Cameron Highlands Transportation

You may want to do an early morning walk to Brinchang from Tanah Rata to enjoy the fresh morning air and beautiful scenery along the way. The guides at Information Counter will most probably say distance is about 5km. But there is a shorter path than can cut the walking distance considerably by almost half. Refer to the map and take note of the highlighted path in RED. There is even a shorter route by doing an easy Jungle walk on PATH 4 where you will pass Parit Falls and then hit the road to continue the path in RED to Brinchang.

This trip is offered by the guesthouse I have stayed in Penang, the Old Penang Guesthouse. Fare rate is higher compared to the bus rates, but the trip via van is faster, saves time and gives you more time in Camerons specially if you are to stay only in a day or two. I paid 45rm for this trip.

1 more image

For roaming around Cameron Highlands, even those guide books which encourage independant traveling usually recommend to book a tour rather than doing it independently.

However, we tried to defy the odds and ended up with some not-so-hard learned lessons.

On the 11th day of our Oriental Outings 2011, we headed to Tanah Rata bus station to find out that Regal Transport connects various towns of Cemeron Highlands; Brinchang, Kamoung Raja, Ringlet, Sungai Palas junction, etc. We wanted to visit tea plantations and strawberry farms among other recommendations.

The kiosk window was showing a bus at 1130, which was postponed to 1200 as it had to pick up school childern on their field trip from a nearby locality. Finally, we had to abondon our expedition, before it actually started, to switch to Plan B, i.e. a packaged tour, amid the uncertainty of schedule and of our simple map.

However, if one has time and a clear head, the local transport is the way to go around Cameron Highlands.

Please click here to see what we explored during the day tour

Apart from bus companies which operate regular daily service to/from Cameron Highlands, tour operators also run minivans connecting to the various parts of the peninsular Malaysia.

These tour operators follow rather uncertain schedules mainly depending on the supply-demand scenario. Therefore, for conventional routes, regular bus companies are a better bet.

However, this kind of service makes a lot of sense if one wants to go to rather unconventional places, such as Taman Negara, which we planned to visit.

Kang's Travel is one famous name around Tanah Rata which may take you to far off places, such as Gua Musang, Perhentian Island, Kuala Kedah (Langkawi), Taman Negara etc. Keep a check on the white board displayed outside their little outlet at Tanah Rata main market.

Just to mention, our Taman Negara plan - an integral part of the Oriental Outings 2011 - got spoiled as they change the plan a day ahead blaming bad weather and chances of flooding.

During our Oriental Outings 2011, we wanted to make it to Cameron Highlands from LCCT, without staying at KL. The conventional method is to take an airport bus, from LCCT, to one of the KL bus stations (Bukit Jalil in this case), and then take another bus to Cameron Highlands.

Since Bukit Jalil was under renovation those days and we were unable to find reliable information, we instead took Yoyo bus which took us directly to Ipoh, where we took Kinta Omni bus from, to Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands. That also saved us from going into the busy KL.

Star Shuttle also runs LCCT-Ipoh route. Both of these companies run multiple buses a day for this route; LCCT-KLIA-Ipoh. Tickets may be purchased from the kiosks located at the end of the arrival area.

We chose Yoyo (RM 43) as it was departing relatively early.

Please click here to read how we made it from Bali to Cameron Highlands in one day.

(Note there are two bus stations in Ipoh; Medan Gopeng serves intercity transport, inclduing CH, while Medan Kidd operates local as well as some CH buses)

During our Oriental Outings 2011, we took Kinta Omnibus from Medan Kidd, Ipoh to Tanah Rata and that was not a bad experience.

Later, I peeked into their kiosk at Tanah Rata bus station to find out that the bus company also runs CH-KL route twice a day, 0830 & 1400.

They run daily buses to Ipoh at 0800, 1100, 1500 & 1800. Looks like that it is a small company but, on the face of it, appeared better than Kurnia Bistari and Regal Transport.

Please click here to read how we made it from Bali to Cameron Highlands in one day.

(Note there are two bus stations in Ipoh; Medan Gopeng serves intercity transport, inclduing CH, while Medan Kidd operates local as well as some CH buses)

Kurnia Bistari is usually referred to in travel guides when it comes to intercity bus travel to/from Cameron Highlands.

During our Oriental Outings 2011, We first tried to get hold of the bus company after landing at LCCT, however, none of the phone numbers we had were working. Maybe that was due to the renovation work going at Puduraya Bus Station then. Amid this uncertainty, we took the alternative route to Cameron Highlands via Ipoh.

At Medan Kidd bus station, Ipoh, the only sight of Kurnia Bistari we had was the adjacent junkyard with bus carcasses. We tried to find out if they had a living service to Tanah Rata only to find out that Kinta Omnibus is about ready to depart for the hill station.

On our way back from Cameron Highlands, we also investigated from their kiosk at Tanah Rata bus station for Penang bus but then opted for a better looking option; Unititi Express http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/214319/.

Therefore, the bus company remained untested, as far as we are concerned! However, it would not be a bad idea to share thier schedule which I captured from their kiosk at Tanah Rata bus station:

To KL: 08:00, 1030, 1300 (VIP) & 1630
To Penang/Ipoh: 0800 (VIP) & 1430

Please click here to read how we made it from Bali to Cameron Highlands in one day.

During our Oriental Outings 2011, we took Unititi Express for Cameron Highlands to Penang. Before booking, we did a little window shopping around the bus station. On the face of it, Unititi looked a better option and our later experience was also not bad.

We booked a day earlier from the kiosk at Tanah Rata Bus Station, for RM 32 per seat for 2x1 seating arrangement. Journey was smooth except for scheduled stoppages first at Ipoh and then at Butterworth, making an already prolonged journey longer. It took us 5 hours from Tanah Rata to Prangin Mall, Penang.

It would be intersting to note that the bus did not depart from Tanah Rata's main bus station but instead from Unititi's own bus stand located on the main road. Good for us as it was walking distance from where we were staying.

Unititi also runs daily buses to KL Sentral/ Bukit Jalil for RM 35 at 0830, 1345, and 1530. There are two daily buses for Penang, which also cover Ipoh and Buuterworth. The morning one departs at 0800 and costs RM 32 while the afternoon VIP leaves at 1430 and costs RM 38.

Please click here to read more details.