Kea Farm Market – Popular Local Day Market For Tourists
Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself browsing the many stalls of Kea Farm Market. After all, everyone must pass through here to get to the bigger townships.
This is where traffic tends to be the heaviest too. More so on public holidays, school holidays, and weekends.
Is it worth stopping here? What can you get here? Read on to find out!
What it looks like
Kea Farm Market wasn’t always so huge. It used to be just one row of humble roadside stalls. Today, there are multiple sections to the market.
The market has expanded on all sides, wiping out a hill behind and taking down many trees with it to make way for visitor parking lots.
A good portion of the market is for cars. There are paid parking lots all around the market. Including a concrete parking block that hasn’t been opened to the public yet.
The parking lot we prefer to use is behind Kea Farm Market, shared with major attraction, CH Flora Park. At this parking lot, you can take a jeep up to CH Flora Park. But there is also a buggy stop that is free to use.
The buggies are very regular so you don’t have to wait long before you can hop on and reach Kea Farm Market in a minute. We recommend doing this since walking is very dangerous around the market. It wasn’t that long ago when a car crashed into some stalls and pedestrians.
What can you see and buy here
Many of the stalls here sell roughly the same wares – viral souvenirs, knick knacks and accessories, plants – fake or live, packaged snacks and freshly made deep-fried snacks.
There are also cakes, scones, toys, and fresh produce (you’d be surprised but a lot of corn sold in Cameron Highlands comes from Perak) for sale. Like strawberries.
Moreover, there’s a couple of ice cream stalls closer to the older section of the market. The one we have tried is PUKU ice cream and we think you can’t go wrong with their signature strawberry ice cream.
Some of the stalls are newer than others, and you can literally feel the pressure the store tenants feel from having to pay higher rent and compete with other shopkeepers selling similar items. It only takes one casual glance to have them start promoting their wares.
We’re not keen shoppers ourselves but interestingly, we found a tiny paddock of live alpaca (and the occasional goat) behind the newer section of the market. You can buy bunches of long grass to feed them for RM3 to RM5. It’s a cheap thrill that beats the higher entry fees of the more established attraction, The Sheep Sanctuary.
Nearby attractions
The Sheep Sanctuary
It costs RM12 per adult to enter this place that’s behind Kea Farm Market. They started out with sheep but now they have a handful of alpaca too. You may see some in various stages of shearing.
The animals mainly stay in their stables and visitors can come in to feed them grass or pellets sold here. There is a field of grass here but so far, we’ve only seen lambs squeeze their way into the paddock to graze.
Note: It looks like they are planning to expand their property.
Raju’s Hill Strawberry Farm
It’s an uphill walk or drive to this hilltop strawberry farm where visitors can either browse the onsite gift shop, pick strawberries, or have something to eat and drink at their on-site café.
CH Flora Park
If you really enjoy taking photos or looking at flowers, prepare to spend at least 2 hours roaming this large park with multiple sections, not one but 2 on-site cafes, and a kid’s playground. The only way to visit this place is to take the jeep service behind Kea Farm Market.
Conclusion
The market is free to browse, but you just must pay for parking. There are toilets around, and you must pay to use those too. We think it’s worth having a look at this local market if you’ve never seen it before. Or if you’ve never seen it in years as a lot has changed!
As long as you keep a look out for cars, walking around the market is something the whole family can do together.
Brinchang Night Market
Perhaps just as lively as Kea Farm Market is Brinchang Night Market, the nighttime counterpart of the two. This market is mainly open on weekends and there are a lot of stalls to check out even though they have similar wares.
Centrum Night Market
Centrum Night Market is next to Centrum Cameron Highlands. This night market is smaller than Brinchang Night Market and is more food focused. You can get hot meals and desserts from many of the stalls here.
