During the colonial days, the British established the place as a vacation destination and an escape from the heat. To remind them of home, they built mock Tudor homes in the area (which, to me, seem like Hollywood props, completely out of place).
We spent a couple of days in the hill station, hiking around the tea plantations and the mountains. It was breath-taking. The tea plants have intensely green leaves, which seem fluorescent with the fog in the background. Sadly, the main area of Cameron highlands is over-developed and more large-scale condos and hotels are being constructed, but with a bit of effort one can get away from it all and truly appreciate the stunning surroundings.
In addition to tea, which is grown on the steep slopes of the mountain, we saw small-scale farms that grow cool weather vegetables and fruits. Strawberries, in particular, seem to be the pride of the region.
One of the more interesting trivia bits about Cameron Highlands is that in the '60s, American-born Jim Thompson, who is considered the founding father of the Thai silk industry (or at least the one responsible for revitalizing it) mysteriously disappeared. At that time, he was very rich and famous and his sudden disappearance ignited all sorts of hypotheses and conspiracy theories - he was kidnapped, eaten by a tiger, killed, committed suicide, etc. Despite extensive searches, his body was never found. The Jim Thompson story picked our curiosity too and inspired us to visit his beautiful home in Bangkok later in the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment