As someone who spent way longer than necessary in the Cameron Highlands (5 nights) and, to my own detriment, attempted every type of tourist activity possible, I believe it is my duty to guide any prospective visitor away from my mistakes and show you how to properly do the Cameron Highlands.
My first hardship, before even arriving, was finding out how on earth to get there. Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh are Cameron Highlands’ main transport links, so a bus from either two is your safest bet, however if you are taking a bus to either, before your final journey, make sure you spend the night. The unreliability of Malaysian transport makes booking two buses in one day very risky. I will say, the road from Kuala Lumpur is extremely windy so if you’re a nauseous traveller, anti-sickness tablets may come in handy.
If you are struggling to know where to stay, Tanah Rata has the most accommodation and restaurants. It also has the added benefit of housing the bus station, meaning only a short walk to your hostel. I highly recommend Roti Canai for breakfast here, most places offer it for 40p or less!
Upon arriving in Cameron Highlands, you’ll be struck by two major things, the lack of transport and dogs. Opposed to Thailand's solo weathered looking strays, the dogs here are fit and healthy. They are pack animals and will often be spotted running around barking together. This can be intimidating, particularly if, like me, you are a bit wary of dogs. But, if you avoid eye contact and generally just act like they aren’t there they aren’t an issue: the lack of transport however, is. Traffic is ridiculously bad on weekends and mid day so taxi’s only really run in the early morning and evening, if at all. I had plenty of instances where taxi’s wouldn’t accept a request on account of traffic jams. The main way to resolve this would be to hire your own transport but if you aren’t rich enough to hire a car and don’t feel comfortable driving a moped on busy main roads, DO NOT try to organise all of your transport yourself. I spent most of my days waiting hours for Grab to respond or passers by to acknowledge my hitchhiking attempts. Taking the hit to your backpacking pride by booking onto pre-organised tours is certainly THE best way to get around.
So what is actually worth seeing?
Tea is the main highlight of Cameron Highlands and the plantations are a great day out. If you’re a bit more upper class than us backpackers you may be interested in the only place that grows white tea, a rarity: Cameron Valley plantation. However, for the majority of us, BOH tea plantation is the main attraction when it comes to tea. The visitor centre provides a great view of the rolling hills of tea and if you want tea, buy it here; it’s cheaper than all the shops and markets and has far better options.
The second biggest attraction is hiking, especially through the Mossy forest. The Mossy Forest is a must see and you’ll need a guide to get there. Do not follow my repeated mistaken attempts to reach the forest, it isn’t accessible without an authorised vehicle; just book a tour! There are, however, other hiking routes around the Cameron Highlands that are free to access and most start in Tanah Rata. I would, however, suggest downloading Maps.Me as, because of the trails' difficulty and off-piste nature, they aren’t visible on the standard Google Maps and you will struggle for service up most of the mountains the trails take you to.
I also went to: A Strawberry field, the Cactus garden, the Lavender garden, Sam Pho Temple, Kea Farm market and Golden Hills night market. Taking advice from the numerous ill-informed top 10s on Google I found myself at all of these places, struggling arduously, paying an arm and a leg and waiting a century to acquire transport between each, solely because I had time to fill. Strawberries from the markets are often imported from China so if you’re adamant on trying an authentic Cameron Highlands strawberry then going directly to the fields may be worth it, otherwise, the activities on this list are not at all worth your time and money. It was only because I booked far too many days in Cameron Highlands that I ended up spending money at these tourist traps which would only become worthwhile if you’ve never seen a cactus before or desire a sense of deja vu erected by market stalls lined with identical products.
How many days should you spend there?
Cameron Highlands can be wrapped up in 1 day. A morning half-day tour comprising the plantation and Mossy forest, a trek in the afternoon, and if you really do desire, an evening visit to a strawberry plantation will have made sure you see everything necessary before you leave. Of course, should you wish to perouse a night market and see cacti an extra day might be handy but any more will leave you, like me, bored stiff and wasting money at a lavender garden in the middle of nowhere when you're not even really fond of the smell. My only exception would be for the avid hikers out there who want to test each and every trail the Highlands has to offer.
The Cameron Highlands is a cold break from an otherwise hot Malaysian climate, but don’t make this break too long. Spend a day or two fulfilling activities that you actually want to do and then leave, don’t be scared of the dogs and don’t rely on taxi’s.