Cameron Highlands

We started our day in Kuala Lumpur with a traditional Malaysian breakfast.  The restaurant was one we had often walked by and always had customers in it so we figured it was a safe bet.  It had a buffet where you pointed to what you wanted to eat and the server would dish up the food for you.  Ian chose noodles and a cold potato masala (yummy) and I chose veggie rice, a fried egg and some cucumber. We ordered coffees which come with milk and sugar unless you specify otherwise, and I ordered an orange juice which turned out to be an orange lassi –  probably the best OJ I’ve ever had. Halfway through our meal, the server brought over a tray of egg roti, very thin square pieces of roti with egg and a dipping sauce – it was delicious. I could not finish my meal – I was so full. The bill came to 24 RM – about 8 dollars in total. In the future, I think an egg roti and some potato masala would be a perfect way to start the day.

After breakfast, we soon left the hot city of Kuala Lumpur with our heavy packs and sweat dripping down our backs for the cooler hills of the Cameron Highlands. The journey was approximately 5 hours on the nicest bus I have ever been on. We had assigned seats on an air conditioned bus that only had two seats on one side and one on the other – the seats themselves were large and comfortable and could be adjusted to an almost prone position (they even had a footstool attached). The road to Tanah Rata was interesting – steep with very sharp curves and stunning views. Along this route, locals had simple wooden stands set up with various fruits, juices, and baskets for sale. The bus dropped us off at the Tourist Information Centre which was convenient for us – because they could point us in the direction of our guesthouse, 8 Mentigi.

The guesthouse is down a side road off the beaten path – which hopefully would mean some peace and quiet. Mr Smith, the owner, greeted us with a smile and immediately showed us to our room – directly off the reception area – so close in fact that the chair in front of the desk is also in front of our door. Ian and I don’t care as long as it’s quiet by 10pm, which signs promise it will be.

The room upon first appearance is clean but small, on closer examination, the bathroom was not so clean. There is a great deal of mold accumulating on the door and tiles but there is hot water and that’s always a plus. . The bathroom is the shower so the floors will always be wet – but we are used to that from our Korea days. The windows don’t have screens on them so we closed the shutters promptly to ward off mosquitoes. We booked a full day tour for tomorrow and bought a map of the walking trails for Monday. The room is 90 RM (about 30 dollars), doesn’t include breakfast but does have free wifi. There is a large porch area in front with tables and chairs with one currently occupied by locals drinking beer, talking and laughing loudly. It is quite funny listening to them.

The big thing here are the tea plantations so the first thing I wanted to do was go for tea and scones which every place offers – so off we went.  We had a large pot of some mildly spiced tea with scones and Ian had apple pie.  We were quite bemused to discover that this tiny place has its very own STARBUCKS so those of you who know me well know how happy that made me.

 Dinner was later and for that we had the Tandoori chicken set at Sri Brinchang restaurant. For about 3 dollars each, we had chicken tandoori, dahl, dipping sauces, a rice and veggie dish, and a large piece of naan. It was very tasty.

 There are a lot of foreigners here – Chinese, Indian, European and Aussies- and many are dressed as if for winter. Having come from Kuala Lumpur with weather that felt like 40+ degrees, I am quite happy to sit outside in a sleeveless top despite seeing my breath and shivering. Currently it’s raining, more like pouring, but that’s typical here these days – pours later in the day but is pleasant in the morning.

Day 2

We got up early for our tour. There were two jeeps and two guides: Bob and Spencer (wonder what their real names are…). We sat in the back with a Belgium family that spoke French. My French is rusty but I could understand a little of what they were saying – but the dad spoke English fairly well, the mom a little so we communicated fine.

Our first stop was the Boh Tea Plantation, Malaysia’s number one producer of black tea. This place was stunning! Rolling hills of tea plants made for many photo ops as you can see.

This plantation has 8000 acres, but the site we were visiting was a mere 600 acres. Malaysians drink more tea than can be produced here so that’s the reason they do not export tea (which is why we don’t associate Malaysia with tea). We were currently at an elevation of 1700 m, the higher the elevation, the better the tea. Harvesting tea is a time consuming process – at one point in time, picking was done by women at about 30 kilos a day – not a lot of tea. Eventually men began to do it with shears and could get up to about 150 kg, but now a special machine pulled by two along the top of the tea plants can cut up to 600 kg a day.  All tea comes from the same leaf: green tea, black tea, English, etc. From start to finish, it takes about 6 months to get a cup of tea. 

We had a tour of a tea factory and then stopped for some tea. Ian had black tea and I had Earl Grey with tangerine – yummy.

Our next stop was Mount Brinchang at an elevation of 2131m. We drove up there on a road that was not well maintained, bumpy, narrow and curvy – but fun. There was a tower you could climb up but there was too much fog to get a great view – but you could see rolling hills in the distance.  Spencer then to us on a nature walk along the side of the road. He pointed out a pitcher plant, wild ginger, citronella, cinnamon, and a plant that is used as an anticoagulant (so if you pull off a leach and begin bleeding, you can crush up the leaves of this plant and apply it to your wound – good to know!).

Next we followed him into the mossy forest – yikes! The trees and moss was quite brilliant but it was very muddy and needless to say, I got my new Tevas very dirty and received quite a soaker. Ian, the only one of our group wearing sandals, managed to get away unscathed. Amazing.

Next stop was the Tama Rama Butterfly farm which was somewhat disappointing. It was neat to see the different insects – scarabs, leaf insects, etc.

The place wasn’t spectacular and the butterfly area was a let-down (especially compared to the ones we have in Ontario). After this, we were exhausted and wished we had only signed up for a half-day rather than the full day but alas, we had not. We dropped off in the town of Brinchang for lunch which turned out to be our least favourite lunch yet – most places were closed due to Ramadan so there wasn’t a lot to choose from. After lunch, we headed to the Time Tunnel, a museum on the Cameron Highlands – this was the strangest museum I have ever been to. It was a seemingly random collection of stuff – old coke bottles, beer signs, toothbrushes and toothpaste, dishes, gum, cigarettes, etc. – all out for anyone to touch, pick up, or drop. Our guide gave us some information on the indigenous peoples the Orang Asli which made us cringe at times…sounded eerily similar to what we did to our own indigenous peoples.

At this point, it was pouring rain but we continued on to a Buddhist temple and a strawberry farm. They grow their strawberries using hydroponics under plastic sheets. Here we ate strawberries with cream that was to die for!!!

Finally we headed for home – and a run in the pouring rain for dinner which despite being wet and chilly was delicious. I wish I had taken a photo of the meal – we had the banana leaf set. They place a banana leaf down in front of you and then proceed to dish up 4 different veggies, 2 types of rice, a small dish of dahl, an egg, and some type of potato samosa only very thin. This was 7RM, about 2.25 dollars. I also a lemon tea which was the best lemon tea I’ve ever had (complete with a tiny green lemon sitting on the bottom).

Oh, I also managed to have my first fall. I wasn’t paying attention so I didn’t notice a small step – down I went landing on my knee (not the bad one thank goodness) and twisting my ankle. I’m sure this will be the first of many! I’m fine but will take it easy tomorrow.

Day 3

First thing we did today was drop off our laundry which will be done at 5pm for 6RM – about 2 dollars. We also bought our bus ticket for Ipoh which leaves tomorrow at 8am. Then yes, I admit it, we sat at Starbucks for awhile reading and sipping Americanos. This is after all our life now so I think it’s okay to take things slow once in awhile. After this, Ian went walking about and I sat at the guesthouse researching our trip and working on the blog. Lunch was Chinese – chicken soup with mushrooms for me and noodles for Ian.

Currently it is sunny and warm but not too hot. Both pairs of shoes have dried so I am a happy camper.