That morning, I appreciated not having to get up at the crack of dawn. Although we had booked a tour for the day the day before, the van came as agreed to pick us up directly from our hotel — we were the first in the group.
While picking up the others (in a 12-seater minivan), we discovered various accommodations in the region, including one, a little isolated, with a magnificent view and a very local style, like a country inn.
The day's program was divided into four main stages :
- Le Butterfly garden, a nursery housing butterflies, some insects (including scorpions...), as well as a beautiful variety of flowers and cacti;
- The iconic tea plantations of the Cameron Highlands;
- La mossy forest, this strange moss forest perched at the summit of Mount Brinchang;
- And finally, a visit to the factory of the famous BOH Tea company, owner of most of the plantations in the area.
1.Butterfly Gardens
I can't say I was expecting much from it, me and butterflies, you know… Well, it's pretty, that's for sure, but nothing to get excited about.
At least there were some who were delighted, while in the middle we came across a group of Quebecers, clearly amazed by everything they saw.
In addition to butterflies and flowers, one could see insects like these large black beetles, snakes, scorpions, frogs and turtles and, without really knowing why, there was also a nice big turkey… And cacti.
The downside is that it's included in the tour, but not in the price… So you have to pay 5 RM per person to enter…
2. Tea plantations, the heart of the Cameron Highlands
This was already a part that interested me more. The route is quite winding; the van has to squeeze in pretty tightly to let cars and other vehicles pass from the opposite direction. And then we arrive at a viewpoint, the one from which most of the photos you see of the Cameron Highlands are taken.
It's raining a little, but so far it's bearable, even for my camera. Most people are just taking a few shots at the van's stopping point, but I prefer to move slightly further to a spot I'd spotted earlier, offering a better view.
Another Frenchman, traveling with his sister, followed me, remarking that there's always another fellow citizen somewhere…
After this short break of barely 1 minutes, we got back on the road, heading for the summit of Mount Brinchang.
3. Gunung Brinchang and the moss forest
The summit is directly accessible by vehicle, but given the state of the road, it's not easy… but our driver is clearly very skilled. We pass by some vegetable patches (or strawberry patches? I didn't really see them, given the weather…) and progress is rather slow.
After a while, it becomes more of a path than a road, and despite the narrowness of the place, it's obviously not a one-way street… In any case, the fog and rain are definitely here… and when you finally arrive at the parking lot, you get the impression that everyone just wants to stay warm and cozy inside…
Even so, we went down. We can't say it was that cold, and in any case we had anticipated it since we had brought a sweater, but it was mainly the rain, a fine drizzle that was constantly falling, that made the experience slightly unpleasant.
Despite this, everyone politely queues up to the observation tower, and everyone climbs mechanically (except Jitima who didn't want to waste his time), knowing full well that they won't see anything…
From there, the tour normally consists of a short trek in the forest. As a matter of principle, our driver/guide for the day suggested, " Who wants to go trekking? "(meaning in the rain, with fog and rain), needless to say, everyone skipped it and we moved directly to the next step, the mossy forest.
The forest lives up to its name; seeing how damp it is that day, it's not really surprising… But this time, the weather was awful. walked "It went well with the place, because it contributed even more to the slightly mysterious aspect that this moss accumulated on the old intertwined branches gave to this place.
Since we had neither an umbrella nor even a coat, we didn't even bother trying to find shelter; our sweaters were nicely absorbing the raindrops. Surprisingly, even at 2,000 meters altitude, I was surprised it wasn't that cold, and that was a good thing.
Here again, there's usually a viewpoint overlooking the valley, which looks like this (photos from the website) http://www.cameronhighland.net/gunung-brinchang.htm):
We'll get this... Oh well. Some days are like that!
4. BOH Tea Factory
To end this day, head to the tea factory. A well-oiled "machine" since the plantations belong to a single company which therefore brings everyone to the local factory, people admire the view and buy tea as a souvenir...
There's not much to see in the factory; everything is behind glass to keep the workers "in peace" (which makes sense, it's not a museum). In our case, we didn't really care because we'd already seen the process in Sri Lanka with explanations. Nuwara Eliya.
I would take my last photos of my stay there because I didn't have a charger and the batteries discharged much faster than expected... Luckily I already knew Kuala Lumpur, our next stop, otherwise knowing me I would have been particularly frustrated...
The souvenir shop will attract my wife who will leave with a lot of boxes of tea… unfortunately the bag will be forgotten on the bus when we go to Kuala Lumpur that same evening…
Yes, because the visit ended at the very beginning of the afternoon, we decided to take the bus to Kuala Lumpur the same afternoon. It cost us 70 RM for the 2 of us. and the bus stopped in front of our hotel since it is on the right road.
A little detour through the Cameron Highlands, in your opinion, unmissable? Interesting?
