An Afternoon in Bliss: Tanah Rata's Tea Plantation

It really is cooler in the highlands. And the scenery is absolutely stunning.

Nestled above the dense jungle that covers most of peninsular Malaysia is an area the locals know as 'the highlands'. At an altitude of 1,440m, a mixture of mountains and jungles, it has some of the most spectacular scenery that Malaysia can offer.



I arrived in the highlands two days ago after a short stint in Kuala Lumpur. It's only a three hour bus ride to the former hill station from the bustling capital and, after an initial night of beer tasting, it has so far proven to be pretty amazing.

With the Indonesian states of Java and Sumatra - both famous for their coffee - just a stones throw from here, you'd imagine that coffee would also be king up here. Not true. Malaysians stay true to their old-world roots, and tea is the drink of choice here. Predictably, it's milk tea for the Indians, green tea for the Chinese, and something called Teh Tarik for the Malays.

Teh Tarik literally means 'pulled tea'. It's named this for a good reason - when it's made it's 'pulled' through a strainer. It's similar to Indian masala tea in that it's made from black tea. However, it's distinct from masala tea because instead of normal milk, it uses condensed milk. Although 'Super Beers' are unique to the country, Tarik Teh is considered the national drink of Malaysia.

So, in true backpacker style I set off to hitchhike down to the tea plantation. I quickly found, however, that hitchhiking in Malaysia is extremely difficult to do, and ended up walking the entire 9km.

Walking in Malaysia is a feat itself. Like other Southeast Asian nations, there seems to be little interest in following traffic laws. But unlike its neighbors, Malaysia has amazingly well-maintained roads. This means that drivers can drive very fast. On the highways there seems to be strict adherence to the rules, but once you get off the highway anything can be expected.

After a very 'difficult' journey down the hill, I arrived at the tea plantation. Malaysia has so far been good to me. But it's also been a little boring. The tea plantation made up for it all. There was a cafe at the top of one of the rolling hills, and I immediately ventured there. The cafe had glass balconies overlooking the plantation. But as expected, it was packed. After a while a waiter took sympathy on me and tried to find me a place to sit. After some negotiating with a large extended family, I was allowed to have tea at their table in an isolated corner near the back of the cafe. As I sat down, the oldest woman, clearly the one in charge of the family, barked at the waiter to get me a Teherek Teh. She smiled when it came. Although none of them spoke English, I felt like part of their family.

After tea I spent the rest of the afternoon hiking through the plantation's tea fields. The tea fields here aren't as imposing as those in Anhui or as majestic as those in Daejeeling, but there is something unexplainably magic about the plantation's plain and unassuming everyday-ness.

I did eventually return to the cafe. This time I was lucky enough to get a seat next to the glass overlooking the rows of tea bushes. After eating a 3rm ($1.00) espresso cheesecake and drinking some locally vanilla-infused tea, I fell asleep in my chair. It was a very nice end to a very long day.