The Cameron Highlands
high-definition creative commons photographs from a trip to these beautiful highlands in Pahang, Malaysia, together with some further information.
The Cameron Highlands is a highland region located about 121 km east of Ipoh and about 214 km north of Kuala Lumpur, in Pahang, Malaysia. At 5,000 ft (1,500 m) above sea level it is the highest area on the mainland, enjoys a cool climate, with temperatures no higher than 25°C and rarely falls below 12°C all year round. Cameron Highlands is actually a district in the state of Pahang Darul Makmur although the road entrance is via Tapah and Simpang Pulai in the state of Perak Darul Ridzuan. The size of the whole Cameron Highlands district is roughly two and a quarter times the size of Singapore.
The Highlands were named after William Cameron, a British colonial government surveyor who discovered the plateau during a mapping expedition in 1885. The fame of Cameron Highlands then grew during the colonial era when British planters realised the potential of its fertile mountain slopes for growing tea, then a prized commodity. The Cameron Highlands is still home to many tea plantations, being Malaysia's largest tea-producing region. With its many farms the area is also known as a major supplier of legumes and vegetables to both Malaysia and Singapore, and is one of Malaysia's prime tourist destinations.
Text adapted from Wikipedia (retrieved, November 14th 2009)
Photographs by Anandajoti Bhikkhu
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License