We were making our way south to Singapore, where we would be flying to Melbourne, Australia in a few weeks. The next stop along the way was the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia for some cooler temperatures, hiking, and tea plantations. We booked a bus from Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia to the Cameron Highlands (Tanah Rata) online at easybook.com through Billion Star Express. We read reviews for several companies, and it didn’t seem like any were great, so we picked based on time of departure (1:15 pm). The storefront for Billion Star Express is near the Prangin Mall, where they printed our bus tickets for us from our printed online reservation form and pointed us to the New Asian ticket window across the street about one block south. We waited here for about an hour before a van picked up us and five other people. We then drove about 10 minutes to the bus station where we boarded a large, nice bus with reclining seats, feet rests, and USB outlets. After about 15-20 minutes waiting on the bus, we finally set off for Cameron Highlands!
We made several stops along the way, picking up and dropping off people in Butterworth and Ipoh (long enough for a bathroom break), as well as getting gas. We arrived in Tanah Rata around 6:30 pm. The bus left an hour late, so the overall trip was only about 4.25 hours. It dropped us off at the bus station just across from the Marybrown and 7-Eleven. The walk to our hotel (Father’s Guesthouse) was only about 10 minutes. Father’s Guesthouse was perfect for us – there are two buildings with a variety of room types ranging from shared bunk beds and bathroom to private double rooms with bathroom. We obviously opted for the private room since it was only $23 USD per night. The guesthouse has several shared patio/outdoor spaces that are great for enjoying a nice cup of coffee or tea and playing a board game (several available for use). The people at the front desk are very willing to help you book tours or plan a day of hiking. It is also conveniently located in town – only a 5-minute walk to the main street. We initially booked three nights but extended for an additional night because we enjoyed it so much in the Cameron Highlands.
Father’s Guesthouse 
Tanah Rata
Day 1
On our first day in the Cameron Highlands, we wanted to hike. Since the popular thing to do here is see the tea plantations, we had booked a tour of one of the larger plantations for the following day (more on that below). So, for our hike, we wanted to explore a different area and plantation around town than the one we would see on the tour – Cameron Valley Tea Plantation. Father’s Guesthouse has plenty of hiking maps available with the latest trail conditions; the trails are also on the AllTrails or maps.me apps and detailed by many people online. Based on reviews, it seemed that Trail 10 is a favorite in the area. Trail 10 can then combine with Trail 6 to go to the Cameron Valley Tea house (sounded like a great end to our hike). We set off on the hike after lunch.
The start of Trail 10 requires you to walk through a construction site – not sure what happens to the trailhead once construction is finished. The trail up gets very steep at times, but typically there were enough tree roots and indentations, so it wasn’t too tricky. I’ll also note that Patrick and I only had our standard travel sneakers and not hiking shoes for our hike but did just fine! It took us about 35-40 minutes to reach the top, which is located at the utility tower. Fortunately, it was a clear day, so the views of Tanah Rata and the Cameron Tea Valley in the distance were very nice – well worth the hike. We continued up a very short ways around the utility tower to get views looking west as well.
We then continued down on Trail 6 towards the tea house. The top half of this trail is extremely steep and consists of loose gravel/sand. My shoes didn’t have enough traction, so I slipped a lot on the way down (nothing crazy, just had to go slowly). Patrick managed just fine in his shoes. It took us about 30-minutes to traverse the steep section before the path leveled out. The trail takes you through farmed land used for various vegetables until you reach a small “town” where many of the farm workers live. At this point, you can either continue through the “town” or take a shortcut along a small stream (not sure what this looks like during rainy season). We opted for the latter and it was a very nice setting, eventually leading us through the tea plantation itself! In total, the hike took us about 2 hours and 20 minutes (40 minutes on Trail 10 and 1 hour and 40 minutes on Trail 6).
There are two tea houses at the Cameron Tea Valley Plantation, both set up high on the hillside along the road above the tea plants. It was a steep climb up to Tea House #1, but the views are incredible! We had to purchase a wristband for walking Trail 6 (since its on private property) for 3 rm each. You would have to purchase this if you wanted to explore the lower area and walk through some of the tea plants, so this was no problem for us. At the tea house, we ordered our well-deserved tea and cake. We tried the regular black tea and the black currant tea, along with the blueberry cheesecake and oreo cheesecake. We preferred the latter selections on both counts. We relaxed at Tea House #1 for about an hour. One of the employees suggested we walk over to Tea House #2 to see that as well. The walk is along the busy road and is further than you think! We preferred Tea House #1 (a little smaller and quieter), so we wouldn’t recommend this walk. From Tea House #2, we were able to order a cab (asked one of the employees) and we driven back to town since this walk would have been long and dangerous on the busy road (although we did see some people attempting it). The cab ride was only about 10 minutes and cost 20 rm – well worth it.
For dinner, we went to Restaurant Kumar for the second night in a row in town. Both nights we ordered the tandoori chicken sets, drinks (coke and lassi), and a roti canai, all for 40 rm ($10 USD). The chicken was delicious – ultimately, we ate here three nights of our four.
Day 2
We had booked a half-day tour of the mossy forest and the BOH Tea Plantation that started at 8 am through Cameron Secrets. There were five others that joined us on the tour, plus the tour guide. Our first stop was the mossy forest. It took about 40 minutes to drive there on some windy, bumpy roads (I was glad I took my motion sickness pills). We were also sitting sideways in the back of a land rover (set up like a songthaew) which made for an uncomfortable ride.
Our tour guide Steve was very engaging and clearly felt very passionate about the forest. He took us on a short walk outside the mossy forest entrance to show us some of the plants and explain how the native forest people (many still live in the forest today) use them – medicines, food, skin applications (mosquito repellent, snake bites), and makeup. Steve had spent about 5 years living with the native forest people, so had great knowledge to share! It was a good 30-minute chat. Then we paid an additional 30 rm (on top of the tour price) to enter the mossy forest and walk the boardwalk. This is a very overpriced experience – the walk took about 30 minutes out and back, but there is nothing spectacular to see. We did have good, clear weather though, so the views from the boardwalk observation tower were nice but crowded. I will also note that it was quite chilly in the mossy forest early in the morning! After the boardwalk, Steve told us more about some of the animals in the forest – monkeys, huge poisonous centipedes, poisonous snakes, and several more.
Our second stop was the BOH (Best of Highlands) Tea Plantation. On the drive down, Steve let us out of the car for a short downhill walk so we could enjoy the views of the tea plantation. He met us further down the hill and explained tea plantation process. Steve’s father worked in the tea fields, so he grew up on the BOH Tea Planation. The BOH Tea Plantation was started and is owned by a Scottish family. Currently, the great-granddaughter of the founder, Caroline Russell, owns the plantation. She resides in England but comes to Malaysia every June to check on things (and lives in a beautiful white castle in the plantation hills while she does so). The plantation is run/managed by local Malays. There are 136 workers on the plantation, 80 of which are females. The females are not permitted to work in the fields, but rather work in the factory and the tea shop. The field workers are broken into four groups and all rotate between the lower hills (easier) and the higher hills (more difficult) daily to keep them from burning out. Women/factory workers are salaried and must work 8 hours per day. The field workers are paid per kilogram of tea harvested to keep workers motivated). They get 0.36 rm per kg and can typically pick 200 kg per day, so about 2,000 rm ($500 USD) per month. However, field workers can choose to work as much or as little as they choose. In addition, all workers get free housing, medical treatment, schooling for children, day-care, movies and access to places of worship.
The tea process is also very interesting. Tea plants are trees but they keep them trimmed at around knee to waist level to make harvesting easier. Only the top, lighter leaves are picked; the dark leaves at the bottom of the plant remain. The lighter, newer leaves take about 21 days to grow until they reach a height of about one foot above the darker leaves, at which time they are picked. If you wait too long afterwards, the newer leaves durn darker and become unusable. So, the pickers rotate between areas on the plantation on a 21-day cycle. They use individual scissor cutters or a 2-person operated cutter tool (only in the lower tea areas because it is too difficult to lug this up higher in the hills). The tea leaves can be used to make black, green, or oolong tea, depending on how they are processed. However, most of the tea made here is black tea (since the British used to drink mostly this). About four months ago, BOH started producing some green tea as well. In addition, they sell their tea leaves to Lipton. The tea plant on the BOH Plantation is called “Camellia Sinensis”.
After Steve finished explaining the process, we got back in the car and drove to the tea factory. Here, we enjoyed a free tour of the factory (short) and received another explanation of the process (drying, rolling, fermentation, drying again, sorting). Then we relaxed and enjoyed some Palas Supreme black tea with a slice of strawberry cheesecake overlooking the tea plantation. This tea house is clearly more visited than the Cameron Valley Tea House and is set up to accommodate more people. We still enjoyed it, but preferred Cameron Valley Tea House #1. After our cups of tea, we rejoined the group back at the car.
An option as part of the tour is to be dropped off in Brinchang (the neighboring town of Tanah Rata) for lunch and can walk back to Tanah Rata on Trail 4. We elected to be dropped off here instead of back at our hotel so we could enjoy an afternoon leisurely walk. Patrick and I got lunch at a Malay Nasi Campor vendor (typically buffet-style Malaysian food, delicious)! Then we set off on Trail 4. The first part is along the main road but there is sidewalk for most of it. We passed a Hindu Temple and then reached the turn off for the golf course. We followed this around to the strawberry farm (we poked our heads in, but there isn’t much to see or do here). Then we continued on Trail 4, an easy, paved forest walk, until we got back to Tanah Rata. The walk was very pleasant and probably took about an hour. We relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon and then got dinner at Singha Chapati since it had good reviews online. It was fine, but the food lacked flavor. We much preferred Restaurant Kumar for Indian food in Tanah Rata.
Day 3
There’s not much to write about for this day, as we used it to relax, enjoy tea on the patio, write some blog posts, work on some crossword puzzles, read, and play some board games. The weather was absolutely perfect for a day of relaxation. For breakfast, we visited a covered strip of stalls about a block from our hotel, situated off the main street. We also ate here on our first morning. There are several items to choose from, including roti canai, fried chicken, nasi lemak and campur. Very cheap and delicious! For dinner we ate at Restaurant Kumar again (why mess with a good thing?).
Overall, we loved the Cameron Highlands and would recommend to anyone visiting Malaysia! Next stop – Kuala Lumpur.