days and the lights of Ipoh city far below, are exhilarating sights. Distance views apart, the forest here is simply enthralling with a thick layer of soft spongy moss draping every tree and the ground as well. The trees here are also stunted, rarely above 10 metres tall and mostly of the laurel family with rhododendrons which are showy when in bloom, tiny orchids, pitcher plants and other epiphytes, thriving in this environment.
The Mossy Forest of Brinchang is actually one of the easiest spots in world to access a mossy forest with a tarred road reaching right to the peak of the ridge here. There are daily guided tours to the mossy forest organised by various tour operators in Cameron Highlands who will take tourists through the forests using a 400 metre long wooden walkway which was specially built through the forest for a very up, close and personal view of this natural wonder.
