*Warning: Long post of photos ahead!
Did you know that you could stay at a real, legit TREE HOUSE in Cameron Highlands?
It’s true! I came across Terra’s Tree House while looking for Cameron Highlands accommodation for Joyce’s Boh Highlands Run.
Sleep in a high tree house in a highlands jungle, away from towns, with limited electricity access, where you have to bring torch lights and eat whatever they feed you? SO SOLD!
I ended up having SUCH an ENJOYABLE experience that I think Terra’s Tree House is THE place to stay in Cameron Highlands! An unspoiled haven for those who appreciate nature, fresh air, peace, calm and quietness. The only downside is that it’s not older people nor wheelchair friendly.
Random photo of tea leaves at the Boh Tea Plantation to break text monotony
Too bold a claim? Not at all! Have you been to Cameron Highlands lately? It’s in an amazingly sorry state: rolling hills stripped bare for commercialised, pesticide-filled farming. Plastic everywhere in use for these farms, then simply discarded anywhere without care nor thought for the environment. Multiply this by hundreds of farms, and you’ll understand why these flooding tragedies at Cameron Highlands keep happening.
It is true that Cameron Highlands is not what it used to be. Unscrupulous farm owners are out to make a quick buck, have no qualms to continue destroying the area.
That’s why I appreciate Terra’s Tree House even more! Not only do they practice biodynamic farming, the people who run it are actively involved in the conservation of Cameron Highlands.
To get to Terra’s Tree House, you will need to be picked up at a meeting point (ours was near Copthorne Hotel at Brinchang) by 3pm. A 30mins ride in a 4WD, could get bumpy!
The smooth part of the 4WD ride
You’ll pass by many vegetable farms. At first we were wowed by the ‘greenness’ of it all. Later we learned that these farms use a lot of chemicals on their plants. Gulp!
You’ll also see rubbish dumped every where by irresponsible farm owners and their workers. Quite an eyesore, not to mention environmentally unfriendly. And this just a small part in Cameron Highlands, so imagine the rest!
Soon, you’ll reach the nondescript entrance to the tree houses.
First, you have to walk uphill for 10-15 mins along a log trail. For your own sake, do not bring non-essentials, so you wouldn’t have to lug them up and down. The hike is not tiring. Take your time, take in the view, breathe in the fresh air.
Watch your step, could get slippery
There are 6 tree houses for guests and a Community Hall (CH). You’ll end up spending a lot of time at the CH as they serve all meals here.
We learned that the owner, Ng spent a year to conceptualise the design of the place. Actual construction took another 1.5 years WITHOUT the use of any heavy machinery, not even for leveling! They wanted to minimise impact to the natural land and environment as much as possible.
What you see at Terra’s Tree House is what the Orang Asli (indigenous people) built with their own hands.
The kitchen, next to the CH is well equipped with ingredients from Terra’s bio-dynamic farm and homegrown vegetables from just 200m away.
All meals provided are vegetarian. You could bring your own food but make sure that it’s halal and preferably sans meat. Being in the jungle means that anything with meat attracts wild animals at night. Not fun.
For additional food (e.g. yam or corn for BBQ), bring your own or make an early special request to the staff.
We got Tree House 5. This means an additional 10-15 mins walk from the CH, past Tree House 3 and 4. This is the uphill/downhill trail that you’ll have to go through for every meal at the CH.
Luckily I’m the fittest person I know 😉
A healthy way to lose weight and get fit
Our tree house!
The bathroom/toilet is outside, an external attachment. Hot water for shower is now available 24/7 via gas. Yeap, previously guests had to shower using the shivering cold mountain spring water!
At first I was not planning to shower at Terra’s, heh.
Our bed! Quite comfortable.
Way too excited to be sleeping here!
There’s nothing much to do in the tree house rooms, other than to take photos and sleep. It gets a little dark and electricity would not be available until 7.30pm.
Childhood happiness of memories climbing trees
Dinner was served at 6.30pm. There were 4 other guests, as well as the owner Ng and his kids who had come to stay that evening. We had rice served with eggs, greens, tofu and crispy seaweed. Simple and fulfilling!
After dinner, we sipped hot tea made with organic tea leaves and own-grown stevia (a natural sweetener). Someone started a fire. We got to playing with the kids. The 4-year old punched me in the back. I later realised that it was his way of saying he likes me, as he gave me a biscuit soon after.
We chatted with Ng and his main staff, Rachel. Originally from Perak, Ng; an ex-lecturer who has a Masters in Physics from University Malaya, has been in Cameron Highlands for over 12 years. At first he bought this land with the intentions of farming, then changed his mind when he saw that it was surrounded by WAY too many farms.
So he decided to make tree houses instead. Everybody #wins!
Terra’s Tree House has been in operation for just over 2 years. There is space to build more tree houses, but he is taking it slow as staff on hand is also limited.
By 8pm, we decided to go back to our tree house. IMPORTANT: Bring your own torch light! It’d be pitch dark by then, and you need one to get to the external toilet – electricity is only available from 7.30 – 10.30pm. But who knows if the generator would decide to fail that day…
It was a pleasant, pretty much uninterrupted sleep in our tree house. It rained a little which made the experience more exciting!
Then you wake up to really fresh mountain air, cool cool mist…
Going down to the CH for breakfast, I couldn’t be arsed to trek all the way up again. So we packed up and parked ourselves at the CH until check out time.
The most frequently asked question at Terra’s Tree House is, what activities do you have?
The answer is… NONE. Lol.
You could visit Terra’s Organic Farm at Lojing for free, but you’d have to book this during reservation. At the farm, you could learn how bio-dynamic farming works. It’s something like making the plants work harder to get their own food, which in turn makes them stronger so they could resist pests on their own. No need for chemicals here!
You could go to the nearby waterfall, or do an 1.5 hour trek around the area. Apparently not for the faint-hearted.
Bring your own entertainment – books, yoga mat, board games etc. Or work on your book surrounded by the serenity of the mountains.
There’s no cell reception. Yes, this means no Internet access. Terra’s Tree House is the ultimate place to disconnect and reconnect #zen.
The only Net you’ll find at Terra’s, hahahaaha!
I reckon that this is the place to find out if you’re truly comfortable being with yourself, with no distractions but nature and a rustic life.
I can’t WAIT to go back! 🙂
Stop and smell the cabbage. Photo credit: Joyce.
Current rates are: RM280 for 2 adults, OR 2 adults + a 3 year old kid. This includes accommodation, transfer to and fro Terra’s tree house from meeting point, meals.
Reservation info: http://www.terrafarm.com.my/2013/02/tree-house.html
Or you could book via Agoda.
It’s IMPORTANT to mention EVERYTHING relevant when making reservations. E.G. if you have older people, or a bad knee and can’t walk up and down too much, mention it! Rachel will try to arrange for a tree house closer to the CH.
With the owner Mr. Ng, his kids and Rachel
Terra’s Tree House needs to be more out there for sustainability. Spread the word! 🙂
Terra’s Tree House, Cameron Highlands.
Facebook: TerraTreeHouse
Info: http://www.terrafarm.com.my/2013/02/tree-house.html
E-mail: terratreehouse@gmail.com
What an awesome discovery! The experience is definitely challenging from a disconnect/reconnect perspective (no live Instagram updates from there!) But with the right company, it would be the perfect getaway I think.
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True, I think it’s an ideal getaway for nature lovers. Have to find our own entertainment, which may be a challenge with kids. But Terra Tree House provides a lot of drawing and colouring materials, as the owner’s kids are there often.
stop and smell the cabbage?!
really?!
Uhm, why not?
cabbage is associated with foul smell,
cabbage odor, stink like a cabbage etc etc
rude = you smell like a cabbage.
extremely rude = you smell like cabbage down below.
hence
stop and smell the cabbage = ?!
Ah. I didn’t know all that. The cabbage was freshly harvested and smelled lovely.
Also there were no roses nearby.
I miss this place already! Can’t wait to revisit Terra’s again!
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Should revisit when it’s not school/ public holidays. Can’t stand the Cameron Highlands traffic ..
Wonderful! I always think of Camerons as overdeveloped nowadays so this is pretty much the opposite of that.
No, it IS overdeveloped and it’s pretty sad to see. This place is a hidden gem.
waaahhh!! thanks for sharing with us about this place, Suanie! awesome lah! 😀
Hahahaha you go lah and take your awesome photos 😀
see you start a big fire inside.
the tree houses fire proof?
Sometimes you’ve got to trust that people there already know what they are doing, and not set fire to their own treehouses.
your detailed description with nice photos are incredibly seductive! hahahha i was not exciting seeing the official page yet looking at ur here it anticipated me to make a visit huahuahua yup i love adventurous thing as well. thanks a lot tho!
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Hahaha happy to spread the word! I would want to go back again too! Maybe towards end of the year.
Do they allow visitors to bring pets with them for the stay ?
Thanks.
Ben.
Hi Ben, I’m not sure. Maybe you can contact them for an answer? 🙂