Travel Secrets: Hidden Malaysia

Our London correspondent Shozeb Haider likes to go where the crowds don't. True to form, his Malaysia tour tosses up terrific non-touristy gems.

- Shozeb Haider

 

White sandy beaches, clear turquoise blue water, dense tropical forests, orangutans and Petronas Towers. These tourist traps awaiting every visitor to Malaysia were struck off the list as soon as I decided I would be travelling on a four-day trip. After extensive deliberations, I picked two places–Cameron Highlands, the highest hill region on peninsular Malaysia and Georgetown, which arguably is the heart of composite Malaysian culture.

An early morning three-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur brought me to Tanah Rata. At 1400 m, it is the largest amongst eight interconnected towns, spread over 35 kilometers, along the arterial highway 59. The nearby towns of Brinchang, Ringlet, Bertam valley, Kea farm, Tringkap, Kuala Terla and Kampung Raja collectively form the Cameron Highlands. Named after the British surveyor, Sir William Cameron, this is a wonderful escape from the warm humid tropical heat of the lowlands, where the temperatures almost never exceed 24 degree C. The surrounding buildings exude old British charm. Small cottages, narrow alleyways, rose gardens, cascading waterfalls and walking trails through the temperate forests add to a nostalgic allure. One could easily mistake it for an English hamlet. Some Tudor-styled landmarks that have withstood the test of time include the Ye Olde Smokehouse Inn, All Souls Church, Foster’s Lake House and the most infamous of the lot – the Moonlight Bungalow. It is from here, one misty spring evening in 1967, that Jim Thompson, a Thai silk magnate, went for an evening walk and never returned. His disappearance is one of the unsolved mysteries that attract a lot of travellers to this part of Malaysia.