Proper BOH

Tea. Lots and lots of tea
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We couldn't go directly to the Cameron Highlands from Kuala Selangor, a brief stop in KL at the Puda Raya station helped us get there. It was during this stop that we first tried Nasi Lemak, a breakfast dish in which the main ingredient is rice (nasi) flavoured with coconut. It would have been delicious if the dried fish and shrimp paste they seem to love in Malaysia hadn't been added.

The Cameron Highlands is a mountainous region in Malaysia, so you can imagine it wasn't a short trip to get there (about 4 - 4.5 hours) and was windy, at least in part. We got a great view of the forest-covered hillsides, until the rain-filled clouds descended upon us and dumped their contents. It rains almost every afternoon in this region.

...we are fully addicted...

More tea
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We had pre-booked our accommodation at Father's Guesthouse in Tanah Rata, and for RM30, we were given a tidy double room with shared bathroom and most imprtantly in this cooler clime - hot water! It's a popular place where you can organise tours into the surrounding area. We booked one for the following morning, the Mossy Forest Tour. At RM40 pp, it was cheaper than the same tour offered at travel agencies in town.

Looking for dinner we found a great place to get roti, but don't know the name. Just look for the place with the roti guy out the front, near the bus terminal. It was here that Adrienne tried her first Malay style coffee - the milk and sugar is added in the form of condensed milk! She was hooked.

Mmm... drinking tea
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Up bright and early and after a breakfast of roti canai (we confess we are fully addicted) we loaded ourselves in the back of a 4WD with people from Sweden (they were dark haired!), Hong Kong, France and England. Our guide and friend Mr Kumar detailed what our trip would entail and managed to entertain us for the entire tour. Our first stop was at a view point where we looked over the vast tea plantations in the area. The cooler climate in the Cameron Highlands lends itself to being a perfect place for growing tea, strawberries and roses. Mr Kumar went into great detail about the history of tea in the CH and it's processing. Sean would like to point out that the young leaves picked straight off the plant don't taste anything like a cup of tea!

A photo for James: condom plant!
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In order to miss the masses of tourists that would stream through as the day wore on, our next stop was at the BOH tea factory. BOH, a Scottish company, grows the largest amount of tea in Malaysia, covering some 8,000 acres. Some steps in the processing of the tea leaves were demonstrated to us, before we tasted a cup or two (not free, though the tour is). It's pretty good!

We discovered that the reason for the 4WD was to make it to the top of the highest point in the CH, Ganung Brinchang (2032 m). From here we got a good view out one direction but clouds were rolling in from the other, completely obscuring that view. Mr Kumar found a cool looking lizard and attached it to his arm for us to view. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped on the side of the road to begin our mossy forest walk. We walked down the road and up through the forest. Mr Kumar was a wealth of information, telling us about all sorts of plants and their medicinal (or in the case of bamboo, murderous) properties. In the forest we found wild orchids, rhododendrons, pitcher plants and moss! Parts of this forest look like they've been taken over by moss. The ground was spongey and full of water, making for a muddy journey. We got back in the 4WD in time for the heavens to open.

Sean in the mossy forest
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Our trip didn't include butterfly or strawberry farm tours, so on our way through Brinchang, the English girl (Ali), the two French girls (both called Litti) and us jumped out to visit them on our own. The butterflies were amazing, and the garden also displayed scorpions, snakes and leaf frogs. Worth every sen (entry fee of RM5 pp). There wasn't all that much to see at the strawberry farm (Sean stole a strawberry off the vine!). The main reason for visiting is to try something from the menu: tea and scones with stawberry jam, strawberry shake, belgian waffles with cream and strawberry sauce... we tried the much hyped about strawberry ice cream, which was really vanilla ice cream with strawberry pieces and strawberry sauce (RM6). Still, it was heavenly.

Malaysian koru
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Back in Tanah Rata that evening, we again ate roti. This time we found a great place that made all sorts of dessert rotis. Sean tried roti tissue, it's roti spread thin, folded like a pyramid and butter and sugar drizzled over the top. Delicious. Later, at Father's, we met up with the girls again as Ali is visiting NZ for a few weeks later in the year and the Litti's are on their way at the end of April to live and work for a while. There was much discussion on where to go and not to go, how to buy a car, and food. In particular we talked about French cheese and everyone's desire to eat some. Now. Too bad it's much easier to find NZ Mainland cheddar in this part of the world.

You guessed it: butterflies!
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Despite wanting to spend another day in the CH to explore some walks, we decided it was time to head to another area settled by the Brittish - Penang, and in particular, Georgetown.