A Very Special Visit to Cameron Highlands
Visiting the Cameron Highlands is like going to the Vatican City as a Catholic. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the feeling of what I wanted to share. I’m a big tea drinker. Ever since my friend Diana introduced me the world of tea + milk with PG Tips, it has been a huge part of my daily ritual. Once, I explained why the daily ritual was important for long-term travelers, and said my ritual was drinking tea every morning. Ever since I came back to Malaysia, I drank two or three cups of teh tarik (pulled tea). One of the biggest joys is being back in the tea-loving country.
I first got to know Malaysian tea culture in 2006, when I first visited here. I saw the packets of Boh tea from time to time, but I didn’t think that it was a big deal before I got to know that was what people used to make teh tarik.
Tea can do wonders.
I went back to Malaysia in 2011, to Borneo that time. I hung out at local tea shop everyday, enjoying tea and dimsum. Afternoon tea was an important part of the people of Malaysia. I came back to Korea with a big bag of Boh classic tea. It was wonderful 80 days.
Now I’m back in Malaysia, and writing an update from Cameron Highlands, the tea country. I visited two different tea plantations in the region: Cameron Valley Bharat Tea, and BOH Sungei Palas Tea Centre. Seeing the green wave of tea made me warm and happy. The landscape was stunning, of course, but seeing the origin place of what I admire so much for the first time, was a special feeling. I had a hard time controlling myself in the tea shop, but I reminded myself the size of my backpack I have to carry for next few months.
#You don’t need to take a tour bus to get to these tea plantations. To Bharat, you can walk (4km from the town of Tanah Rata) or take a taxi (usually RM10 one way). To Boh, you can take a local bus from the bus station (goes every two hours, starting 6:30am) to Sungei Palas (RM4, one way) and walk 3km from there. It is a long walk, but the view is the best along the way.
