Great Asian Railway Journeys

Episode 16: Kuala Kangsar to Cameron Highlands

February 15, 2020 • 30 min

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of south east Asia continues in Malaysia. His journey resumes in Kuala Kangsar, where he taps into the source of the lucrative rubber industry that boomed at the time of his 1913 Bradshaw’s Guide, when Malaya was a British colony. Michael learns how rubber engineering today ensures railway passengers enjoy a smooth ride. In the cosmopolitan foody town of Ipoh, Michael bakes a popular Chinese treat at a famous Malaysian bakery and enjoys a dragon dance of epic proportions. At a colonial-era hill station in the Cameron Highlands, Michael discovers how the British made themselves at home as he visits a tea plantation by a golf course to taste this most British staple.