The Cameron Highlands

View over the tea plantation

Well, what a difference a day and a few hundred kilometres make! We are now in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia and it is a world apart from what we have seen elsewhere in Malaysia. First of all, the climate is a lot cooler and it is so much more relaxed here (less traffic, less people). We are staying in a really lovely hostel run by a very friendly couple who came and picked us up from the bus stop. We have our own private room, for less than what we were paying in KL and its really modern. As soon as we arrived, they told us about a tour we could go on for £10 of the tea plantations and rainforest, so before we even had time to unpack our bags, we went straight off on this tour. It was excellent. The guide took us around the stunning tea plantations up at altitudes of over 2000metres and then we went for a trek in the rainforest where we had to climb up muddy embankments and swing around trees. He showed us lots of different types of plants in the rainforest and told us what they are used for, including ones that are used for medicinal purposes (like TCP), carnivorous plants, lipstick plants and orchids.

We climbed above the clouds

We had three lovely Malaysian girls with us on the tour and we stopped at a tea factory for a cup of tea with a very impressive view over the tea plantations.

The girls who were on the tour with us

It was a really great afternoon. When we got back to the hostel, we relaxed for a bit in the lounge and then walked into the town, where we had a massive Indian meal for £2 each and got talking to a Dutch couple who have just got back from Borneo and were raving about it. Its somewhere that wasn't in our original plan but now I really want to go! The town its self here in the Cameron highlands is known for how British it looks & feels. It is like a little England - maybe that's why I like it so much ;)

Pictures: Cameron Highlands