I moved on from Ipoh to Tana Rata which is the bus termination point in Cameron Highlands. All the time I was writing "Ipoh" I had a feeling I had encountered that name before. Then it suddenly dawned on me that it was an anagram of IHOP ( International House of Pancakes) .
The ride from Ipoh to Tana Rata is 2 1/2 hours by bus up over winding rain forest roads. I took a dramamine ahead of time as I recalled from my last visit that the trip could be a nauseating experience.
From Wikitravel: 'At 5,000 ft (1,500 m) above sea level it is also the highest point in Malaysia accessible by road. During the day, the temperature seldom rises above 25 °C; at night, it can drop to as low as 12 °C'.
So as you can see there is quite a change in climate from the lowlands.
Even though I had been here some 11 years ago it somehow seemed all unfamiliar. It seems now to be much more congested and to have many more strawberry plantations than I recall. Last night I had dinner in an Indian restaurant and at the time I was the only customer. So I asked the proprietor (I assumed) if it had changed as much as it seemed to me. When I said it seemed more congested he said this was a school holiday week so more families than usual were holidaying here but, he said, European visitor counts are way down from last year. When I asked about the strawberry farms he confirmed that there had been tremendous growth. There were only two operations in the beginning started by Indians and the Malays 'saw the money' and set up many more operations. Now there is 'strawberry tourism' with tours of strawberry farms, strawberry souvenirs and strawberry resorts He told me there are only two tea plantations (that used to be the primary crop here and that's what I recalled).
In addition to strawberries there are many diversified vegetable producers and many roadside stands.
Below is typical architecture in the Highlands.
I walked the 5.5 km switch backed up and down road between Tana Rata and Brinchang. Brinchang is much like Tana Rata, maybe a bit bigger but no Starbucks and no bus station. I did have a good veggie meal at a Chinese restaurant.
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| Golf Club between Tana Rata and Brinchang |
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| Centre of Brinchang I returned to Tana Rata on the low road (which I didn't know existed until I was at Brinchang) that basically went around the golf course and up a Valley.On the return I came upon Picnic Park at Parit Falls |
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| Parit Falls (just LOL) |
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| Picnic Park at Parit Falls |
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| Market Garden Plot at Brinchang |
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