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Published: January 24th 2013
Tea plantations
This is how I imagined the Highlands - pity the reality is slightly different.Advised by a helpful lady at the front desk not to drive the old road because it is dangerous provided us with a dilemma. Should we follow her advice or that of Trip Advisor, which didn't mention any danger? Dean reasoned that it couldn't be worse than the Black Spur, so we opted for the old road.
The drive started with Eleanor improving her vocabulary (most noticeably the skill of using 'chap' as an adjective) as we admired the scenery and little old wooden stalls clinging to the side of the road selling fruit and vegetables. For the first part of the trip, the road was fine and although the bends were quite spew-worthy, we weren't able to go so fast to make Eleanor feel sick. Once we crossed the border into the next 'state', the road deteriorated pretty quickly into a class C road - as the map suggested. It was like driving from Victoria into NSW. Even then, it really wasn't that bad, despite a few slow trucks and a couple of F1 wannabees. What was awful though, were the hundreds of plastic-covered flower/strawberry/vegetable farms which litter the hillsides. This was not how I imagined the Cameron Highlands
Food camp?
Wasn't conscripted, unfortunately. to be.
Driving into Raja (or Chapville) was almost like being back in Cambodia. Rubbish, poorly constructed and half finished buildings were an eyesore. Earlier in the morning I had read a Trip Advisor account of someone who was bagging the drive, the Highlands and basically everything in the area. I was inclined to agree with this person. Heaps of tour buses were offloading people into the numerous strawberry/fruit mega marts along the road and I just wanted to keep driving straight into KL.
Approaching Tanah Rata, the scenery improved although multi storey buildings cluster around the main road. Developers have had a field day here. We settled into our room (yes, in one of those developments!) and then went for a little walk before settling in for the second part of Lance v Oprah.
The area around the town has quite a few jungle walks, so after Dean did a bit of research, we set off the next morning to tackle number 10. Poorly signposted, we eventually found the trail and proceeded to climb up the challenging path. It was quite steep in parts and certainly required more fitness than I currently possess. The peak afforded
At the top of Gunung Jasar
We found it, despite the best efforts of tourist operators in the region to deter independent travellers... great views of the highlands and I was pleased to see that farming and development have not had their way with all of the surrounding jungles.
We couldn't find the loop path that would take us to jungle walk 11, so we scrambled back down to where the path meets up with 11 at the bottom. This was slightly annoying because we were back tracking but once we were on 11 it was like a walk in the park. After ten minutes or so, the path stopped abruptly due to a massive housing development. And that was the end of our first jungle trek.
I was keen on a traditional afternoon tea at one of the old hotels (Olde English style) but that was easier said than done. A short drive away we located a place with a nice terrace overlooking a lake. In glorious sunshine we ate sandwiches, scones and cakes. My impression of the highlands improved slightly after munching on these treats.
We attempted another jungle walk but it wasn't much chop either. As Eleanor says now, "This is CHAP". Lots of rubbish, no signage and most of it was through developed areas. I have visited
this area 20 years too late.
We enquired at a couple of tour operator type places about joining a one day tour which would take us to the 'highlights' of the highlands (including a giant rafflesia flower). After some consideration, we decided not to take a tour, reasoning that we would see the flower in Borneo on our next trip (yes, we're already thinking about the next trip!). So we decided to see the highlights under our own steam. Clutching our outdated, badly drawn map, Dean drove us up to the mossy forest.
Again, poorly signposted we travelled along narrow, winding roads to reach this spooky forest wonderland. Tea plantations surrounded us and provided an amazing backdrop to our adventure. A wrong turn took us down what should be classified as a lane but it had an even more beautiful view. Once we found the right road, we wound our way up the mountain, pulling over to the left as the occasional car was coming down. I wasn't particularly enjoying the drive from the back seat, imagining a head on at every turn but Dean and Eleanor were having a grand time. Once we finally reached the forest,
Afternoon tea
Scones, cakes, sandwiches and tea in an olde worlde setting - I was able to forget the worst of the Highlands for a while. we ventured into the gloom. Apparently it is better in the morning because the views are spectacular but it was really atmospheric during the afternoon we visited. It was really fantastic to be in this forest as the clouds rolled in. Visibility was about 10 metres and provided some hair raising moments on the drive down.
We stopped at a strawberry farm, butterfly farm and fruit mart on the way down. Unfortunately the tea plantation was closed on Mondays, so we missed that 'highlight' but the narrowness of the road enabled us to have some close encounters of the tea kind.
Despite not being what I expected, the highlands may not be one of the highlights of this trip, but I am glad we visited this area because it wasn't hot and provided us with another view of Malaysia. It mainly caters for the day trippers out of KL or the weekend crowd. Tour companies have a monopoly on activities, which is probably why there are no signs and proper maps. It doesn't cater for the tourist who likes to discover things for themselves so we left with mixed feelings.
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Brad
non-member comment
All good things must......
must be looking forward to coming back on Australia Day with it's plethora of Union Jacks and "For we are we are young and free". Whoever sings this really needs to check out the rock art at Kakadu. Nasi Lemak at the MCG? Wish! Your flight home will be like a Dilip Doshi fielding effort, a reluctant return.