Cameron Highlands

A Colonial Hill Station Of Tea Terraces And Mossy Cloud Forest At Around Fifteen Hundred Metres, Where Jim Thompson Walked Out After Lunch In 1967 And Was Never Seen Again · Tanah Rata, Pahang

AT AROUND FIFTEEN HUNDRED METRES THE CAMERONS ARE COLD ENOUGH TO NEED A JUMPER, WHICH IN MALAYSIA IS THE WHOLE POINT. The British built a hill station here from the 1920s and planted tea, and THE BOH TERRACES - green corduroy poured over the hills - are still the image everyone comes for. ABOVE THEM IS SOMETHING STRANGER: THE MOSSY FOREST on Gunung Brinchang, a stunted, dripping, moss-smothered cloud forest where the trees are shorter than you and everything is wet. AND THERE IS THE DISAPPEARANCE. ON EASTER SUNDAY 1967 JIM THOMPSON - THE AMERICAN WHO REBUILT THE THAI SILK INDUSTRY - WALKED OUT AFTER LUNCH AND WAS NEVER FOUND, despite one of the largest searches in Malaysian history. BE WARNED ABOUT THE OTHER HALF: land clearance, plastic-sheeted farms and weekend traffic jams on one mountain road have done real damage. Come midweek or sit in the traffic, bring something warm because the nights are genuinely cold, and note that the BOH estates close on Mondays.

Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Tanah Rata, Pahang, Malaysia

THE CAMERONS ARE REACHED BY ROAD FROM TAPAH OR SIMPANG PULAI, roughly THREE TO FOUR HOURS FROM KUALA LUMPUR, on winding mountain routes - THE SIMPANG PULAI ROAD IS THE EASIER AND NEWER. TANAH RATA IS THE MAIN BASE. THE BOH TEA ESTATES have visitor centres with daytime hours and are FREE TO WALK, though they CLOSE ON MONDAYS. THE MOSSY FOREST on Brinchang is reached by a narrow road and a boardwalk, and ENTRY IS NOW MANAGED WITH A FEE AND TIMED ACCESS to limit damage - go with a guide or a tour. RAFFLESIA TRIPS depend entirely on whether one is in bloom and are arranged locally. WEEKENDS AND MALAYSIAN HOLIDAYS BRING SEVERE TRAFFIC on a single road. It is cold at night and rains most afternoons.

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