From Vietnam, via Facebook, I was invited by Lum Victor and his wife to enjoy the forests and green tea hills on the plateau at an altitude of 1,500m in the state of Pahang. Cameron is about 250km from Kuala Lumpur, similar to the location of Da Lat compared to Saigon. Uncle Victor picked me up at KL Sentral - the central station of Kuala Lumpur - and drove me to his house in Kepong, about 25 minutes by car from Kuala Lumpur.
Two cute characters in this article
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
Uncle Lum Victor, 65 years old, a Malaysian of Chinese descent, is currently a biology lecturer at Mahsa University in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Although he is Malay, Uncle Victor likes listening to Vietnamese music even though he does not understand the meaning of the lyrics. He has an album of 150 Vietnamese songs by singers Elvis Phuong, Ngoc Lan, Minh Tuyet, Cam Ly... He really likes the song "Hello Vietnam" by Pham Quynh Anh and has many Vietnamese friends on Facebook even though he has never met them.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
Ms. Emily Cheong, Mr. Lum's wife, is 63 years old, retired and a housewife. The night before I returned to Ho Chi Minh City from Kuala Lumpur, Ms. Emily stayed up until 2am to prepare the ingredients for the next morning to cook Barley sweet soup for me. The soup has a light sweet taste, including bo bo, ginkgo, quail eggs and thin tofu sheets. This soup is very effective in cooling down the summer heat.
I knew Uncle Victor through Facebook 2 years ago, occasionally commenting on photos. The first time we met in person was on New Year 2017. My uncle and aunt took me to visit Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon before I went to Ipoh. They didn’t have any children so they treated me like their daughter.
Tour itinerary:
+ Day 1: From Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands. On the way, stop to visit Kuala Woh hot spring, Lata Iskandar waterfall in Perak state, drink tea at Cameron Valley, visit the cactus garden. Have dinner in Tanah Rata town.
+ Day 2: Visit Boh Tea Sungai Palas tea hill, butterfly garden, lavender garden. Dinner at Water Cress Valley.
+ Day 3: On the way from Cameron Highlands to Kuala Lumpur, visit the leaning tower of Teluk Intan (Perak state).
This is my journey of experience.
Day 1:
Explore Kuala Woh hot springs, Lata Iskandar waterfall, Cameron Valley tea plantation, cactus garden.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
There are few foreign tourists who know about Cameron Highlands, but mainly Malaysians who come to relax during major holidays. Not because it is too far, but to get to Cameron Highlands, people can only choose one of two ways: by car or bus. If you choose the first way, you drive continuously for 6 hours through winding mountain passes. If you choose the second way, you spend 4-5 hours by bus or 2.5 hours by ETS high-speed train from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, the capital of Perak state, then take a 2-hour bus to Cameron Highlands.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
At 8:30 a.m., Uncle Victor and Aunt Emily drove me to Cameron Highlands. This is the largest resort in Malaysia with vast tea plantations, strawberry gardens, flowers, vegetables, and honey bees. Located at an altitude of 1,500m above sea level, Cameron Highlands has a cool climate all year round with an average temperature of 23 degrees Celsius during the day and 16 degrees Celsius at night. This place can be called "Malaysian version of Da Lat".
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
The plateau was named after British explorer William Cameron, who put it on the world map in 1885. However, it was George Maxwell who put it on the map of Malaysia in the period 1920-1926. Following in his footsteps were Chinese farmers growing tea, vegetables... and British colonists looking for cool land to escape the heat. There are two factors that make the Cameron Highlands different from other places in Malaysia: temperate fruits and old British villas.
On the way up to the plateau, we passed through the state of Perak and stopped at the Kuala Woh Eco-forest, where we explored the hot springs and the wooden suspension bridge over the stream. At noon, the water from the underground stream flowed through the hollows of the large rocks. Because the rock structure absorbed the heat from the sun, the water around the rocks became very hot. Uncle Victor joked that the water could boil a soft-boiled egg.
The granite slopes and small streams below Lata Iskandar waterfall are like a wonderful symphony of nature.
15km from Kuala Woh is Lata Iskandar Waterfall - one of the 10 most beautiful waterfalls in Malaysia. It runs from Tapah to Cameron Highlands. The granite slopes and the small stream below the waterfall are like a wonderful symphony of nature. When visiting the waterfall, I thought of Datanla Waterfall leaning on Prenn Pass - one of the most poetic passes in Da Lat.
Tea House
We continued driving for 2 hours and then stopped at Cameron Valley tea hill, went into the valley to Tea House. We sat on the balcony with a view of the tea hill in the distance. What could be more wonderful than enjoying a cup of fragrant steaming tea, enjoying the cool air of the plateau and looking out at the green tea hills. The fresh climate and fertile soil have made the tea hills in the plateau grow lushly. In addition, the farmers are diligent, taking care of pruning the leaves and shaping the tea hills to be neat and beautiful.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
Cameron is also home to many rare cacti species in the world. We felt like we were lost in the world of cacti (Cactus Point) located between Brinchang and Kea Farm, freely taking pictures of pots of plants from small to giant. The small, pretty pots of cacti the size of teacups were neatly arranged in rows and rows and by type. The yard was highlighted with red and yellow cacti pots and impressive with large pots of round, thorny cacti growing in mounds.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
The Cameron Highlands used to be a British colony, so the architecture was heavily influenced. Coming here, I felt like I was lost in the English countryside. The Highlands has three major towns: Ringlet, Tanah Rata and Brinchang. Most people choose to stay at the guesthouses in bustling Tanah Rata because of the many shops and restaurants, or choose apartments in the Brinchang area. In the evening, we had a delicious seafood hotpot at Tanah Rata Chinese restaurant.
Day 2:
Enjoy tea, scones and lavender in the Cameron Highlands
In the morning, we visited the most beautiful and famous tea plantation in Cameron Highlands, BOH Tea Sungai Palas, located in Brinchang and about 2km from Kea Farm Market. To get to the BOH Tea factory in Sungai Palas, Uncle Victor drove through a narrow road winding around the tea plantation. This place is open to visitors for free from 9am to 4:30pm, except Mondays.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
BOH Tea is Malaysia’s largest tea brand, with three estates in the Cameron Highlands, namely Sungai Palas, Habu Ringlet and Fairlie Estate. Boh Tea Sungai Palas is the newest of the two, and includes a full-fledged tea plantation, showroom, tea factory, cafe and tea shop.
We visited the factory and watched the tea processing process. Then we went to see the area selling different types of tea such as black tea, herbal tea, peach tea, lemon tea, etc. At noon, we sat and enjoyed mint tea, milk tea and scones at the tea shop located on the tea hill. This is a traditional British culture still preserved in the Cameron Highlands.
Boh Tea Hill has two corridors lined with round logs for visitors to write or draw whatever they like. Most people are excited to write greetings and their names to leave their footprints on the beautiful tea hill in the highlands, and I am no exception.
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
The afternoon was the perfect time for us to visit the butterfly garden and lavender garden, an interesting destination of Cameron. At the butterfly garden, we could play with the colorful butterflies, but were not allowed to catch them outside. Without having to go to Europe, I could see, touch and smell the lavender flowers in the Cameron Highlands. In addition to growing flowers, people sell lavender-related items such as perfumes and essential oils for tourists.
In the evening, Uncle Victor drove us to Water Cress Valley. At first, when I got out of the car and stood in front of the valley, I thought this was a watercress growing area for tourists to visit. When I went down the stairs, I realized that this place was both a vegetable growing area and a restaurant. Water Cress Valley's specialty is watercress drinks and dishes made from this vegetable. I live in Saigon and am very familiar with watercress used to make soups, oil and vinegar dishes with beef, so I was quite excited to use this vegetable to make cool drinks here.
Day 3:
Perak also has a leaning tower!
Photo: Ngoc Hanh, Lum Victor
Returning from the highlands to Kuala Lumpur, we passed through the town of Teluk Intan in Perak state, where we had a friendly lunch with the family of Uncle Victor’s friend from primary school. Famous throughout the town is the leaning tower of Teluk Intan. Locals compare the leaning tower of Teluk Intan to the famous leaning tower of Pisa in Italy.
The 25.5m high wooden tower was built in 1885. It looks like an 8-storey pagoda from the outside, but actually only has the bottom 3 floors. Initially, the tower was built with a large water tank inside to store and supply water to the town and also to prevent fires. However, the water capacity in the tank was too large, along with the loose soil, causing the tower to lean. Since then, it has no longer been used to store water but as a clock tower. This is an interesting place for you when you come to Perak to admire a construction worthy of the "wonder of the world".
After the trip, I felt so happy. Because there is nothing better than having kind locals as guides to learn about the life, unique culture of a new land and fully experience the beauty of Cameron Highlands.
More information:
+ Itinerary:
Air Asia often has promotional programs for cheap tickets for round-trip flights from Hanoi/Da Nang/Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur. This airline lands at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, abbreviated as KLIA 2 - KL International Airport exclusively for Air Asia.
+ Travel:There are 3 ways to get from KLIA 2 to the center of Kuala Lumpur (called KL Sentral)
-Bus takes 75 minutes if there is no traffic jam, costs 12 RM (64,000 VND)
-KLIA Transit train costs 55 RM (290,000 VND), stops 5 stations (KLIA, Salak Tinggi, Putrajaya & Cyberjaya, Bandar Tasik Selatan, KL Sentral)
-The KLIA Ekspres train goes straight for 33 minutes, costs RM55, stops at KLIA and KL Sentral.
You should choose the third option (KLIA Ekspres train) because the travel time is fast.
+ Accommodation:You can choose to stay in guesthouses, hotels or apartments in Tanah Rata or Brinchang. Double room rates start from 600,000 VND per day. During holidays, room rates in Cameron Highlands start from 1,200,000 VND or more.
+ Sightseeing:Famous attractions you cannot miss are Cameron Valley tea hill of Bharat Tea, Boh Tea Sungai Palas tea hill, cactus garden, butterfly garden, strawberry garden, honey bee garden, lavender garden...
+ Activities:Be sure to enjoy afternoon tea in the Cameron Highlands and dinner at Water Cress Valley.
