Yes, there are coverage in major towns.

You can also try a more scenic route via Raub, S.Koyan A bit far but it's a new route so less traffic.

Bungalows has been mentiioned in the earlier comments and treads.

You went up for all the wrong reasons. Time was not on your side though. If it was a day trip you should have started your journey after sahur rather than in the afternoons. You did not even find out what and where your attractions are. That's why you are clueless and the during ramadhan it is very quiet there and that made it worse for you as you cannot see what others are going or doing because there are not many others to follow Most go there to enjoy the cooling atmosphere but you didn't seem to stay long enough to enjoy it. Meals times are a bit harder if you don't know where to find halal foods as most commercial eateries are non-halal in CH. Actually there are nice, even nicer than most KL outlets for roti chanais but they cater mostly to locals and their outlets very hidden.

As for myself I usually take the Tapah Road as I save 1 1/2 hours of travelling. Most places I visit is Brinchang and Tanah Rata, sometimes Tringkap, beyond that there's nothing there. This route is also cooler as most are under the foilage and the car air conditioner is usually off after Lata Iskandar. So I save the time taken to travel from Tapah to Spg.Pulai and also from Kg.Raja to Brinchang. I usually take 2 hours 15 minutes from D'sara toll to Ringlet so to me daytrip is a norm but I start early lah.

Maybe next trip you can plan a 2 days/nights trip and maybe you will enjoy more.

I don't really know much about hotels' quality but halal food no problemo Most of the Indian makan shop are halal but opposite the main row of shops in Tanah Rata there's a warong kind of shops operated by local Malays and off course 'halal'. The first shop's nasi campur is actually not bad. There's a Malay food court in front of Shell station in Brinchang, also a KFC. The 'pasar malam' on Fridays and Saturdays in Brinchang ( in front of the police station) also has a lot of Malay stalls selling a variety of food stuffs.

Cab fares are standardised in CH and the price starts usually from RM12 onwards. You can also book half day or full day. There's a taxi station just in front of Starbuck in Tanah Rata and also a taxi station in the middle of Brinchang. If you want to do a half day visit you can actually book half day tours. There are two tourist counters in Tanah Rata. Check them out. I think Robinson's Fall's, tea plantation, a bit of local produce shopping is included. Hiking tours can also be arranged at the counters there.

Enjoy yourself

No road closure, means it is safe lorr. The slide pictured in the papers is on the Simpang Pulai - Kg.Raja road. You can take the Tapah - Ringlet road, faster in fact from KL to CH.

There's one reputated to be good. It is a cafe above the Merrybrown Chicken ( in front of the bus station and just before the Tanah Rata police station ) in Tanah Rata. The place is called T-cafe. The entrance is from the staircase at the side of the Merrybrown Fried Chicken outlet. Smokehouse teatime is quite popular too albeit their services is a bit 'lansi' Check out the comments by others on T-cafe. Ironically, I never tried it myself.

http://t-cafe.biz/page4.html

Someone said the deal is off! I have to say I am sorry this time as I have seldom stayed in hotels in Cameron Highlands as I do mostly day trips but I did encountered a dirty hotel once. Cameron Highlands is a dampy and cold place so hotel hygeine is a challenging task. Even in Strawberry Park (one of the premier hotels in CH) I checked into a hotel with a musty and smelly bed. If you have more than 3 persons, I think renting apartments are more economical and I have to say some are even cleaner. If hotel is more convenient, my bet goes to DeLaFern Hotel since it is the latest newly built hotel in CH. Nestled in between Brinchang and Tanah Rata (the 2 most popular towns) so it is convenient too. It is even beside a tourist farm with strawberries patch.

Father's guest House is more like a backpacker's kind of lodging. It is popular and also among the caucasian tourist. Prices are fair too. I can't comment on the conditions of the rooms as I have never stayed there before.

Yes, in CH, steamboat seems to be the thing but after staying there for almost 3 years, none of any of the steamboat places is nice. I mean NONE. Food is one thing CH is not famous for except that for tourist it is darn expensive. But one have to experience steamboat if one is visiting CH right? One thing though, in CH they don't mind you bringing your own green veges. You can buy veges in Kea Farm and wash it in the hotel and then bring it along to cook in the steamboat and the operator don't mind. I can't really recommend places for prices as most operate on 2 tiered prices, locals and tourist.

I guess spa is not CH thing. I didn't notice any spa in CH. Woman folks are kings in CH, probably they don't allow their mensfolk to patronise this kind of places Probably that's why my daughter prefer man from there and I don't object to it too, ha,ha,ha.

I won't worry about landslide if you travel during daytime, most cases are isolated and happens in the most prone areas where they will be monitored. There are already 4 ways to reach Cameron Highlands nowadays namely Tapah, Simpang Pulai, Raub and Gua Musang. It is even cooler when it rains up and it usually affects jungle trekking and hiking most which most city dwellers seldom participates in anyway. Other than that most are the same, restaurants are the the same, cactus farm the same, strawberry farms the same at most just carry a few umbrella in the car.

More worrying is the crowd that is going to be there on the double holiday period! My guess is the jam will starts from just after Kuala Terla till Brinchang. You will avoid it if you take Tapah route though.

Traffic is moving with more vehicles but most travellers like to use simpang Pulai way maybe due to the fact that the road is wider but once they reach Kg.Raja the road is uphill, winding and narrow all the way to Brinchang, weaving through Kuala Terla and Tringkap. The jam goes all the way till Brinchang. On the other hand, traffic from Tapah is more controlled, maybe because the cars travel slower due to winding and narrower roads (but it is really not that hard to drive as reputated). Except for Tuesdays when there's a 'pasar malam' in Ringlet, there might be a slight jam passing through the town.

PS/ Although very much further, many KL drivers drives till Simpang Pulai and turns into CH route as many think it will be faster but actually you spend more time on the road although the drive might be easier.

This post has been edited by etigge: Aug 28 2011, 06:15 AM

You are right. When I was staying in Tringkap (second coolest not coldest ) location in CH after Kea Farm, the lowest temperature I ever experienced was 13 deg.C at night, you right, it was just before the CNY. Records in diaries of the colonial tea planters mentioned that the temperature did went down to only 3 deg.C during the early days of thoer colony. Seems the temperature is getting higher due to development. According to locals the temperature actually went down this past few years as compared to earlier. Well, I can't confirm since I was not staying there a decade ago to compare.

This means the traffic police are getting strict. Normally the jams are caused by cars looking for parking space, parking hap-hazardly on the road sides, slowing down, waiting for others to reverse out to park. It normally happens in Sungai Palas, Boh Tea Plantation junction, Kea Farm junction and also 'pasar malam' in Brinchang. Sometimes the area near Multicrops and Uncle Sam also causes jams. If the traffic is smoothen in those areas, then there won't be jams.

This post has been edited by etigge: Sep 5 2011, 08:09 AM

Your question sounds so .....so...... dirty. Or I think you are really asking about those papaya farms as in Betong or Golok. If youy are, then you will be dissapointed as there are no such farms there as in Cameron Highlands, the Queens in CH rules the place. If you are asking about papaya farms as in paw paw, carica farms, you will also be dissapointed as there are also none there.

The only hotels near Kea Farm is Equitorial Hotel and also Bala Chalets (which was reviewed as dirty and service provided is bad somewhere in these treads). There are also a new apartment blocks right in the middle of Kea Farm and there are many for daily rental. You juts have to drive in there and call the numbers on the sign boards hung on the balcony of the apartments. There are no other lodgings around Kea Farm other than those mentioned.

There are a few budget hotels behind the row of shophouses that house CIMB Bank but avoid Highlander Hotel as it is really dirty. The others are OK. If you venture further in (near Maybank) there's a bungalow like hotel and I think it is less than RM100 per night and also on the way to Royal Lily there's also another one which will cost about the same. There's a new hotel, Traders Hotel (formerly Kavi Hotel) but I don't know their rates and it is on the main road but I think it should be within your budget.

If you do day trips, it is possible if you drive up yourself but you won't be able to spend more time if you take a bus. The earliest bus leaves Puduraya at 9.00 am and arrives in Tanah Rata at 12.30 pm to 1.00 pm. This is using Unititi which is more punctual than the other one Kurnia Bistari which may even delay. Then the last bus departs Tanah Rata at 4.30 pm and this gives you a window of 3 to 31/2 hours which I doubt you can do anything much there except maybe walk around Tanah Rata. Or maybe take a taxi to Kea Farm or Boh Plantation and then head back to the bus station.

There are no bicycle shops in CH and you hardly see bicycles let alone rent one.

If you take the one day tour, they usually departs at 6.00 am and reach about 10.00 am and since the bus itself is the transport around CH, they can cover more places like the Sam Poh temple, Boh Plantations, Kea Farm, Bee Farm and they also can depart later, say 6.00 pm or 7.00 pm and head back to KL. I suggest you take the day tour![

This post has been edited by etigge: Oct 26 2011, 06:01 PM

I think the most effective day tours are those housing estates 'madam' who organize tours. They are also quite cheap and usually they charter a bus and sometimes 'Bas Sekolah'. Visit those taman coffeeshops and lok see look see. Tours companies also do CH tours but usually overnighter as they also need to untung from room rates and more meals. Unless you have at least 6 persons, it is quite hard to get tour company to do day tours.

So, what is stopping you from spending a night there. GF parents won't allow?

Every info you need is all over the tread. Happy reading through.

Helicopter is available all over Malaysia. It's privately chartered anyway.