Sunday 4 December 2011

Cameron Highlands

We caught an early bus from Penang to Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands, arriving around midday. The temperature was much cooler here as it's higher ground and by the evening time we were freezing and it was pouring with rain! At this point we were an established group of 7 for the time being so in the evening we met up with Steph, Tora, Jon, Mark and Laura for dinner and to plan the next day. Bastien, Steph, Tora, Jon and I decided on a half day trip involving a forest walk and visit to a tea plantation, the done thing in the region, as it is famous for mass producing tea. The landscape is green and hilly and reminded us slightly of Sapa in Vietnam. First we took a walk (more like a hike) in 'Mossy Forest' and it certainly was that - and very damp too! We then headed to the 'Boh' tea plantation main factory for a look at the tea making process and of course to sample the wares, which were very tasty. Best cup of tea for a long time! Evening time we all met up for dinner and drinks...!

The next day, Bastien, Mark and I were the only ones up for another walk so we followed one of the 'easy' trails in our guidebook. We walked for about 2 and a half hours, mostly through forest, some of which was a bit overgrown and steep. Once we reached the road we decided to head to another tea plantation which was another 5k away. We reached the entrance then managed to hitch a ride in the back of a truck to the top of the hill which was handy! Obviously there was more delicious tea and scone sampling involved at this point and then the start of the possibly long walk back as there is no bus service from there to Tanah Rata, where we were staying. Thankfully we only had to walk about 2k before a very kind Malaysian couple picked us up and drove us back. Funnily enough they were even staying at our guesthouse - in the room next door! Evening was fairly relaxed as we were pretty tired from the walk.


Nicola

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