Cameron Highlands is known as the most extensive hill formation in Malaysia, and is a real English summer heaven. Cameron Highlands is located at Pahang, near the Kelantan border, and shares part of the area with Perak, covering 712 square kilometres, an area as big as Singapore. According to history, this place was found by Sir William Cameron in 1885. In today times it consists of the villages of Tanah Rata, Ringlet, Brinchang, Bertam Valley, Tringkap, Kuala Kerla and Kampung Raja. Cameron Highlands offers a salubrious climate with daily temperatures averaging between 17 and 23 degrees Celsius. Like an eternal English summer heaven, Cameron Highlands was once the vacation spot for officers and their families during British rule in Malaysia, and has since evolved into a bustling tourist destination and temperate agricultural center: flowers, tea, fruits and vegetables are grown there, and thanks for the wide choice of accommodation for visitors, Cameron Highlands is the best retreat for those who love a touch of amazing nature in the hilly area or peninsular Malaysia. Cameron Highlands has always been part of my traveling dreams, and this desire is perhaps due to the fact that I was born in a very natural area and I am always looking for natural places when I plan any trip. It took me years to finally get to visit Cameron Highlands, and by the time I finally managed to make up my mind, I had so much knowledge of the place thanks to the various information I have gathered about the place during the years. It was raining heavily when my friend and I started our trip. I can still remember the clouds and the mist that covered the sky, and since I was only wearing a plain t-shirt and pants that day, I felt so cold; steam came out of my mouth when I talked! From my car window, I observed old cottages by the roadside where Orang Asli, the aboriginal people, sold honey and other locally made products. It was getting late that day so we decided to drive directly to our hotel at Tanah Rata. After checking in, we took a walk to the town. People wore thick clothes to protect from the low temperatures, and the whole place reminded me of some old English movies. It was getting really dark; we filled our hungry bellies at a simple Malay restaurant enjoying the scenery around us, and later headed to a massage shop where we had the luck of being served by a native, warm and amicable person of local origins from Pahang. Back to the hotel, we snugged under the bed covers to make us warm. When booking a hotel in Cameron Highlands, you certainly do not need to worry about air conditioning. The morning after we woke up early, we breakfasted and were ready to follow my wish list of places to visit. Since Cameron Highlands is most famous for its tea production facilities, the first stop was at the Boh Tea Farm, a British-owned company with huge tea plantations and a reception center where you can sample different qualities of tea and purchase fresh tea to take back home. I bought some for mum, since she loves tea so much. Next we drove to a nearby plantation called Bharat Tea Plantations, passing along several vegetable farms on the way. A visit to a market is a must at Cameron Highlands, and Ringlet is a hub of Malaysia‘s vegetable farming and international flower farming sector. With this in mind we headed to Ringlet market where I bought roses and lavender. Ringlet, located at an elevation of 1,135 metres above sea-level is a very unique town: it feels much like a trading area for commercial activities, with its old style shops that cater for local folks; Tudor-style houses dot the town surroundings. Our next stop was at the apple and strawberry farm in the Tanah Rata area. Cameron Highlands is a major production center for these two fruits, so I took the opportunity and sampled some at the farm. At the Rose Garden, I loved the various blooms of roses, carnations, chrysanthemum, dalias, geranium, fuchsias and gladioli. And as I love lavender, I insisted for a tour of the Lavender Farm. Known also as Lavandula, this amazing wild flower sports a bright purple colour and is used to produce a wide range of products such as make up, skin care, tea, medicines, cakes and perfumes. The flowers at the farm grow in terraced hill slopes, offering a dazzle of colors for visitors to admire and photograph. Unfortunately, due to the extremely rainy weather, we regrettably had to cancel a stop at the Enchanted Forest, known as Mossy Forest. Brinchang is actually one of the easiest access spots in the world to a mossy forest, with a tarred road reaching right to the peak of the ridge. That’s all I can share with you about my trip. As you could read, even though we only really had one full day, we could visit lots of attractions and fully enjoy every single one of them. Cameron Highlands is amongst the most beautiful places I have visited so far, hence I plan to make another trip there someday in the future. So, for those who want a full experience holiday and wish to feel like in an English summer heaven, visit Cameron Highlands and I promise that you will not regret it.     What to see and do in Cameron Highlands: 1. Butterfly farm 2. Visit to a market 3. Buy fresh flowers 4. Rose Garden 5. Bees Farm 6. Lavender Garden 7. Agro Technology Park Mardi 8. Strawberry Farm 9. Tea Plantations 10. Brinchang Mossy Forest or Enchanted Forest 11. Vegetables Farm 12. Have a massage-reflexology    

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Located in the middle of Kuching city, right in front of the Merdeka Palace Hotel at Plaza Merdeka, the Cotton Silk Tree, aka Pokok Kapok in local language, is one famous landmark of the capital of Sarawak. Every time it blossoms, the whole Kuching environment changes for a while, as if the city going through an autumn season. The white flowers and subsequent cotton that fall from the tree looks like snow, hence the nickname by which it is know: the snow tree. According to history, the tree is believed to have been there for more than one hundred years. The Cotton Silk tree breed, or “Ceiba Pentandra” in scientific language, is  believed to have been brought from South America to be grown in Padang Merdeka, formerly known as Central Field, during the reign of the Brooke family. Because of its age, the Sarawak Government has even listed the tree as “the heritage tree of Kuching”. The deciduous and thorny tree reaches 27.4 meters of height and in 2008 it was estimated to be worth more than 1 million Malaysian Ringgit (approximately 300.000 US$). What is unique about this tree is that it only blossoms once in every two to three years. Due to this, the local people from Kuching would never miss the appointment to take pictures for good memories and to pick its flowers. According to local 44 years old Kho Yang Ping, the tree is so historical for her as it was there when she was just a little kid, yet during those times she never knew how wonderful it can feel to be near that tree, and how important it is to preserve the environment. “Those who come to Kuching on holiday should pay a visit to this amazing tree, and perhaps if they are lucky they can see cotton flying down from the tree as if it was snow”, she added. Marianne Renee, a 68 years old tourist from Melbourne, Australia, said she was totally mesmerized when she saw the tree from her hotel room window in the morning. “We do not have this kind of tree where I am from; the flying cotton reminded me of my mother.” She told me she had to come down from her hotel room just to see the snow tree from nearby and to take a few pictures of it. Kuching Cotton Silk Tree really is a special tree, and not because of its monetary value, its age or its historical significance, but for its sentimental connotation and for the happiness it brings to people every time it is in bloom. So, if you have never visited Kuching or next time you are in town, take advantage and pay a visit to this landmark of the city and seal the wonderful moment with a camera shot.  

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Royal Park Rajapruek Mae-hia, Muang, Chiang Mai 50200, 66 (0) 53 114110-5 www.royalparkrajapruek.org – royalparkrajapruek2011@gmail.com http://www.royalparkrajapruek.org/main/eng/index.php Royal Park Rajapruek in Chiang Mai needs to thank its homonymous festival (the Royal Flora Rajapruek, that was held between 1 November 2006 and 31 January 2007) for its existence. This international horticultural festival was one of the grand celebrations hosted by the Royal Thai Government through the Thai Department of Agriculture and under Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in honor of King Bhumibol of Thailand, the world’s longest reigning monarch, and of his 60th anniversary of accession to the throne. The exhibition was extremely successful and it drew nearly 4 million visitors. Thanks to the success of the exhibition, The Thai government then proposed transforming its site, 80 hectares of land at the Royal Agricultural Research Center in Mae Hia, into a park and a permanent training center, arguing that Royal Flora Rajapruek achieved its goals of promoting tourism and developing Thai horticultural industries. The park was open to the public in 2008 with many of the past highlights still very much in evidence, including the international exhibits. Royal Park Rajapruek is managed by the Highland Research and Development Institute and is a learning centre for botanical agriculture and the site for agro-tourism and culture at an international level. Royal Park Rajapruek is bound to remain open indefinitely, and it is now an addition to things to do in Chiang Mai, I would say a must-see, receiving 500-1000 visitors per day on average. My visit was a pleasure, well worth the trip. I immediately felt happy as the place does not look like a tourist trap. Bikes for rent can be found near the main entrance, and electric buses are available to take you around for 20 thb – you can hop on and off where you wish, visit the garden of your choice, and wait for next bus to come around. There are also golf carts available for private rental at 600thb per hour. The park is huge and there’s lots to see; I managed to walk around and do a few stops from the bus. A good hat or an umbrella and plenty of water are advisable for the hot sunny days. There was a lot of people at the entrance, yet once everyone spread out on foot, bus or bicycle, it did not feel busy at all. I bought the 20thb ticket, boarded the bus and was on the way to discover the park. The grounds are superbly laid out and the selection of flowers in the expansive gardens is incredibly picturesque. The gardens are small and well maintained, and each garden has a theme. The international gardens offer other countries a chance to join in, and altogether there are 21 countries from 3 continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) that participate in the project, exhibiting amazing theme gardens. Other areas include Word of Insect, Rare Plants and Corporate Gardens. 19 organizations participate in the Corporate Gardens to pay homage to His Majesty the King, and these include some of the big players in the banking and telecommunication sectors, as well as provinces administrations. But the two highlights have to be the orchid garden – the best display amongst various orchid gardens I have seen so far – and the Ho Kham Luang Royal Pavilion, perched at the park center and built in Lanna architecture, the architectural style of northern Thailand, inside which you can marvel at a painting exhibition about the life and works of King Bhumibol. If you are a nature enthusiast, this is the place to go. You need to allow a few hours to visit the whole place properly and leisurely, or you can visit it over two days. Bear in mind there is not a lot of shade around so try to avoid the peak sun hours. Early mornings and late afternoons are the best times of course, and the good light and lack of crowd will allow for lots of great pictures. There are some food stalls scattered around the park, though they are a bit on the fast food type. The admission is a reasonable 100thb per adult, 50thb for kids, and Thais pay only 20/10thb respectively. If you plan to stay in Chiang Mai for a while and wish to visit Royal Park Rajapruek often, then purchase the annual visitors card for 400thb. And if you were wondering what Ratchaphruek means, it is the Thai name of the national flower, the Cassia fistula, or Golden Shower Tree (it is also named Khun or Chaiyaphruek in Thai); its yellow blossoms correspond to Monday, the birth day of King Bhumibol. I loved my extensive visit to Royal Park Rajapruek, and so will you! Accommodation was kindly provided by nearby Prat Rajapruek Resort: www.pratrajapruek.com

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Many might now know that the much loved Dendrobium is the most popular genus of orchids, the mother and father of the numerous Orchidaceae present in Thailand. Dendrobium is an easy to grow and fast-flowering orchid, with as many as 30 long-lasting orchid sprays a year. It is the Dendrobium that introduced Thailand to the world orchid industry and elevated it to the top of the Asian orchid exporting market with big weekly orders from Scandinavian countries and a Japanese market that alone is worth an annual turnover of US$ 100 millions to the Thai nation… Orchid in Thai is ‘gluay mai’. Thailand is today famous for its huge variety of orchids; orchids’ admirers will amaze at the variety and quantity of the flower they will see in the country, which has around 1150 currently known species of Orchidaceae. This plant differ according to habitats and province in the country, with an array of specimens both rare and common; the best way to find them is by visiting botanical gardens, present all over the country. Alternatively, you can chose to explore natural reserves and national parks with the support of a local guide, as a thorough exploration of little-visited habitats of Thai orchids will give you the chance to find some rare exemplars. Unlike some hybrids with their large and long-lasting flowers, native orchids of Krabi and Southern Thailand have small blossoms in short flowering periods and their reproduction from seeds is very unlikely. The best time to see flowering wild orchids in Krabi and Southern Thailand is March through May: at this time of year whole hillsides can be seen decked with orchid flowers through all levels of the forest. Orchids’ magnificent colours and beauty make them a popular tourist purchase. Specially packaged flowers complete with water supply are readily available for the long journey home and can be conveniently purchased in many Krabi locations and inside Krabi and other major international airports. The island of Koh Lanta has a few orchid nurseries, located in different parts of the island. There are orchid farms that run exhibitions that show all stages of nursing orchids, from the minuscule seeds to the flowering plant, and help visitors to understand the complicated life cycle of the orchid family. There you can experience colourful flowers of various hybrids that have been cross-bred for easier cultivation, or admire small flowers of the natural ones that are found on trees in the upper canopy of the rain forest, where the humidity is high all year round. In some farms you can admire exotic and rare varieties of orchids. The best seems to be the Lanta Orchid Nursery at Phansai, opened daily from 9am to 5pm, you can visit their Facebook page But let me tell you the story of Khun Pradit Kham-Phoemphun, a man from Udon Thani famous for successfully breeding, after experimental crossing orchids from the forests of Northern Thailand, an orchid that has fragrant flowers and blooms all year round. His persevering effort yielded a beautiful, sweet smelling orchid 10 years later, which today he uses for producing the perfume made from the fragrance of an orchid flower. Following this success, Mr. Pradit co-operated with several government agencies to establish a company that today produce perfume from the orchid under the brand name Miss Udon Sunshine. This is still the one and only perfume factory in the world that uses orchids as raw material. You may be able to purchase a bottle of Miss Udorn Sunshine in orchid farms and in gifts shops around the country.  

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