MALAYSIA – CAMERON HIGHLANDS

JANUARY 2-6, 2026

Cameron Highlands is a popular hill station in Pahang. It is known for its cool climate, lush tea plantations, vibrant flower gardens, strawberry farms, and hiking trails. We went because we heard it was nice.

It had a very alpine feel to it. It was noticeably cooler, but by no means cold. Many of the buildings were leftovers from the British occupation.

However, it is evident that tourism is taking over. Big modern buildings were crowding for space.

We had a beautiful place to stay. Oastel Co-Living offered little apartments with each bedroom rented out. We got to meet other travelers while we relaxed in the shared living room.

Our first day had us hike out to PARIT FALLS. It was a short walk from the town. There were many, many stairs up and down taking us to the falls.

When we finally reached the falls we were rather disappointed.

However, the trail was so lovely we decided to walk back the same way, rather than taking the short cut back to town.

We had read that there was another set of waterfalls on the other side of town. Google Maps said the falls were closed. Strange…. However, we met a local who assured us the water may not be pristine, but the falls were not closed. He gave us directions for a shortcut. We walked through a lovely park, still decorated for Christmas.

Past SRI SUBRAMANIR ALAYAM TEMPLE, with its colourful lane.

We walked up to the Temple. There were chalk RANGOLI DESIGNS on the cement in front of the temple.

On the wall behind the temple were pictures of all the major deities and an explanation of who they are and what they protect. It was quite informative.

We continued to walk past hundreds of greenhouses and up to the hospital, where the man said to take a right and Robinson waterfalls would be right there. I had to look at Google Maps again, where it told me that we were indeed close, but there was not trail or road that we could see. We headed back into town, where I treated myself to an hour long $15 foot massage.

The next day we booked a tour. Our first stop was the MOSSY FOREST. We did not make it up to the actual top of the mountain as there was a landslide a few days prior. However, we did get the short version of the forest. We were supposed to have a 2 km walk over a boardwalk, instead we had a 1 km trek that had us scrambling up steep slopes, grasping onto roots and branches, over fallen trees and roots, under low hanging branches and along a razor edge.

Due to the elevation of 1,500 – 2000 m (5,000 – 6500 ft) low-level clouds blanket the forests with constant mist and moisture – creating an ideal biotope for moss, ferns, lichen and orchids. The trees got shorter and shorter the higher up we went. The ground was spongy and bouncy, like a trampoline, because of the layers and layers of moss. Everything was covered in moss. What little dirt remained was slippery from the moisture. We all came back with muddy shoes and trousers.

From the Mossy Forest we went to BOH TEA PLANTATION. It is the country’s oldest and largest tea plantation. It covers 4000 acres. They have a small village for their workers that even has a hospital and daycare. When we got there it was foggy and we couldn’t see anything. By the time we went through the short factory tour the weather cleared and we could see the beautiful hills covered in tea bushes. Did you now that the bushes are cut back to keep them short? Otherwise, they would grow into a huge tree.

From the BOH plantation, we went to the BUTTERFLY FARM. It had only a few butterflies in a small enclosure.

The other creatures made up for the lack of butterflies. I got to hold a rhinoceros beetle. It had hooks on its legs that ripped my skin when the caretaker tried to pry it off my hand.

To call it a Butterfly Farm was misleading. There were weird bugs, lizards, birds, racoons, alpacas, guinea pigs, kangaroos, Bengal cats, hedgehogs, fish, and frogs. I wish we could have spent more time there.

After lunch we went to KEA FARM MARKET. It was super crowded so we did not wander far. One thing I noticed is that considering Cameron Highlands is noted for its strawberries, they were ridiculously expensive.

We then went to an actual strawberry farm. They grow the berries in a greenhouse and irrigate them to prevent them from getting drown from natural rain. The green house was massive.

On the topic of greenhouses, Cameron Highlands has thousands! It is considered the bread basket for Malaysia. This area used to produce up to 40% of the veggies for the country. Due to labour shortages, that production number has dropped to under 20%. They grow nearly 50 kinds of food items, ranging from strawberries to corn. Many greenhouses have transitioned to growing flowers; currently a more financially lucrative product. Farmers are adopting high-tech solutions like automation, hydroponics, and climate control to ensure consistent quality and yield. Companies are exploring sustainable methods, reducing labor dependency, and improving energy efficiency, with initiatives supported by government and international partners. Hopefully, this will bring their production back up.

After the strawberry farm we went to CACTUS POINT, a greenhouse that sold cacti and some regular flowering plants. It was just a 10 minute stop.

We then made another quick stop at SAM POH TEMPLE. I think the driver was just trying to fill his allotted time with these last two stops.

The next day we went to FLORA PARK. We had to ride in the back of a truck to the gardens themselves. The lane to the ticket office had potted plants on either side, creating a green pathway.

There was a garden with paths around planters and hanging plants suspended from the roof.

Further on, the path continued with a wall of purple flowers on one side and hundreds of colourful potted plants on the other.

Past a restaurant was another garden. Passing through a grotto with a little stream took us to the play area.

The play area was set up like a little park, complete with pathways and sitting areas.

Even the playground equipment had flowers, albeit fake.

There was a small roller coaster where an adult had to pedal a stationary bike to make the cart move. Clever!

There were more paths with potted plants on either side, creating a wall of flowers.

Outside was a huge hill that was literally covered in flowers.

We climbed to the top to look out from a viewing platform. We could see hundreds of greenhouses all around us.

There were more “walls” of plants. The ones up here were all succulents.

We had a treat at a small restaurant that served edible flowers as garnish on their desserts. How could we resist? Our server told us that everything was edible, except the plastic sign with the name of the restaurant, The Views.

We wound our way down the serpentine staircase, and made our way back to the entrance.

We then walked past the Kea Farm Market, where we stopped the day before, and continued to EE FENG GU BEE FARM. I thought we were going to see how the bee farm works, but all we saw were lots of small hives.

There was a small garden and some big, but cute, statues of bees.

That night we finally tried the HOT POT RESTAURANT. This type of restaurant seemed quite popular here. There is a propane burner in the middle of the table. You order what kind of soups you want, which they place on the burner in a metal pot. They gave us a sample of all the soups, so we could choose the ones we liked. Then we ordered what we wanted to cook in the soup. It reminded me of a fondue.

On the subject of restaurants, we ate breakfast at the same place everyday. We ordered the same thing every day. It was only on the 4th day did they get Pierre’s order of an omelette with bread correct. LOL. Our waiter was only visiting Cameron Highlands for some Hindu festival. He was an IT executive in India. He showed us his credentials. He wanted us to write a good review for the restaurant. I was fumbling about trying to get the right site, etc when he took my phone and wrote the review for me, in bad English; but it was a raving review! I think that is why we kept going back. They were lots of fun. The two guys behind us are the chai master and the cook.

It was time to leave the cool highlands. We were off to Ipoh.