Gaharu Tea Valley

Gaharu, or agarwood, is the resin-soaked heartwood that certain Aquilaria trees produce when infected by a particular mould, and it has been among the most valuable natural products in the world for centuries, used for incense and perfume across the Middle East and East Asia - which is why wild trees have been cut to the point of endangerment. The plantation near Gopeng covers a few hundred hectares of hillside planted with Aquilaria and inoculated deliberately to produce resin, and it opens to visitors: a buggy tour of the rows, an explanation of inoculation and harvesting, a tasting of tea made from the leaves, and a shop selling tea, chips, oil and incense at prices that reflect the material. It is a working commercial estate and the tour is a sales channel, which it does not hide.

What you actually see

• Rows of Aquilaria - the plantation hillside planted for agarwood.
• Inoculation explained - how the resin is induced in the heartwood.
• Leaf tea tasting - the byproduct sold as the estate's tea.
• A hillside view - over the Kinta valley from the upper rows.

When to go

All year; mornings before the heat. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The tour ends in the shop and prices are high. The tea is a leaf infusion, not the resin. It is exposed hillside with little shade. Buggies fill up at weekends.

Nearby

Gopeng and its rafting operators are close; Ipoh is north.