Cameron Highlands

Well I am happy to report that we had no trouble getting a bus to the Cameron Highlands!  Getting to the bus station was the challenging part!  There are several subway lines in Kuala Lumpur and we accidentally got on a train going the wrong way so we had to backtrack.  We got to the bus station with about 5 minutes to spare and there were literally a line up of people waiting to sell us tickets to pretty much anywhere we wanted to go.  We think that no matter who we bought from we would have ended up on the same bus :>)  Our ride to the Highlands was pretty painless, although I got a little nauseous on the very winding roads for the last 70km of the trip.  There are a lot of blind corners so all the drivers honk their horns when they are approaching the turn and there were a few pretty tight spots when there is a vehicle coming the other way.  We found a nice place to stay with a patio out front surrounded by a garden for a common area and very close to the main road with all the restaurants.  About an hour after we arrived it started raining like crazy with no sign of letting up so we settled ourselves in on the patio with our deck of cards and a cup of coffee and decided to leave sightseeing and other such outdoor adventures until the following morning.

We got up impressingly early for us the next morning (I was up at 6:30) and were all ready and breakfasted by about 7:45.  We decided to visit one of the tea plantations in the area and were lucky enough to get on the local bus, since according to my travel book it only runs every hour and a half but we had no idea what times it left!  So it dropped us off at the turn off to the tea plantation and we hoofed it the last 4km.  It was actually a very beautiful walk.  In the beginning we couldn't see anything because the clouds were so low and it was really foggy, but then the sun started coming out and the clouds started to lift and reveal an absolutely stunning panorama of rolling hills planted in perfect rows of tea bushes.  I'm really glad that we walked in because we could take our time and enjoy the view and I could stop and take as many pictures as I wanted :>)  We were the only ones walking in too!  There were loads of tour buses and cars that passed us, in fact there was one school but full of kids who were waving and yelling "hello" at us and taking our pictures which was pretty funny!  We finally arrived to enjoy the view from the restaurant perched high on the hill just as the sun was shining over the mountains and we enjoyed a pot of tea and a slice of very delicious chocolate cake...yum!  We noticed that there were a few different ways that the workers in the fields were picking the tea leaves.  They pick only the young leaves at the top (every 3 weeks apparently) and leave the older ones at the bottom.  They have a hand held picking device for the really steep parts, and a little machine that works with a motor for the flatter sections.  Inside the factory it said there was another huge machine for the really flat sections that can harvest 9000kg of leaves per day!  We walked back to town past a ton of fruit and veggie stalls (this area has good soil and temperature for farming fruits and veggies) and stopped at a town 2km down the road for lunch, then got a taxi back to our hotel.

Today we slept in a little :>)  then headed out to visit another tea plantation with the intention of walking back through the jungle.  There are numerous "jungle walks" around here so we thought we would check one out, so we picked one that passed by a waterfall.  It started raining pretty heavily as we were leaving the tea plantation, but we were equipped with our rain gear so we decided to just keep going.  This guy pulled over in his car when we were about 1km out of the tea plantation and asked if we wanted a lift which was super nice!  It was a really fortunate event because he turned out to be a doctor at the tea plantation and we got to ask all the questions we had been wondering about!  Apparently most of the workers at the tea plantations are not locals, but come from Indonesia, Nepal or Bangladesh, and are on a 5 year contract.  They do not come with their families and make 20 Ringett per day, which translates to about 6 dollars and fifty cents.  Medical care is also included in their contract, but we are wondering to what extent they actually get covered...

So once we got dropped off near the main road the rain had slowed to a trickle and we headed off on the jungle path, which was a little tricky to find.  Once we did find it, it was a pretty steady uphill climb until be got to the waterfall...all muddy today because of the rain, but a pleasant spot to stop for a rest.  Then the rain really came down, and despite our rain gear we got totally soaked!  It was great to have a hot shower once we got back and get some dry cloths on, and then to hit up our favorite Indian restaurant for lunch.  We've eaten almost every meal so far at this place, but it's cheap and the food tastes fantastic!  We've really enjoyed the multiculturalism of Malaysia.  It's interesting that there is a mix of Malays, Chinese and Indians, and I think it's a real asset to the country.

We have booked transport tomorrow to go the the Perhentian Islands and apparently there is no access to internet there (or it's very difficult to find), so you probably won't hear from us for 4-5 days.  We will probably spend one night in Kota Bharu on our way back, then we will take a bus to Penang for a few days before heading to Thailand.

Bye for now!

Hanna and Dan


Playing cards at the hostel while waiting out the rain in Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands)

Great Indian food served on a banana leaf!

Beautiful tea plantations

Dan giving it a try...