Day 135 Cameron Highlands Sun 6 Nov

 Cameron Highlands was named after William Cameron, a British government surveyor who stumbled across a plateau in 1885 during a mapping expedition on the Titiwangsa Range. Failing to mark his discovery on the map, the location of the plateau was a finally confirmed by subsequent expeditions after which Sir Hugh Low suggested that this would be an ideal location for a retreat and farmland. A narrow path to the highlands was then cut through the dense jungles of the highlands. Nothing much happened after that until 1925 when Sir George Maxwell visited the highlands and decided to develop it as a hill station. A development committee was then formed which functioned until 1931. Cameron Highlands was a haven for the British who were stationed in Malaya as it provided relief from the hot and humid tropical climate of the lowlands.

No Cameron Highlands trip would be complete without a trip up Mount Brinchang and a walk in the Mossy Forest. We are collected in a landrover driven by the amazing Wasu who will be our guide for the morning. He tells us that outside the UK the Cameron Highlands are home to the highest density per square km of landrovers and as we travel out towards the mountain we can see why!





The mossy forest is a natural environment that grows only at the highest elevations of Cameron Highlands and other mountain ranges across Malaysia. At such heights, low-level clouds, driven by winds, blanket the forests with constant mist and moisture, creating an ideal environment for moss, ferns, lichen & orchids.  This moist tropical evergreen forest is also home to insects, snakes, frogs, birds and mammals - that thrive nowhere else but in this chilly atmosphere.

 

We slowly realise that Wasu has plans for more than a wander through the forest, more like a jungle hike, and, due to the almost constant rain, the path is boggy, waterlogged and very muddy! The extent of the squelch comes as a surprise even to our guide who has to take several detours to avoid the worst of it! It also requires a bit more than a walk - and we have to cling on in places to tree roots and branches as we clamber up to the best spots to see the bizarre Mossy Forest in all its' glory. We all end up with more than a shoeful of mud and very dirty trousers!

 

The series of wooden platforms winds for about 150m through the mossy forest, but is slippery and missing a few planks and we have to tread carefully.

 

When we reach the Mossy Forest "proper" it really is a very odd place indeed  - an amazingly rich 200,000 year old forest with deep green moss, ancient trees and fresh dewy mist that gives it a mystical aura - the girls liken it to a "fairytale forest like the land of the Faraway Tree!" A strange environment, filled with oak trees with stunted stumps, wrinkled leaves and gnarled branches that clump together, forming dense crowns that protrude furiously from the ground like mushrooms.

  

The conditions are also favorable for orchids – and there are a few rare species of this beautiful flower found in the highlands. The forest is also home to “pitcher” plants or scientifically known as “Nephentes”. They are carnivorous plants with a liquid filled deep cavity called “pitfall traps” which attract small insects that drown in it. The plant then feeds from the insect that has dissolved in the liquid that contains enzymes secreted by the plant itself. Besides this rather interesting plant, a variety of other strange plants (some poisonous) and medicinal herbs can also be found here,   

  

 

 Unfortunately- when we make it to the top of our trail the mists are well and truly covering the spectacular views we should have seen, but it was very atmospheric!

 

Our second "must do" while in the Highlands is a visit to a tea plantation. First we stop on the slopes around the BOH (Best of Highlands) plantation - the largest in Cameron Highlands. The largest producer of tea in Malaysia, Boh was established by JA Russell, an English businessman in the very early nineties. Noting the mineral-rich soil, high rainfall and cooling climate of Cameron Highlands, Russell saw the potential for growing tea - high in demand at that time despite an economic depression. He purchased a tract of land in Habu and set out to produce a robust tea with a distinct flavour, straight from the ground up. Since then, Boh has expanded into a corporate franchise sponsoring nature conservation efforts, producing intense media campaigns, and marketing its products sold across Southeast Asia.




The tea pickers village, complete with its own school sits nestled in the hills - the workers (only short men need apply!) come mostly from Bangladesh, Burma and Indonesia and not Malaysia ( in the words of our guide "Malaysian men are lazy!)

 

 We are staggered by both the uniformity of the individual bushes, the steepness of some of the slopes and the regularity of the rows and rows of plants stretching as far as the eye can see. Wasu explains that the favourable weather conditions mean that plants can be harvested every three weeks all year round and that the leaves are now harvested by men, but still a laborious and tiring job, either by hand with adapted shears or a 2 man machine (only usable on the really flat bits!)

 

We go into the factory and see the tea production process from the fresh leaf to the finish dried leaves - such a simple process. First the leaves are rolled, then dried and finally graded before being sent to mature like a good wine!

 Finally - the best bit! We get to sample the tea - and we opt for two pots: the finest "Palas Supreme" and the "Gold Blend" as well as two mugs of "builders" or standard tea (bags).

 The bigger the leaf - the finer the tea - I think our palettes are too used to a stronger more robust flavour ( e.g. whatever we drink at home!)

 

 

Oh... obviously we needed an accompaniment to help the tea go down!  

Chocolate melt cake and a "Cameron Highlands" style cream tea of scone, cream(bleurch) and strawberry jam. Not quite like the cream teas we are looking forward to from Pooh Corner on our return!