- Cactus Valley – Perched on a hillside is this botanical show garden. It has a great collection of flowers and cacti of different shapes, sizes and colours. We easily spent an hour here meandering across the paths.
- Big Red Strawberry Farm – this was our next stop. The weather in the Cameron Highlands is perfect for growing a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. Strawberries are popular and there are rows and rows of strawberry plants. You can pick you own strawberries but only between May/June to late October, when they are in season. They also grow lettuces, kale and other vegetables hydropinically. At the cafe, they have fresh salads using the lettuces they have grown themselves.
We then tried to catch the bus to the famous Boh tea plantation. It wasn’t far to walk (3km in total), but the topography here is hilly – lots and lots of steep hills with no walking paths, so walking wasn’t really an option. The bus didn’t turn up, nobody knew if it even went the tea plantations. It was rather frustrating.
We intended to stay at a different hostel when we arrived in Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands: CH Travellers Inn http://chtravellersinn.com/. They do dorms for 25 RM per person and were one of the recommended ones on Hostelworld. However, the dorm room was fully booked and so was there private double room (60RM per night). This was the second hostel we had asked that was fully booked and April is their low season so we were getting slightly worried. The owner was lovely and he said don’t worry, his sister had recently opened a hostels a few doors down so he took us around Orchid Lodge to have a look at the dorm rooms, which were 25RM and perfect for our budget.
The place was great. The owner was really friendly and warming. You could ask her anything and she would try her best to help you out. She explained:
- the hostel and the facilities
- the local area and what attractions there were
- tours and if you were interested you could book them through her (she will call them up, book you onto the tour and get the car to pick you up right outside the hostel)
- a few local places to eat that were good
The dorm room:
had 3 bunk beds spaced evenly around the room. There was enough space to place your backpack and not feel packed in like sardines. The bed was comfy and everything was clean, we did not worry at all. As the Cameron Highlands has a lower average temperature than the rest of Malaysia, there was no fan or air-con. It was not needed anyways.
There is a bathroom attached to the room. Again it was quite large and spacious. The hot shower was good and everything was in working order.
There are also lockers in the room, quite small and each have their own key. The balcony outside was a nice touch, if you wanted to sit outside for a bit to read a book or people watch.
Overall for the price, this was a really good find!
Price
The price for the dorm was 25RM per person.
Check-in: 1pm
Check-out: 11am
Facilities
- Hot showers
- Free tea and coffee making facilities
- Bread and jam for breakfast
- Small lockers
- TV in the lounge area
- Kitchen
- Wifi (although it was only available in the kitchen because it wasn’t working in the rooms)
Local Area
The hostel is part of a larger block of buildings. There are lots of places to go and eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner right on your doorstep. The famous Gossip Corner is located on the second floor – you can try their big burger challenge if you wanted it.
It’s 5 minutes away from the tourist information shop.
The bus terminal is 10 minutes away.
There is a laundry service nearby that washes and cleans your laundry for 5RM per kilo of clothes. It is a few doors away from the pharmacy. Note: it closes on a Tuesday.
It is a good location in Tanah Rata.
Location
82D, Persiaran Camellia 4
39000 Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 010-3951247
Their website is http://orchidlodge.cameronhighlands.com/
We had a lovely 2 nights stay here at Orchid Lodge.
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