Self Drive Singapore to Cameron Highland
Driving in Malaysia can be fun, it takes 7 hours to reach Cameron Highlands. We had few breaks along the Plus Expressway, we stopped at Air Keroh near Melaka, then made another stop at Tapah before going uphill.
The uphill is manageable and compared to many years back, the new road was wider and safer to go up Cameron Highlands. Cameron is situated in Pahang state in Malaysia.
Cameron Highland is also one of the favorite vacation spot for founder of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew. He liked to bring his family to this cooling place to escape the heat in Singapore when his children were still young. But in the past, Cameron Highland is more peaceful and quiet, unlike now, pretty commercialize.
Heritage Hotel Cameron Highlands
This hotel is situated at Tanah Rata with very spacious outdoor packing lot. I like how the building was painted in black and White. The balcony offers a great mountain view.
Cameron Lavender Garden
One tip I shall advise is to go very early in the morning to avoid the crowd in the Lavender Garden. There are many things I like about Cameron Highlands but one thing I dislike is the frequent traffic jam. The traffic jam can get quite serious especially during school holidays.
Ticket is RM 8 per person. There are actually many type of flowers beside lavender. If you see the picture below, lavender is only small part of it. If you expect to see the lavender like the one you see in Hokkaido, then you will be disappointed.
Once you walked uphill, there is another view point from the top where you can sit and enjoy the flowers in front of you. This garden is really not that big, especially I find the walkway is quite narrow. Everything seems to be quite cramp together.
When you go further up, there is another sheltered garden planted with different colors of Gerbera Daisies. I found there are orange, yellow, white and red in colors, which is your favorite colors?
To be frank, there is no smell, I don’t know why. But many bees and butterfly were flying around happily and greatly attracted by these flowers.
There is an old swing in Gerbera Daisies garden but it is still very stable and can function properly. Go find the swing and sit there for a moment.
I was there in Dec but I could not find many strawberries around. The strawberries look quite pathetic, small and quite green.
Found 7 little dwarfs. There are also stores selling little things and souvenirs and also strawberries, you may want to pick up some if you are fan of strawberries. Looking down the Koi Fish pond, hungry Koi Fish waited to be fed.
Sam Poh Buddhist Temple
This peaceful temple is located in Brinchang, build at the hill top. The temple is not big and the entrance is free. The Sam Poh represent the three gods in the temple. Beware the road to come in this temple as there are quite many potholes. There is a hall where you need to take off your shoes to walk on the marble floor. It took me less than half an hour to walk around this small temple.
Cactus Valley
The parking in Cactus Valley is quite challenging. Parking lots are quite limited and the roads to the parking area is also quite tough to manage.
Ticket for entry is RM 5 each. This is one of the biggest cactus farm I have seen in Malaysia. I saw thousands of cactus in different colors big and small and different shapes and some even aged 60 years old. Beside cactus, there are also many flowers planted in this area.
Boh Tea Plantation
I would say this is one of the highlights and it is my favorite place in Cameron Highland. Boh Plantation is the largest black tea manufacturer in Malaysia, this is owned by BOH. There are a few Boh Plantation and the one I went is at Habu. It is about 30 mins drive from Brinchang to the Boh Tea Plantation in Habu. The roads are quite twisty and many sharp turns.
Boh Plantation was founded by a Englishman, name J.A Russel in 1929 during the British colonial in Malaya. The tea plantation has 800 acres planted with tea and is considered the largest tea plantation in the southeast Asia.
There is a big cafe sit on the ledge of the hills overseeing the whole tea plantation. You can order some cookies, cakes and Boh tea to sit and relax in the big open space BOH cafe.
This is a must visit spot which I strongly recommend! Put the winding road and twisted turn aside, you will be rewarded with an amazing sight when you at Boh Plantation.
Food in Cameron Highlands
There are many restaurants available in Cameron Highland, Western or Chinese or Malay. The price is all listed on the menu and priced similar to KL area. They did not price up like in Genting Highlands.
Cameron Highlands top attractions
- Cameron Lavender Garden
- Sam Poh Buddhist Temple
- Cactus Valley
- Boh Tea Plantation
- Heritage Hotel
- Food in Cameron Highlands
Nearby attractions :
- Malacca Shopping Trip
- Malacca Historical Trail
- Lexis Hibiscus at Port Dickson
- Club Med Cherating Kuatan
- A mini version of Jumeirah Dubai at Avani Sepang Selangor
- Kukup Malaysia