Experience the best of Tanah Rata

Tanah Rata sits at about 1,400 metres in the Cameron Highlands, in the mountains of Pahang, where the air is cool, mist is common and some hotels and tea rooms are built in a half-timbered colonial style. The hills were surveyed by the British government officer William Cameron in 1885 and soon became a retreat from the heat of the plains. Tea estates cover the slopes in neat green rows, and terraced vegetable and flower farms fill the valleys.

Mount Brinchang, at over two thousand metres, can be reached by road, and its mossy forest of twisted trees draped in lichen and ferns is explored along a boardwalk. Waterfalls and jungle trails run close to town, strawberry farms sell fruit and cream, and a butterfly farm and bee farms show the highland insects. Orang Asli communities live in villages nearby.

Steamboat, a hot pot of broth for dipping meat and vegetables, is a favourite meal on cool evenings, and afternoon tea with scones, jam and cream on a terrace recalls the colonial era. Tea, strawberries and fresh vegetables fill the stalls. Temperatures stay mild all year, and mist and afternoon rain are common.