Lata Iskandar

Lata Iskandar is the stop everyone makes on the old winding road up from Tapah to the Cameron Highlands, a fall that comes down beside the tarmac in a series of tiers with a pool at the bottom and a row of stalls along the verge - fruit, honey, souvenirs, and produce sold by Semai Orang Asli from the settlements nearby. That accessibility is its whole character: you park, walk fifty metres and you are at the water, which means it is busy, littered in places and not a wilderness experience. A steep and unmaintained path climbs beside the fall to quieter upper tiers, and it is genuinely slippery. Rain higher up the catchment sends the level up fast, and people have been swept away here, which is why the level markers and warnings are there.

What you actually see

• A roadside cascade - tiers dropping beside the Tapah highway with a pool below.
• Orang Asli stalls - Semai traders selling fruit, honey and crafts on the verge.
• A steep upper path - unmaintained, slippery, leading to quieter tiers.
• The old highlands road - hairpins through forest above and below.

When to go

All year; avoid rain upstream. An hour or two.

Honest expectations

Flash flooding has killed people here - watch the level and leave if it rises. The lower area is crowded and littered. The upper path is slippery and has no railings. Monkeys take food.

Nearby

The Cameron Highlands are up the road; Tapah is below.