Cameron Higlands - A Home Away From Home

Without a doubt I would have to say that the Cameron Highlands have been the highlight of anything that I have seen in Malaysia to date. The scenery on the drive there was just breathtaking and had me really excited! Driving up and down the windy roads that were surrounded by field after field of green - the majority of which are tea plantations.

The town stayed at was called Tanah Rata, basically just one street lined with restaurants, gift shops and tea shops. My accommodation there was also the most interesting accommodation that I have had to date on this trip. So far I have been pretty lucky and staying either in single rooms or sharing with people that I have been traveling with. The hostel I landed at, Daniels Lodge, however had a massive dorm with approx 20 beds and for the bargain cost or 8RM (approx 1.50 euro) you could rest your tired ass on one of the beds so I decided to snap up one seeing as everyone else was doing the same. At night time it was bloody freezing here - cold is not something I have felt in a looong time. I had to wear socks and a fleece to bed - I wouldn't even do that at home! While it was fun spending a few nights in the dorm with everyone (everyone knows everyone after a short while - after all we are all doing the same thing) I will be looking forward to a little more privacy when I move on.

luckily I jumped off fully just in time but the bike flew right over to the side and James managed to hold onto it before it fell down the side of the Cameron Highlands

Loads of tours were on offer here but as usual I wanted to do my own thing and persuaded a friend James who I was reunited with after we had originally met in Laos to rent a motorbike with me. Chrissie and Mark, a couple in our hostel were doing the same thing and fancied some company  so it promised to be a fun day. Given James couldn't really drive it was a bit iffy getting started but after a bit of guidance from Mark we were on our way! We encountered some serious bad roads on our way to a view point but it made it all the more fun. At one point the road got so bad we had to park up and proceed to walk the rest of the way until a truck passed and we all piled in the back - there must have been 10  of us in it by the time we got to the top!!

The tea plantations we passed were just amazing - I have never seen anything like it. We passed houses that the workers all live in and got some cool snaps of them actually out in the fields picking the tea. Just as I thought James was getting the hang of driving the moto, we were headed up a steep hill and the bike starts to jerk so I begin to get off and just as I do that the front wheel flies up in the air doing a wheely...luckily I jumped off fully just in time but the bike flew right over to the side and James managed to hold onto it before it fell down the side of the Cameron Highlands....and it was a biiiig drop! This all happened on the way to a tea shop called Boh Cafe that was way up the mountains overlooking the tea plantations - the view was just amazing. Once we got there we indulged in cake and several pots of different tea...it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon & calm the nerves!

As well as tea there is also strawberry farms, butterfly farms, cactus farms, bee farms and so on. We took in the butterfly farm which was rather impressive and at the same place I also got to hold a scorpion - needless to say I was scared s******s!

There was a cool little bar back at our hostel called Jungle Bar which had a bonfire burning outside and everyone sat around. There was always some local guy strumming the guitar and giving his best rendition of songs like Hotel California. That wasn't too bad but it was this one guy who appeared to be staying there who kepy attempting to play the recorder that had us in stitches - to say he was bad would be an understatement!!

With all the fresh strawberries, tea and scones, fresh vegetables, green fields of the tea plantations etc on offer here it was just like being at home. I would loved to have spent another night here but with my early morning flight on Sunday to Manila I had to get my ass to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday :(