Shull's Road Trip to Cameron Highlands - With Pictures

[The_Bear]

I would recommend the Tapah road for going up becoz its beautiful. It is the old route. Many sharp corners but since its climbing, I tend to do it slowly. Also can enjoy the scenery. Its like being in the middle of the jungle. The stop at the Waterfall, about 1/2 way up is something the tour buses used to do. So if you have the time, do stop to feel the water and take some photos. This way, you'll get to Tanah Ratah before Brinchang.

 

Btw, if you like fish soup (not our teochew kind). Just hot & flavorful fresh-water fish soup, there is a coffee shop slightly after the Tapah exit. Its about 1-2 km or so from the T-junction in the direction of Cameroon. (Turn left to Cameroon, right to Tapah town). You'll see a row of shop houses in the middle of nowhere. I afraid this is the best I can describle becoz I stumbled across the place the last time.

 

Coming down, Simpang Pulai is generally safer as descend speed is alot faster. Gives you more room for errors, just in case. The scenery is nice too but I prefer Tapah route. Nothing much to stop. Then when you see the limestone hills. You've reached SP, a small town. There is a coffee shop near the junction you can grab some maken before heading onto the highway.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Bavarian

[Presea]

That's exactly what I intended to do for my trip on 24-27.

Up Tapah, Down Simpang Pulai.

 

Been trolling lots of forums and blogs to figure the best routes and stops.

No. 1 reason to take the old route up... apparently during the school hols, loads of MY and SG tourists will clog up the roads around the "sights" that are near Brinchang. IF you go up Tapah, apparently there could be a jam ....

 

So better to do it the "old style".

 

Really looking forward to my first drive up a Malaysian Mountain.... done it in other places, but always in rental cars...

now it's my own car...so more confident and comfortable.

 

cheers

[DonAdzhar]

Driving up Cameron Highlands with your car is highly recommended. Been doing so every year since i bought my car 3 yrs back.

 

I rendevous there again recently with my Nissan Latio as a stopover during my trip down from Penang to Sepang MotoGP and the place is an awesome challenge that is uncomparable to taking travel bus coaches.

 

I always use the Tapah exit from NSH and so far, i might be lucky as i have yet to experience the so-called jam packed road while driving up this route.

Maybe because i usually start to drive up from the foot of the area at around 5pm and will reach the topmost Brinchang town at around 7pm.

 

And for those who wants to drive up Cameron, do remember not to just stop at brinchang town. Don't miss the opportunity of driving all the way to the summit of Mount Brinchang which houses the Telekom Malaysia Station. And do not be despair or worried by the steep, meandering, narrow, rugged one lane road leading up to it. There was once i even missed the junction to turn left to the road leading up to the summit and drove all the way up the muddy tracks to reach a lower summit which had an open cabbage farm. Imagine the looks of the native workers seeing a Nissan Latio driving up a dilapidated sloping muddy track which is so narrow and next to deep ravines. And having toreverse all the way down due to the wrong path. It really test ur driving skills in a totally different concept :)

 

Here are Some mundane pictures for all to see :p

Edited November 16, 2009 by DonAdzhar

[Furrynadz]

post some other pics rather than all your car and yourself

no scenery one

[Berncsp76]

haha bro me too went up the wrong turn up to Gunung Brichang. Lucky my pica was shorter so can just make a 3 point turn and head downwards.

 

Really enjoy the ride up there. I remember nearer to the peak there was a pavilion and some sort of campsite for people to camp there. But the place was filled with rubbish (lucky no smell as the place was cool). I went down to take a look and there was a bridge leading up to the campsite. climb a little but suddenly dun feel right (not spirits lurking but probably dun like to climb) so went down and proceed to the telecom peak area.

 

Haiz have yet to post pictures here. need to reduce the pics as they are too big...willl post up ASAP ...

[Berncsp76]

OK guys here are the pics...paiseh took sometime to upload...

 

stayed at Century Pines resort and the view from my window on the 3rd floor...there's a school on the left corner..view seems normal in the daytime but at night can see clouds...paiseh din take any night shots though...went to KEA farm which is at Brinchang and lots of veggie and strawberries stall there.Went up to Raju's hill strawberry farm and ate their wonderful and sweet strawberry topped with honey and whipped cream...yum yum...RM$9 with toppings.Tried their strawberry sponge cake and milkshake too...heavenly..after that went to Boh Tea Plantation at Sungai Palas...this is the biggest and nicest plantation with factory. Savoured some scones and cakes and had tea there with a wonderful view. Saw another SG car there and I parked beside it...can announce the car plate here? Toyota Vios SGZ1663K...are you here in MCF too?? After tea went to Gunung Brichang. took wrong turn but get to see cabbage plantation just beside me..wow..after went up the correct destination...see the sign at 6666ft??the road up was narrow and slippery but i still made it up there.. superb birds-eye view of the area...btw duno what does the sign mean 闲人免进，严拿白撞？？？

 

Got a few nurseries along the way in Brichang and took lots of flower pics. Posted a few here only if bros and sis here wana see let me know. Went to the Rose Valley and took even more pics. Remember still got bee farm, watercress farm etc but din stop though. Got a butterfly museum even, attach the map below... as I went up on thur and Fri there are Pasar Malam near to police station. Bought some tidbits to go back hotel to compliment my steamboat dinner from the comfort of my hotel room...sheeeesh.... hehe

Edited November 17, 2009 by Berncsp76

[Berncsp76]

Btw, add in 2 more pics for the Tapah route and Simpang Pulai route to see the difference...only very few areas there is only 1 lane and have to manouvre carefully...

[The_Bear]

pardon my malay but the sign says "no unauthorized entry, trespassers will be 'caught'" kindof.

 

So I think the yan na bai zhuang its more Cantonese than Chinese "Seriously Catch No-business Trespassing". Sounds like some communist slogan back in the 70s.

[Nani]

Btw, add in 2 more pics for the Tapah route and Simpang Pulai route to see the difference...only very few areas there is only 1 lane and have to manouvre carefully...

 

Hi Berncsp76

 

For the Tapah pic, isn't all the way the route is so narrow?

 

Also, any idea if we don't drive in Cameron itself? How can we go about going to the farms & tea plantation? Am timid to drive up the narrow path , if drive then walk, how far is the tip of the carpark to the Boh tea centre.

 

Many thank thanks thanks in advance

 

 

 

 

 

[Voodooman]

Hi Berncsp76

 

For the Tapah pic, isn't all the way the route is so narrow?

 

Also, any idea if we don't drive in Cameron itself? How can we go about going to the farms & tea plantation? Am timid to drive up the narrow path , if drive then walk, how far is the tip of the carpark to the Boh tea centre.

 

Many thank thanks thanks in advance

 

 

The pic shown is not the Tapah route, it looks like the road to/from the Boh Tea plantation at Sungai Palas (ie tea plantation in the background). It is safe to drive but can get pretty jammed up on weekends, especially during school holidays.

 

For the keen drivers, the drive up Gunung Brincang is not to be missed. It can however be challenging for inexperienced drivers, avoid visits during peak period/hours as you often have to share the 1-lane road with other vehicles going in the opposite direction. It is quite a squeeze, a 4WD is recommended although I got up there with my sedan. The view up there is however spectacular and thus worth the while.

 

The Tapah route is wider and relatively safe, IMHO. It is fun to drive. If you have passengers that get motion sickness easily, take the Simpang Pulai route.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Voodooman

[Nani]

Anyone knows if there is an Esso/Mobil petrol station before going up to cameron?

 

thanks

[Berncsp76]

actually not really, only some areas where there are narrow corners then will have to negotiate if there are oncoming vehicle. (kinda like the buona vista bend but much narrower). Din manage to take some corner bends for all to see. Also, there are some corners where there will be extended sand patches for both vehicles to cross each other safely. Need to give friendly tap on the horn to warn oncoming vehicles near bends too.

 

Erm, I thk there are guided tours to CH organised by those coach companies such as Greenland, 808 etc. I saw some coaches up there using Tapah route so i dun thk there's a problem gg up with our ride.

 

Erm, what i am assuming that you are mentioning is the boh tea plantation carpark?the walk is quite relax and there are 2 ways to go up to the cafe and the factory, can either take the side road near the plantation (but kinda slippery, do remember to change to track shoes, slippers not so safe) or can take the road right next to it. The road is out of bounds to public, only authorised vehicles (including boh vehicles and some hotel mini buses and land rovers). Maybe you can check with your hotel if they have the mini-buses. Btw, the distance is only about 200metres as shown from the pics.

 

The real fun of driving starts when we manoeuvre up and down the hilly areas and is a good training of our skills. Also, the flexibility is there as in the timing of your tour to certain places if you like to stay longer. You will confirm not regret it!

[Berncsp76]

yes there is a shell and petronas station as I have attached the map in Brinchang. So do not need to top up full tank, maybe slightly a little more than half tank will be fine. But I thk there isnt any V-power available in shell (i dun like petronas), so if bros your ride are yearning for better quality petrol you can top up full at the bottom of the hill along NSHW.

[Nani]

Thank you Bern..

 

Can you clarify the two maps that you have posted ch_bc.jpg and ch_main.jpg ( 72.3K )

 

May I know the BoH tea plantation is the one on "ch_bc" map or the one on the "ch_main" map? Am a little confuse here...is the Tea Centre/factory situated at Sungai Palas (Gunung Brinchang) near the turn at Equatorial Hotel OR isnt down at TANAH RATA after the Robinson Waterfall??

 

Appreciate your advise thank you :)

 

[Avantism]

BOH plantations hve 3 tea gardens in CH.

2 located near Habu while the one in Brinchang named Sungai Palas.

[Nani]

BOH plantations hve 3 tea gardens in CH.

2 located near Habu while the one in Brinchang named Sungai Palas.

 

thank you...err...can advise which is the best one to go?

 

 

[Avantism]

Can't really tell u cos me only goin there in 3 weeks time.

But i see from all the reviews,webbies many suggested sungai palas..e bigger the better?

mayb bros here can recommend.

 

But then again it still very much depends on where ur putting up in CH...imho..

[Berncsp76]

hi sorry for late reply.

 

The maps were taken from the webbie www.cameronhighlands.com...quite useful when I was going up and down the places that I wanted to go although the map is not to scale. Anyway took my time to find out the interesting places that I visited.

 

The tea plantation I went to was at Sungai Palas coz since I am going up to Gunung Brinchang was thinking of "1 stone 2 birds" ...hope you know what I mean... This is the newer of the 3 plantations.

 

From some of the earlier thread replies from bros here, the one that I went to was the one with the bigger factory where you can see hw the harvested tea leaves are being processed and packed. There's also a heritage tour of how the plantation come about next to the cafe to know the history as well as a big shop selling all kinds of teas produced at reasonable prices and some that we couldnt find back home or even JB supermarkets.

 

Highly recommended is the Sri Songket range of flavoured tea (I bought passion fruit) in tin boxes. Over here in SG and JB they only sell in teabag version. Very aromatic smell and is quite cheap at RM$14.50 for a 125gm tin. You can go to https://www.boh.com.my/shop/index.php?manuf...mp;filter_id=29 to tale a look.

Edited November 20, 2009 by Berncsp76