A day trip to Cameron Highlands from Ipoh

One of the main highlights of my trip to Ipoh was the day trip to Cameron Highlands!


The day started at Ipoh Amanjaya bus terminal where we bought our tickets to Cameron Highlands!

The bus terminal was big! It was fairly empty early in the morning!
When we got back in the late afternoon, there were many people shouting and selling tickets for the common destinations (KL, Penang)

We bought our tickets here

8 am departute to Cameron Highlands!

The bus was comfortable and almost empty

And off we went! We went through the Simpang Pulai route which was not as winding as other roads.

We also witnessed some accidents along the way int and out of the Highlands.. and there was a carcass of a huge snake that died after vehicles repeatedly ran over it on the road as well.

And then we arrived!

First glimpse into the main town of Tanah Rata. 

The bus terminal in Tanah Rata was also the taxi counter, so very convenient for those planning to rent cabs.
Across the road, there were many travel agencies and eateries (even a Marrybrown and Starbucks!).

We browsed around the travel agencies who were offering tours around Cameron Highlands, collecting brochures, and we settled at Lord's Cafe to look through their offerings and have brunch!

We jot our orders on a sheet of paper which we submitted to the cashier

Browsing through the different day trip options

Yummy scones

Our problem with the day tours was that we would miss the last bus back to Ipoh for the day should we take any of them so we settled on a taxi.

 

The taxis were huddled together at the bus terminal and we were quoted RM75 for three hours! (They charged a fixed rate of RM25 per hour, with a minimum of 3 hours. Exclusive of mossy forest which had an additional charge.) 

We had a discussion with our driver on the places we wanted to go to, and he suggested routes and alternative suggestions should he feel that the place we picked was too far and would exceed 3 hours. 

Our first stop was Sungei Palas Tea Centre. When I googled on the tea plantations in Cameron Highlands, this struck out to me with its modern viewing deck/cafe.

Tea plantations everywhere you look!

One good thing about having our own taxi was that the driver was able to stop and take pictures. Our driver recommended this spot to us and it was so very nice!

We reached the tea plantation and our driver accompanied us inside and gave us an introductory tour on the tea making process!

'Uncle, you know so much about tea'
'Of course! Almost everyone in Cameron Highlands knows about tea. Also, Uncle was born to tea plantation workers so I am very familiar'

Our very nice, kind and knowledgeable driver/guide. Thank you so much Uncle! 

Uncle was also able to tell us more information about the BOH tea plantations

And we had a stop at the viewing deck/cafe where we had some fresh tea! Perfect with the cool weather. Also, there was a souvenir shop where I bought some tea home!

Our second stop was the rose valley. The flowers were in bloom and really pretty.

Our final stop for the day was the Big Red Strawberry farm. This time, Uncle did not come in with us and waited at the entrance.

Little strawberries growing

We could pick our own strawberries for a price but we were content with just looking at the plants and buying already picked strawberries at the store.

There were other plants and produce as well but this black rose was interesting!

There was a cafe and we had some strawberry pancakes with even more strawberries!

We bought some strawberries back for ourselves and our homestay owners in Ipoh. I brought mine to Singapore the following day and they still tasted great!

Afterwards, we returned to the taxi stand at the bus terminal (Uncle was open for any extensions but we wanted to get back to Ipoh before it got too late) and we bought our tickets for our ride back!

It was a pretty empty bus. Bye Cameron Highlands!

Also, one of my favourite spots (aka GORGEOUS beaches!) in Malaysia is Pulau Kapas. Read it here!