Cameron Highlands: The Amazing Tea Plantation Fields at BOH Tea Centre (Sungai Palas)

One of the main reasons why I wanted to go to Malaysia, in particular to the Cameron Highlands is this: Tea Plantation Fields

After careful research and with time constraints taken into consideration I have shortlisted two tea plantation sights to see. The first we went to visit is the BOH Tea Centre Sungai Palas and Tea Plantation Fields. This is the largest tea plantation in the highlands.

This was taken on our first visit during a late afternoon at the BOH tea plantation. We did not go further to the BOH tea centre but the next morning we came back for more breath taking views.

BOH Tea Plantation
Website: BOH Tea Plantation

The tea centre and plantation is located after Brinchang just before Honey Bee Farm. On the left hand side you will see a narrow uphill road with the BOH Tea Centre signage (see my entry here: Cameron Highlands Overview and Map). It is about two-three kilometres from the main road. However, before you reach the tea centre you will already see the beautiful green fields of tea tapestry rolling on the valleys. I can assure you that it is damn breath taking.

British businessman J.A. Russell established BOH plantations in 1929 and the company actually owned three tea gardens in the Cameron Highlands, this one at the Sungai Palas where we are visiting (most impressive site I believe) and two others at Fairlie and Habu. Here at the Sungai Palas tea centre and plantation the company does not charge an entrance fee and there are ample free parking spaces available as well. They are open daily except Mondays.

At the tea centre they have a small exhibit about the history of tea plantation, tea processing and marketing, from harvesting the tea bushes all the way to the tea cup. They also host an educational tour which includes a visit to the factory every 30 minutes. But the cherry on top of the icing here is the open modern glass cafÃ© with its balcony extended over to the tea plantations for maximum viewing enjoyment of the delightful carpet-like rolling tea fields.

There is a little pathway as well below the tea centre leading down to the tea fields where you can of course take lovely photo shoots, as well as have a close encounter of the tea gardens, but my parents are not as adventurous as me so we decided to just enjoy the views from above.

At BOH they harvest or pluck the tea approximately every three weeks when new shoots grow. They call this â€˜flushâ€™. Because of the undulating topography of the plantation fields, harvesting must be done by a two-man team manually operating a hand-held harvesting machine. If you are lucky you might just see workers doing their harvest rounds.

I cannot stress enough how much you need to visit this place when you are in Malaysia.

These are the views we saw as we follow the road to the BOH tea centre. Breath taking rolling tapestry of tea fields!

The road to BOH tea centre is narrow but there are some areas that you can park on the road side. Sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the lovely view.