Travel: Malaysia - Cameron Highlands

[ellehcim]

JR:

I have book a 2 night stay at Hotel De' La Ferns in June. Any comments on that hotel?


Does anyone have any recommendations on steamboat restaurants in Cameron Highlands? Any problem driving at night around there?

Hi, may i know how much you booked for the hotel? Keen for this hotel too.

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

ellehcim:

Hi, may i know how much you booked for the hotel? Keen for this hotel too.

We made the booking through Booking.com at MYR196.55 per nite, inclusive of breakfast. Note price is excluding taxes.

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

Just to share some info on last week’s drive to Cameron Highlands and beyond (will only talk about Cameron Highlands on this thread.)


Didn’t want to risk driving all way to Cameron Highlands since I am the only driver. So opted to spend a night in Ipoh before driving to Cameron Highlands by the Simpang Pulai route in the morning. Although winding road at times, it was still bearable. My wife and son didn’t complain much. Took about 2 hours to reach Tanah Rata from Ipoh.

Hotel De’ La Ferns is actually quite easy to find. Located along the main road a few km before Tanah Rata. Can’t miss it. No problems with the 2 night stay in the hotel. It is actually one of the newer hotels in Cameron Highlands. But better to get a room not facing the road to reduce the noise level.

Now for some of my observations for your reference.
Had lunch at Uncle Chow’s Kopitiam in Tanah Rata town. Quite nice cosy place. The food is ok. But I thought it is a bit pricy. The owner is friendly and provides info on places to visit. Even recommended the steamboat dinner restaurant.

The Big Red Strawberry Farm in Brinchang is located on a steep slope. So be prepared to drive up a narrow road to reach it (and down another steep slope to get out). Too bad we were there at the wrong time and most of the strawberries had been picked by the children during the Malaysian school holidays. Only get to see a few riped ones. There is a nice cafe for teabreak with a children playground.

The Time Tunnel Museum is worth visiting. There are many items on display which brought back memories of our younger days (I am in my forties). Good chance to share with children on what was life like back then.

The dinner at Kwan Kee Steamboat Restaurant in Brinchang was good. In fact, we went back for a second time dinner as well. But parking may be a problem. Luckily for us, we got a lot just in front of the restaurant. The cost of dinner for 2 adults and a child would be about RM40 (not sure if mentioning Uncle Chow’s recommendation helped or not…)

I would recommend a visit to Mardi (the government run agro tech farm) in Tanah Rata. They have a wide range of flowers, fruits and vegetables grown. Visitors are free to roam and take photos. The problem is that there are no guided tours and English signboards are limited. But I get to see big cabbages and cauliflowers. Now I know how a cauliflower plant looks like.

The Butterfly Farm was a bit disappointing. I was expecting a bigger enclosure for the butterflies. There are other creepy crawlies on display. Was a bit freaked out by the big millipedes on display.

The Bee Farm nearby was also nothing much. The Indoor maze (suppose to be the biggest indoor maze in Malaysia) was closed.

The road leading to Sungei Palas Boh Tea Plantation is quite narrow and winding. There was a few occasions which oncoming cars have to move aside to pass. Do horn when making the narrow turns to warn oncoming cars. Also expect some potholes along the way. Also be warned that the last guided tour is at 3pm. Or else like me, we have to make do with the video show and walk around the factory trying to figure out what the tea making process is like by reading the signboards. The view from the cafe is nice. And you can get to walk around the tea plants.

The weather overall was good. It was cold at night but was a bit disappointed in not having the "blowing" smoke experience in the morning. I suppose it is not as cold as the last time I visited Cameron Highlands when I was a boy.

My wife says she may consider coming back in 5 years time when she has forgotten about the winding journey…

[chenchen]

We just came back from CH. We were in Ipoh, so we travelled up via Simpang-Pulai and returned down to Tapah.


Coming from Singapore, going by the Simpang-Pulai exit (new road) is a slightly longer drive but is wider and takes you to Kea Farm and Brinchang first. It may be faster than going from Tapah on a peak day since the Tapah road is narrow and winding so if you get stuck behind a slower vehicle (lorry), it is not easy to overtake. On our way down, we tailgated another Singapore car and a lorry for most of the journey but a few KL cars overtook us (3 vehicles 1 shot) at the slighest opportunity - they were damn fast, confident and very familiar with the turns. We departed Tanah Rata at 9.30am and reached Singapore 2nd link checkpoint at 5pm including a 40min lunch break and 2 toilet stops for the kids.

Stayed at Pines Century Resort at Tanah Rata (booked on agoda.com), duluxe room has a superking size bed just nice for 2 adults and 2 kids. Simple, clean hotel and nice view facing the open carpark. Nearby mosque broadcasts prayer in the early morning but is inaudible if the balcony doors are shut. There’s a trail that leads to the Parit Falls. It’s only 15min walk but certain parts of the path is covered with overgrown grass and quite difficult for young children. You can instead drive to the carpark near the falls, and from there is only a 5min walk (along the left hand side path). The bridge on the right will lead round behind the waterfalls and back onto the path - a much longer walk if you intend to erxercise a bit.

We were there on two weekdays, so the market was less busy and no pasar malam. There were some changes since our last trip 8 years ago, but the core activities remain very much the same. We picked a good tray of sweet strawberries at EQ (we later visited Big Strawberry and saw that the strawberries there were very small and mostly unripe). We know that the butterfly garden and bee farm are nothing spectacular, but what else is there to do?

We drove to the BOH plantation (road is just a turnoff opposite the Eee Feng bee farm), as mentioned it was winding and single lane … do honk as you navigate to warn oncoming vehicles around the bends. Reaching the plantation guardhouse, there is a left turnoff which leads to Mt Brinchang and the Mountain Strawberry Farm. It advertised farm animal petting but there’s only a handful of chickens, ducks and rabbits in cages. The fun part of this farm is that you get to harvest your own tomatoes (they have the typical tomatoes and cherry tomatoes), carrots and strawberries. They have also cabbages, long chinese cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli for sale - for these, the worker will cut for you.

Restaurants: We researched beforehand and remembered some names to avoid (they axe the tourists) - Fong Lum / Silverstar / Kowloon … if u are not sure, avoid the red tableclothed restaurants. We found Restoran Highlands- the original charcoal steamboat (RM16 per pax and a pot of tea RM5) at 36 Bandar Baru Brinchang, it’s on the row of shops behind Hotel Chua Gin/Silverstar. Other recommended steamboat restaurants include GoldenWin at Hotel Chua Gin and Mayflower.

We wanted to have 煮炒 at 友和 but they rest in the afternoon, so we went a few doors away to 真美园. Food is ok and price reasonable. I realised that in Ipoh and CH, they are better at cooking hor fun than noodles, so just order 滑蛋河 (egg horfun) and you can’t be wrong. Another recommended restaurant is 荣华 near Star Regency Hotel.

In Tanah Rata, there’s fewer restaurants and mostly Malay food.

[Vevey]

We were at CH just after the M’sian sch hol during weekdays & hotel’s staff recommended Big Red Strawberry Farm. We had the place almost all to ourselves but the strawberries are not as big as those sold in its cafe. Had an enjoyable time snacking on its choc fondue (we add our own plucked strawberries once finished those bigger ones that came w it) & yummy pancake w ice-cream. The strawberry cookies in the shop is so good that we went up to buy again the next day, only to discover later in the day that it is sold in other places at the same price too. hahaha…


We used to go to the strawberry farm near hotel equatorial during our last 2 trips 1-5yrs ago, it is quite difficult to walk ard w steep step every row, esp when we were being directed to the further end. Thus, it was a pleasant surprise at Big Red that there is only a small step every 3-4 rows of strawberries. So much easier to pluck w young children, even tho the strawberries r smaller.

Hotel-wise, shld hv sticked back to Century Pines even w its nearby mosque bcos Equatorial is old w lousy beds & the indoor pool was stagnant (pump not working) so we didn’t get to swim. Supposed to hv some renovation going on (thus the promotional rates) but we didn’t c/hear any work in progress. The front office staff was v friendly & accommodating for a change of room type w/o extra cost when we realised that the apt we had booked earlier does not have lift and my mom would hv a problem w the flights of stairs.

[kelvinpl80]

I don’t have perfect idea but I think it will take 8 hours. I will suggest you to take the help of travel guide to get more information about it. They will suggest you at best and perfect way to travel.

[susu2626]

Hi, any parents have any recommendation on the hotel stay at cameron highlands, any experience to share? good or bad are welcome bf I make a decision. thanks.

[kohbee2.06303gmail.06303com]

susu2626:

Hi, any parents have any recommendation on the hotel stay at cameron highlands, any experience to share? good or bad are welcome bf I make a decision. thanks.

You may want to check out the Cameron travel thread on this forum.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3940&start=50

[Queen or Maid]

Susu2626


I stayed at the Heritage Hotel Tanah Rata during the June holiday.

We got two connecting rooms which are big and one of the room came with a Queen and single bed (triple room). The room has a small balcony. Remember to get the deluxe room on the new tower wing.

But do bear in mind it take about 5 mins to drive to Tanah Rata town. It will takes 15 - 20 mins to walk there.

[susu2626]

Queen or Maid:

Susu2626


I stayed at the Heritage Hotel Tanah Rata during the June holiday.

We got two connecting rooms which are big and one of the room came with a Queen and single bed (triple room). The room has a small balcony. Remember to get the deluxe room on the new tower wing.

But do bear in mind it take about 5 mins to drive to Tanah Rata town. It will takes 15 - 20 mins to walk there.

Thanks! have you or any parents try Hotel Equatorial?