Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands was our next stop in Malaysia. The majority of things to do for tourists is scattered along Route 59, a road that snakes through the hills and mountains. (When taking a bus here or leaving keep in mind the many curves of the road and prepare yourself if you get car sick easily)

Tanah Rata is the first town as you head North. This is where the buses pick up and drop off. The station is small and as soon as we arrived in Tanah Rata a woman boarded our bus to tell us about tours.

If you are not driving, tours are going to be the best way to get around the Cameron Highlands unless you plan to walk. There are taxi’s depending on where you want to go or where you need to be picked up from, but taking a taxi can be inconvenient yet in many cases it can still be faster than walking. An example is that Brinchang is about an hour walk from Tanah Rata but also only a fifteen minute car ride. Uber isn’t an option, you can rent a scooter or motorcycle though but there are some places you can’t go on them.

If you don’t have a car or tour I highly suggest staying in Tanah Rata. It’s going to be the easiest way to catch the bus to leave or book tours.  Just keep in mind you’ll probably want to stay within or near the two main towns if you don’t have a car, because otherwise everything is so much more difficult.

The Cameron Highlands is an elevated part of Malaysia and thus much cooler, while we were there it rained fairly often, some times in short bursts so we’d go inside for a second and upon returning everything was soaking wet.  Make sure to pack appropriately, good walking shoes (or shoes that are water proof) as well as some warmer clothing then you would wear in the warmer parts of Malaysia. We wore flip flops on any day we weren’t hiking.

If you want to visit the Cameron Highlands it’s highly suggested to go some time other than the weekend. The weekend makes Route 59 very congested with people flooding the Highlands on their time off. This can make it so that walking will be faster than taking a taxi or car.

Some of the bathrooms may require a small fee and it’s not always included that they have toilet paper or soap. Most of the bathrooms we went to had at least one western style toilet with several if not most squat toilets. Expect the toilet’s to be wet.

The Cameron Highlands were my favorite part of our trip. I loved the beauty of it and the atmosphere, there’s plenty to do if you can just figure out how to get there. (I highly suggest tours)

TLDR:

• No ubers
• Taxi’s are mostly found in Tanah Rata
• Bus terminal is in Tanah Rata
• Higher elevation so cooler + rain
• 2 towns
  • Tanah Rata
  • Brinchang
• Weekends are crazy busy with traffic jams
• Plan a tour or rent a car or scooter, walking may take to long
• Carry tissues for toilet paper and hand sanitizer