Sabtu, 26 Desember 2015

"Back To Nature" Trip at Cameron Highlands


" BACK TO NATURE " may be the suitable theme for this leisure trip I did in the end of November. It was because we mainly visited farms and plantation. We decided to went away from the city crowd in Kuala Lumpur and took a bus to Cameron Highlands. Four hours of road trip was pleasant with comfortable ride and beautiful scenery along the way. Cool breeze hit us as soon as we got off from bus. 

Lucky me, the weather on that day was sunny. We rushed to our first desitnation Bharat Tea plantation to have afternoon tea. We ordered a pot of Masala Tea. It is black tea mixed with aromatic Indian spices and herb (details) . The view from our seats was magnificent, but there's nothing better to explore and see it up close. 

I took the wood stairs down to the farm. Curvy green lines of land from afar welcomed me. There were already few visitors who merged in the vast spread of tea. The sunlight accentuated the beauty. The fresh fragrance accompanied us as we strolled on a solid red soil. 


The afternoon sunlight accentuated the natural curves of tea plantation land at Bharat Tea




A couple in the scenery of Bharat Tea plantation.
Look at the gorgeous hill at the background!


Busy snapping pictures among the lines of tea plantation 

We got back to the downtown of Tanah Rata by the taxi we rented before. There are many restaurants varied from Malay, Chinese, Indian and Western cuisine. Tourists center and tour agents have a lot of package to offer. Surely, we chose to go independently. We booked a taxi for tomorrow trip, which costed RM 25 per hour. 

The next day, the taxi picked us sharply at 9.00 a.m. We discussed the places we wanted to visit and the driver set up the order based on the locations. A nice Indian old man drove the taxi smoothly and started to also be a guide. 

We first went to Boh Tea factory ( yes, tea farm again! ). We took a tour around the factory to see them processing the tea. Too bad, it is surrounded by glass so pictures won't come out nice. The production starts with withering the plucked leaves. Then, the plucked leaves are rolled to crush and fermented. After that, the leaves are dried and sorted according to sizes.

We also enjoyed a sip of tea here. There is a store next to the drinking shop and we didn't miss to grab one or two. 


Enjoying tea in a chilly day with this beautiful view at Boh Tea Plantation


One of a great way to enjoy tea is with its fresh plantation view! 

We moved to the next destination which is Lavender Farm. Contrary to its name, I found out it is dominated by many other flowers instead of lavender. Only few areas near the front gate. It was crowded but I managed to take some pictures. However, it is still beautiful.


Gorgeous lines of flowers at Lavender Farm.
Flowergasm ! Can you name them?


Lavender Blossom  <3


House decorations at Lavender Farm 


A Cute Lovelock. One of many others that pretty stands out because of its big size.


A visitor is taking pictures of the flower farm 


Lovely boot-as-vase decoration 


Blooming flowers for self-pick service  


After that, we went to Bee Farm and Butterfly Farm. Honestly, Butterfly Farm is my favorite destination on this trip. The keeper can caught a butterfly and put it on your hand. I tried it too. The butterflies and flowers are colorful and lovely.


Finally found a bee that flying around flowers.

 Mostly they are inside a wooden house at this farm.






Happy is when a beautiful and delicate creature allowing you to say hi

 
On our way back, we stopped at Time Tunnel, a local museum that preserving old collectibles and memorabilia of older days in Malaysia. There are photo galleries, kitchen area, barber shop, and coffee shop display. The yellow dim lighting and a slight of musty smell strengthened the oldies vibe in this place.



Some collections at Time Tunnel




Coffee shop display

The last destination we visited was Big Red Strawberry Farm. We couldn't resist to do a self-pick service here. The strawberry was so sweet and delicious! 





The day was gonna end and so was our trip. To me personally, the vibe of Cameron Highlands are similar to Lembang or Puncak in Indonesia, but overall it was a nice leisure trip. 


The view from our balcony