Cameron Highlands, Malaysia: How to live like a British Colonist

November 7, 2010

After a weekend in the Cameron Highlands, we now know what it was like to be a British Colonist, who were still colonists up until 60 years ago. The colonists built homes up in the mountains 4 hours north of Kuala Lumpur, to escape the heat. They were drawn to the cool, clean air and fresh produce, especially the strawberries and tea that can grow year round here because it's frost-free. So, were we.

Despite the colonists' tending towards being oppressors, the truth is, we empathize with them. Or, at least, with their needing a break from more than the heat, but also from the stress of living in a big, jangly, stressful city like Kuala Lumpur. Think of it like the need to escape from NYC on weekend getaways. But, KL is more poorly planned than NYC.

The scene was set for us, backdrop in place, when we arrived in the Cameron Highlands to our hotel called "Ye Olde Smokehouse." Cheesy and chintzy in some mild ways, yes. But, largely, an intimate, warm home from the 1800's filled with Colonial memorabilia and touches from the past like a British garden and lovely beamed ceilings. We'd start every day there with a big, fattening British breakfast with baked goods that just aren't worth eating in Kuala Lumpur. But, at Ye Olde Smokehouse, they specialize in baking, British-style. And, they love their meats. So, we'd have loads of ham and sausages and more for breakfast. I'd chase the kids in the garden while waiting for breakfast. Afternoon tea had clotted cream and delicate, warm scones with Devonshire tea.

Ah, dinner. What British comfort food --- steak and mushroom pie, scotch broth, and Beef Wellington. But, we'd start dinner out with drinks by the fire in their small pub, with the cool rain pouring outside, us feeling all toasty and cozy inside. Ken said it reminded him of being rained-in at his parents' country house. The kids had free reign of the place -- sitting with us by the fire, running up to our nearby room, watching a movie upstairs while we'd eat dinner. It gave us all a warm, trusting sense of freedom that we really missed in our cold, glass and marble high rise life in Kuala Lumpur. And, to top it off, the general manager, Alex, is Chinese Malaysian with a clipped British accent, and he'd stand chatting with us and other families relaxing by the pub fire while we'd wait for our meal to be ready or have dessert and after-dinner drinks.

Needless to say, we didn't want to leave. It was like having to leave your mom's home and return to work. You just don't want to leave the warmth of home.

What we did do in Cameron Highlands was touristing and trekking. We picked berries at a strawberry farm (dipping them in chocolate fondue!), smelled roses at a rose farm, and went to a famous tea plantation, the biggest in Malaysia, called Boh Tea. They are so successful that they actually own the property our KL high rise is on and the ultra valuable property next door to us -- they keep their own, rare low-rise homes with a pool and jungle space in the middle of the city right here in KL.

We trekked on a hike to the "Mossy Forest" which was as magical as its name. But, they should have renamed it the "Soggy Forest," since we were mud-caked by the end of climbing all over the top of a mountain, slipping on the big jungle tree roots. The kids seemed unleashed by the freedom and empowerment of leading the hike. You'll be happy to hear that we no longer let Griffin or anyone run ahead of us without adult supervision. We joke with him that he needs to let us know before he kills himself, this time -- see Taman Negara near-death experience down the river rapids for background.

Today we hiked from our hotel through the jungle to a nearby town where they had a fabulous playground and some yummy Indian food, on a banana leaf. Alice tried it and shocked us that she'd expanded her palate this much already. Used to be, we couldn't order her anything at an Indian restaurant. The previous day, we'd eaten a Steamboat at a Chinese Malaysian restaurant. It's a big pot with the deepest, richest broths we'd had in a long time. Ken and I couldn't stop eating the spicy one. We'd boil our seafood in the boiling broth, and the kids loved it too, other than Griffin's traumatizing green chili eating, which he'd mistaken for what they call a "ladyfinger" here (okra). He jumped up and down, pouring sprite into his mouth.

I jogged both Saturday and Sunday morning, which is unusual for me. I usually run 11 miles on Saturdays, with my jogging group in KL. But, in Cameron Highlands, I didn't feel like running so far, but loved the run in the cool air, for a refreshing change, around the golf course. I worked some on speed, instead of distance. It was such dream runs for me.

We ended our trekking days in the hot bath. It still required extra sharp Mom nails to scrape the muck off of them.