Stat Lux In Monte

"Upon the hill top stands a guiding light"

Nestled on a plateau 1800 metres above sea level in the north-west
corner of Pehang state, the Cameron Highlands still retain vestiges of
its colonial heyday when tea planters and administrators first realized its
potential. With daytime temperatures averaging around 23C and 10C in
the evening, the temperate climate proved an ideal backdrop for these
transplanted Brits to continue their much loved British lifestyle.

Indeed, some of their bungalows remain intact today and provide
an opportunity to imagine lazy days spent tending to their roses,
and entertaining visitors on the lawn. The more energetic might
have played a round of golf followed by a Devonshire
Cream Tea at The Smoke House Hotel.

Until 1971, the Cameron Highlands were used as a "Change of Air" station
for British military personnel and their families. Tanah Rata was home to a
large number of British and Commonwealth Military personnel. The military
hospital located on a hill overlooking the main street has now reverted
back to a convent. Some Nissen huts still remain.

Former residents of the area will be familiar with the names of Stanley Foster, Captain Bloxham who ran a 'spelling station' at Ringlet, which was a Change of Air station for Race Horses! and, of course, the intrepid Miss Griffith-Jones, known to all as Miss "Griff" ( who in addition to her association with Slim school was also founder of Singapore's Tanglin School). Miss "Griff's" dedication to the area was amazing, starting with her first pioneering steps when the dirt hair-pinned road was cut through in the 1930s.

The Cameron Highlands were named after a British Government surveyor, William Cameron, who is reputed to have discovered them in 1885. There is some debate as to whether he discovered the "Highlands" or a smaller plateau named the Blue Valley. It is believed that the actual "Highlands" were discovered some years later by a Malay warrior named Kulop Riau, who had accompanied Cameron on his mapping expeditions several years earlier

A report made by Cameron describing the Blue Valley caused a great deal of excitement. Sir Hugh Low, who 34 years earlier had made the first attempt to climb Sabah's Gunung Kinbalu was now the Resident of Perak. He wanted to develope the area as a health resort, sanitarium and farmland, however two decades elapsed before the first pioneers made their way up to the now called Cameron Lands.

In March 1967 the Cameron Highlands created headlines when American Jim Thompson, a Thai silk emperor, art collector and military intelligence agent disappeared from a Cameronian backroad. While Orang Asli trackers searched the jungle, speculation abounded elsewhere as to his fate. One of the rumours at the time was that he had been eliminated by the people he was supposed to have worked for, the CIA. However, the truth remains an enigma.

The Cameron Highlands are accessible by road from Kuala Lumpur via the Karak Highway and then north to Tapah, the main entry point to the Cameron Highlands. The winding journey up to Ringlet, Tanah Rata and Brinchang takes you past the lush green hillsides where some of the best Tea in the country is grown.

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