We have had a glut
of visitors lately. The other weekend
two friends and colleagues from Astana, now based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, came
to visit. It was lovely to catch up and,
in what I believe is the hallmark of true lifelong friends as opposed to posting
acquaintances, we spent a lot of time talking about life as it is now. That is not to say that we did not reminisce
over shared memories, we would not be human if we did not do this, but we were
interested and able to find common ground in our new, separate lives too.
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Tea along the approach road to the Sungei Palas plantation |
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Picking with shears on the high slopes (where the machines can't reach) |
We only had a day
together so we decided to drive them up to the tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands. We had tried to get to the plantation a few
weeks before but been stymied by bank holiday traffic (note do not drive
anywhere on a Malaysian Bank Holiday) so the sunny day of the visit looked like
the perfect time to take them. An added
benefit was that the highlands can be difficult for visitors to access if they
do not have their own transport so it was a place they were only likely to see
with us.
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Sungei Palas Plantation Village |
There are a number
of major tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands, they belong to the ‘Boh’ tea
company, a common brand in Malaysia. The
most northerly plantation Sungei Palas is a short 2 hour drive from Ipoh taking
in a spectacular mountain climb and the more northerly of the fruit farms and
visitor attractions along the way. The weather
is noticeably cooler here compared with the lowlands, reminiscent of the
English summer weather (ie it rains a lot but is pleasant when sunny). As you move off the main road and down to the
plantation itself the tea becomes the dominant crop on the mountainside. The plantation is huge, stretching as far as
the eye can see.
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Visitor's centre and tea rooms |
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All you ever wanted to know about tea |
As we drove down
into the valley of the main part of the estate it was possible to see workers harvesting
tea on the high, steep slopes that are inaccessible to the mechanised
pickers. The drive down to the visitors
centre ran through the small village of estate workers’ huts complete with a
prayer room and temple, playing fields, a school, community centre a café and
small shop. It was just after
lunch when we arrived so we went to the tearooms which are in a purpose built
observatory platform giving a commanding view over the estate. The rooms serve, not surprisingly, tea in
many and various forms, pastries and cakes and is pretty good value for
money.
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Factory weighbridge (and one of my favourite photos of
the two older children) |
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Sample testing |
After a short break we took a
walk around the information display. The
information provided was detailed and interesting, explaining the tea making
process from start to finish and providing a lot of background and marketing information
on the ‘Boh’ brand, our older kids (8&6) certainly managed to get a lot of information even though they did not read the full content of each poster. We gave the gift
shop (which sold packets of branded tea that are easily bought in our local
supermarket) a miss.
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Machinery as old as Granny and still going strong |
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Original brass cutting plate on display |
The real highlight
of the visit, however, was a tour around the estate factory. It was established in 1935 and much of the
machinery in use is still original (in design at least if not in components),
it was rather like walking into a living museum. The guided tours were finished by the time we
arrived but the factory is so small and the signage and information so detailed
that it was not necessary to have a guide.
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Exploring the tea slopes |
Once we had finished
our brief tour we walked down through the plantations, enjoying a stroll
amongst the tea and being out in the sun without the oppressive humidity that
we get down in Ipoh at times. The way back included an obligatory stop at a vegetable and fruit centre. We will
certainly be back (probably with more visitors in tow) and will also make an
effort to drive down to the other, larger, plantation where the larger factory
will offer a different insight on the tea making business.
Click on the picture for more posts on life in Malaysia.
Nice piece of information.. I was quiet worried about moving to Asian country .. But yeah I found useful information for expats in Malaysia.
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