Planning on your next trip to Cameron Highlands Part 2?

Allison from Singapore asked:
Hi Raymond,
Glad to hear from you. I am pleased to tell you that we managed to get hotel accommodation and bus tickets to Cameron for the cny holidays! yay! I decided to call up the bus companies 2 days ago, and found out most of the buses were full already, until I called Konsortium where a lady told me they don't do tickets to Cameron for the season but full packages with hotel included. I was afraid they might charge very high but thankfully it was a reasonable $322 which was actually lower than another 2 travel agents I had been enquiring with last month.

Phew! I saw from your photos there's a small market and some farms nearby. I hope they will be open at the time I am there...i heard some of them close for the first day of cny. I do hope also to secure a day tour to the plantations and farms for one of the days I am there so there will be some activities for us to do.

My husband thinks Cameron is really slow and boring. Do you think the hotel's facilities will be able to keep us busy? We are staying at the Equatorial too and they seem to have a huge indoor pool which I believe is heated? Do you happen to know if the hotel has DVD sets for rental or...?

As for transportation, you guys didn't take a taxi down to Brinchang town or anything like that? I hope it would be easy and not so expensive to catch a cab down and back. THis will give us an option as to what to do. hehe.. Thanks very much again for reply, and any other info you have will be greatly appreciated. Do post them up on your blog for others to read as well. Allison

My Reply:
Hi Allison,
Congratulations on getting the tickets at a reasonable prices. Well Done!

Market Sqaure is a few minutes walk from the hotel. You can get fresh strawberries, tomoatoes, corn etc at bargain prices. Also there are a few eateries there which served delicious cooked food at great price too compared to the hotel.

Other place of interest nearby the hotel are:Raaju Strawberry Farm, Rose Centre, Orchid Rose Garden, Butterfly Garden, Butterfly Farm, Green Farm, Rose Valley, Honey Bee FarmSome are FOC entry while others are not. You can book day tours at the hotel or at Brinchang town if your coach happen to stop there like in our case. Transport will be provided by the tour operator to Brinchang or Tana Rata if your tour includes those places. We did not catch a cab to Brinchang as one of our tour sightsee spots was dinner at Brinchang town. Our day tours are detailed in Nature Discovery Tour: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~raindeer/Cameron_Highlands_Tour_Package/Cameron_Highlands_Tour_Package_Day1.htm andAgro Delight Tour: http://web.singnet.com.sg/~raindeer/Cameron_Highlands_Tour_Package/Cameron_Highlands_Tour_Package_Day2.htm

For CNY, most places will be closed, the hotel have a heated indoor pool and gym facilities. I did not notice if the hotel had DVD player, however they have cable TV.If you like nature and landscape, Cameron Highlands is a very good choice to get away from hustle and bustle of city life in Singapore. It is very relaxing, invigorating and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Planning on your next trip to Cameron Highlands Part 1?

Allison of Singapore asked:

Hi Raymond,

I found your website on your cameron highlands trip and found it very interesting and informative. I would like to make a trip there this coming January during Chinese New Year but have found myself getting into many stumbling blocks.

First things first, i am not sure how easy it is to get bus tickets to Cameron Highlands. You took Konsortium's coach there and were the only 2 people onboard...im surprised they took you since it was not a full bus! I was thinking of calling them up to ask for tickets...is it difficult to get tickets? Did you book way in advance?

Secondly, i am also worried about the availability of hotel rooms in Cameron. I initially wanted to stay at Equatorial Cameron as the views from the window might be nicer. However, a travel agent convinced me to stay at Rosa Passadena which is in the heart of Brinchang town, making it more convenient to go the restaurants, shops, eateries...etc. Whereas, Equatorial is in the hills and it would be difficult to get a taxi...From your review, it seems that there are some farms and places you get to see in the surrounding areas in Equatorial. Did you have to walk far?

I do hope you can reply me soonest so I can make my reservations. =)

THank you very much for your help!

My Ans:
Hi Allison,
Thank you for visting my web site and I am glad that you found them interesting& informative.If you are going during the Chinese New Year holidays, that will be super peakperiod. You need 2 months in advance at least to be sure to get tickets. Trip and hotel costs will be much more. I believe many operators might tell you its fully booked or place you on waiting list for someone to pull out, nonethelessyou can still enquire.

We went during the off-peak season, and it was easy to get tickets. We actuallybooked our free and easy tours to Cameron Highlands with Grassland Express who does not have buses, so they employ Konsortium to fill in. The only reason wecan think of why Konsortium still took us up was because they need to takepeople down to Singapore. B.T.W the drivers who drove us up is a Malaysian.

Grassland gave us a choice of hotels and resorts to choose from. We chose Equatorial Hotel. The hotel is cosy with good view and there is no air condition since the air is cold and the food is great too.It is true that you need transportation if you decide to stay at Hotel Equatorial to get to Brinchang or Tana Rata. Some places of interest like the butterfly farm and market square is only walking distance away from Equatorial hotel. If you book short day tours there, you need not worry about transport, as it is provided.