Jungle trekking in Cameron Highlands Malaysia

Our adventure began with a 4-5 hours bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands. It is very much depend on the bus drivers; sometime I got very sick because of the winding roads however I was ok in some of the bus trips. There was one time when we traveled from Cameron Highlands, the bus broke down twice. We had changed 3 buses for that trip. When we saw the smoke coming out of the driver’s side, we decided to get down from the bus. We waited about an hour for another bus to pick us up and it was the same bus that broke down at the first time! We were so nervous and prayed that we will arrive at Kuala Lumpur one day. We finally got to town and it was 8pm! We were supposed to arrive at 5pm!

There are 2 bus companies that operate from Kuala Lumpur Puduraya Bus Station to Cameron Highlands’ Tanah Rata :

1. Kurnia Bistari Express:
- a lot of frequencies a day, operate everyday.
- 2 types of couch, economy or super VIP
- The super VIP couch is more comfortable, about RM 28 per person
- Stop at Tanah Rata main bus station
- Reservation line: +60 16 303 3330

2. Unititi Express
- only 2 times a day, 8am and 1 pm
- only super VIP couch, about RM35 per person
- newer buses that has lower chances of breakdowns ( We took Kurnia Express that broke down 3 times in a single journey)
- Stop at Tanah Rata Tourist Center
- Reservation line: +60 3 2070 5919



It is advisable to call them for seat reservation in advance to avoid disappointment.



According to the map we bought in Cameron Highlands, there are 15 jungle trails. The signs of all the jungles trails are very poorly mark. I guess it was sabotage by the local “licensed” jungle trekking guide. It always took us a long time to find out where are the entrances of those trails and we had to ask the locals to show us the way. The locals are very friendly though.

Trail no.4 is the easiest. It is located right next to our hotel, Century Pines hotel. It leads you to Parit falls. You can walk beyond the falls and there is a good picnic spot. This trail ends at the Forestry department. The first time we trekked trail no.4, we had to quit halfway due to the rain. The second time we went back to trail no.4, we walked through it and arrived at the Forestry Department. We saw a sign mentioned trail no.6 however; we couldn’t find this trail from our map. We will go back to trail no.6 the next time we visit Cameron Highlands.

We were trying to find the starts of trail no.9 by Mardi however due to the poorly marked sign, we couldn’t find it and we ended up at the entrance of trail no.7. We found our beloved sticks here! We decided to pick up the sticks so that it will help us on the trail. We started to climb up trail no.7 however we were too tired at that point and decided to come back next time. Finding the starts of a trail is tiring! Sometime you need to walk inside the trail and only you will find the mark. At that evening, we saw a couple who passed us by in the morning and we started to talk. It was so nice of them to tell us where the actual entrance of trail no.9 is, we had passed right it!! Therefore we decided to go back to trail no. 9 the next day.

There is trail no. 9 and no. 9A. We walked through trail 9 which leads to Robinson falls. It took about half and hour. This trail branched out to trail no 9A and leads to Boh Road which is a lot longer then we thought. We walked so long on Boh road and finally we saw a sign said “Welcome to Boh tea Plantation” We were so happy and thinking, that’s it, we finally can get some rest. WRONG!!! There are endless roads ahead of us. I was dying…suddenly; a school bus passed by and stopped for us. The bus driver told us to hop in and gave us a ride up to the tea factory and rest area. We were exhausted and so thankful to this kind man. Here is the next question: How the hell are we going to return to our hotel at Tanah Rata? Luckily the people at the tea shop called us a cab ~ Phew!


The next trail, we tried trail no. 3. It is located right in front of Acadia House( I guess is some private resident) We are smarter this time, instead of feeling exhausted from finding the entrance of the trail every time, we took a cab. He dropped us right in front of the house and we could find the start of the trail without needing much effort. Trail no 3 is long and muddy but easy. Upon arriving at the junction of trail no3 and trail no2, we consulted the map, and found that to continue on trail no 3 will be a lot longer and it is up to a mountain named Mount Beremban at 1812meters and we will have to retrace our steps back to Acadia House. Whereas Trail no.2 is shorter and it will lead to Sam Po Temple which we think may be easier to hail a cab. We were lucky to have our walking sticks because the path was very steep and muddy, we wouldn’t have make it without our beloved sticks! Although the map shows it is a short trek on trail no. 2 but it was definitely not the case! Just as we saw some sunlight, we thought, that’s it, we are there - NOPE; just when we saw a little water stream and thought, this gotta be it - NOPE; Just when we saw some civilization through the tress, OK, this should be the end-HELL NO!! Keep on walking. I couldn’t remember how long we have been in the jungle but the feeling was so good when we finally made it. Guess what? Even thought we have done with the trail and arrived at Sam Po temple, we still had to walk to Brinchang Town. I couldn’t even remember how I got there..All I think about was the foot massage I was going to enjoy later in the evening!

The next time we went back to Cameron Highlands, we wanted to explore some new trails. Therefore we picked Trail no. 10. The map shows the beginning of this trail should start at Oly Apartment that located at the entrance of Tanah Rata. We thought, hey, that’s easy, then we keep on walking towards to Oly Apartment. Upon arrival to a junction, we hesitated, which way? We decided to take the right way, after about 15minutes of walking, still no sign of Oly Apartment, we were thinking: should we kept going on or turn around? A young man was walking towards our direction and we asked him to show us the direction. “You have to go out of this road and take the other one, then keep walking straight” the man answered.
I was starting to get tired because we had been walking for almost half an hour! We should have taken the left way at the junction! We kept walking and still no sign of Oly Apartment. We ask a local girl again. “Just keep on walking” Finally, we arrived at Oly Apartment. We walked around the apartment and could not find any entrance to the trail. We saw a garden “Tan’s Camellia Garden” We walked in and saw some beautiful flowers but I told Charlie, it won’t be any jungle trail in someone’s garden. We walked out and saw one very tiny trial among tall grasses. We walked on and on and it leads us to a dead end. We had to turn around. Charlie said, let’s try the garden again! We walked in and saw a man having his cup of tea on a bench while reading his news paper. I was like, hey, we are trespassing and that’s someone’s private property! But Charlie asked him if he knows where trail no.10 is. “Here” To our surprise: the entrance of trail no. 10 is located in his camellia garden! He told us to hike up to the hill and it will be a great view of Cameron from the top of the hill. It was an ok walk, combination of some steep path and easy path. We took some rest in between and of course, we left some notes! When we were half way going up the hill, there was a panel said do not enter. There are bee hives on the way to the hill and no one should enter. We were disappointed but no choice had to turn around - after all these works of finding the entrance of trail no.10!!!!


We wanted to explore trail no.14 the next day. It looks like the entrance is located half way to Tanah Rata. We hired a cab and he told us very confidently that he know exactly where it is. The cab ride made me sick. After about 20minutes of long and winding road, I forgot how many switch backs we have made but I was really sick when he dropped us off. As we opened up our map trying to figure out where exactly the entrance is, an Indian man approached us. He told us he is a guide and has been living in Cameron Highlands all his life, there is no trail no.14 and the location we were at was trail no.9. He kept telling us we were at the wrong location, it was trail no.9 and we should not go on because it was dangerous due to the landslide recently. After some questions and answer session with him, he told us he could drive us to trail no.14 with a charge of RM7 per person (I thought he just told us there is no trail no.14 in Cameron Highlands, suddenly he could bring us there??). We agreed and got into his van. The van wouldn’t start and he wanted Charlie to help him to push his van. OK, it worked finally. Another 10 minutes of winding road. He dropped to some nursery and told us to walk into the nursery and ask people there to show us where the entrance of trail no.14. I was really sick by then and couldn’t wait to get out of the van. We walked very slowly thru the nursery. The foreign workers in the nursery looked very curious but we kept walking till the end. We saw a jeep passed and tried to follow the jeep’s trail. It ended up at a private resident! I said we quit! Here is another problem, where are we? Can we hail a cab? How long should we walk till the next town? I really felt like throwing up at that time.

We just kept walking along the tar road where a lot of cars passed by. We had to take a lot of rest because I was feeling sick. I forgot how long we had been walking, may be 45minutes. We saw a sign “Bharat Tea Shop” I was so happy! Another 15-20minutes walk, we arrived at the Tea Shop. We had some teas and scones while enjoy the view of tea plantation. It was very windy and such a nice view. Perhaps the relaxing atmosphere made us more relaxed and I was feeling better. We stayed longer and decided to have lunch there. I was almost back to normal by the end of our lunch. Luckily the cashier at the tea shop would call a cab to pick us up and I was feeling at ease for the first time since that morning. Before the cab arrived, we met a German man whom we saw walking from Tanah Rata till the tea shop. We started to chat with him asking about trails. He showed us his map and there was no trail no.14! It was trail no.13. We saw the sign of trail no.13 when the Indian promised he would show us the entrance of trail no.14, he told us Trail no.13 is dangerous and no one should hike that trail! I cursed him so much - we had been ripped off by him and we ended up not doing any trail!!!

Lesson learned from this trip: Be very careful with people who claimed that they are the guide but couldn’t show you his license, he may rip you off!! We may want to hire a license guide next time.
We went back to Cameron again. We wanted to trek on trail 11 on the first day. Since we knew how to get to the entrance of trail 11, which is the same for trail 10, we didn’t waste a lot of time just to find the entrance. We went straight to Oly Apartment. There is a Camellia Garden; I think is private owned, named Tan’s Camellia Garden. We walked right up and started our adventure. After about an hour of walk, we found the junction of trail 10 and 11 - a much worn out sign, we can hardly made out the words. We went on trail 11 until we came to halt. There was a landslide that block to path, although Charlie tried to go through those slippery land and tree branches but he decided it is too dangerous to continue; therefore we turn back. We met a couple at the junction and told them not to follow trail 11 as there was a landslide.

Around tea time, we met the couple again. They told us they went on trail 10 and 12! We were surprised of how strong they are because the husband is a 60 year old man!

We then decided to do the same next day. We took a cab to Aboriginal Village which is the start of trail 12 according to our map. There were no sign at all; we had to ask the local for direction. We needed to go on Gunung Predah( mount Predah) It was a long walk! We went through trail 12 and then continued to trail 10, 2 mountains at one time! It took us about 3-4 hours! At the top of the hill, we met a guy who was waiting for butterflies; he wanted to catch some butterflies. We then asked him for directions, since there were 2 different ways that lead out from the hill. He pointed to the right side where a huge power tower located. We doubted but went on, it didn’t seem to be the way and we walked back to him. He told us that is the only way, follow the tower. We went back again, went around the tower and still couldn’t find a path. We went back to him the 3rd time. He was very sure there was a path, tiny path that would lead us out and ended at the Camellia Garden. We went back, took a snack rest and we heard some people talking. We had a little more confidence this time and pretty sure there should be a path to lead us out. We finally found a tiny path by the tower and continued on. We were thinking: if we hadn’t met the man on top of the hill, we would have lost or probably ended in somewhere else!