January 14-15, Cameron Highlands

Our last two days in Malaysia were spent 2000 meters (about 6000 miles) high in the cool, forested mountains at a "hillside resort" called Cameron Highlands. There are three towns that comprise CH, we stayed at the Hillview Inn in Tana Ratah, the largest of the three towns. After a lunch of chicken satay (so good, the best I've ever had!) and curry udon (a noodle soup) we strapped on our sneaks for a three hour trek. The path was heavily wooded and very steep--we're out of shape and got pretty winded (not surprisingly my strict regimen of daily sit-ups and push-ups hasn't been working out) but overall the hike was great and we caught glimpses of monkeys scampering in the tree tops above. We laid low the rest of the night and typed away at the internet cafe amid dozens of school children playing computer games.

The next morning we joined a group of tourists for a half day tour of the CH region. Our guide, whose name unfortunately I am unable to recall, picked us up at 9:30 am and we made our first stop at some tea growing fields. The view of steep hills tiered with rows of tea bushes was really stunning. The guide explained all about how tea bushes are grown and maintained and how the tea is processed; these fields grew black tea bushes. We continued our drive up to the "mossy forest" and walked around on a muddy track, yeah for getting dirty! Apparently we were walking through primary forest that is about one million years old. We drove up to the highest point in CH, Gunung Brinchang, and climbed up the look-out tower. Clouds were passing through us while surveyed the landscape, it was awesome. While we were in the forest our guide pointed out "pitcher plants" (or "monkey cups" in Malay English), carniverous plants that devour insects by luring them to drink the water collected in their petals. After a tasty snack of strawberry tarts (strawberries are a major crop in CH) we drove to the Boh Tea Plantation to watch how the tea is transformed from the raw materials picked out in the fields to what we drink. We hung out on the picturesque plantation and of course, drank a cup of tea. I selected peppermint, it's my favorite. Finally we drove to a Orang Asli resettlement village. The Orang Asli are the indigenous people of Malaysia. The government is trying to move the OA from jungle settlements to towns in order to educate the children, provide medical care, etc...I'm sure there are other political motivations here as well. The village wasn't so great, most people live in small houses/shanties up in the hills and we didn't get to speak with any of the villagers. It would have been more interesting to visit a village in the jungle in order to gain a greater appreciation for the OA way of life.

Our guide was probably the best part of the tour package. He served in the Malaysian army for 12 years and fought the communists during the 60's and 70's (I'm talking serious guerrilla warfare here). He was really great at telling old army anecdotes, providing jungle remedies for common ailments and reminding us that you'll never survive an attack by a tiger (or panther for that matter).

After visiting the OA village our guide dropped Lindsay and I off in the town of Brinchang. There wasn't a ton to see so we just strolled through a Hindu temple and then walked the 4K back to Tana Ratah. We ate a mediocre lunch back in town and then laid low again, enjoying the cool mountain air. Back at the hotel that I night I ordered banana and honey pancakes and discovered that pancakes in SE Asia are actually crepes, what a pleasant surprise! All of the fruit here is delicious, I've enjoyed a lot of papayas, dragonfruit, apples, pineapple and bananas.

Thailand adventures coming up next...