Cameron Highlands - Call of the Wild (BOH Tea Plantation, Gunang Brinchang, Mossy Forest)

Call of the Wild

Ok, not so wild, we took a half-day guided tour with Titiwangsa Tour ;) (since there is little public transport and no feasible way of getting around)

First Stop: BOH Tea Plantation

Probably the most iconic fixture in Cameron Highlands is the BOH Tea plantation, which is the largest tea plantation in Malaysia. 

At the BOH tea centre, visitors are allowed into the factory to watch tea processing in action.
Unfortunately, we came during the lull rainy season when there is little tea leaves harvesting activities going on. Thus the factory was idle when we visited.

There was a museum of some sorts, and the device below is apparently in used today for efficient tea leaves plucking. This device weighs ~90kg, and is usually operated by 2 pax.

Beautiful cafeteria overlooking the plantation

Coffee please?? (haha) Cafeteria interior:

2nd Stop: Gunang Brinchang

Gunang Brinchang was a bit of a anti-climax. The summit looked like this:

Admittedly, we got in by minibus, and the "trek" might have been more fun if conquered by foot.
Sidenote: I advise against walking up, as the "path" was shared with cars and was pretty narrow.

The view up there is ..... foggy....  (probably just our bad luck, lol)

There's a small observation tower if you're still not completely discouraged, hahaha

Last Stop: Mossy Forest

Mossy forest is so-named for being covered by a carpet of moss on the ground as well as on the trees.
There is a boardwalk to take you through the forest so it's a pretty easy walk.

See the dew gathered on the moss? Apparently the moss could condense and gather water vapor from the air. The excess water gathered will be dropped to the ground forming mountain streams. Thus, even during dry seasons, there will be water streams running through mossy forest and down the rest of Cameron Highlands.

More moss: