Hi All,
Had enough of being squeezed into a mini van. Traffic in Cameron highlands was slow going with the weekenders and also the Malaysian and Singapore holidays. It wasn't quite the picture perfect place that we were expecting. Instead of the quaint tudor houses with english gardens and rolling hills of strawberry farms and tea plantations there were ugly concrete resorts and greenhouses. It was quite warm when we arrived but at least it wasn't humid. Again we expected the temperature to be about 20 deg C max but it felt about 30 deg C. Apparently those temperatures are long gone...
Our accommodation was expensive and there were some excited Malaysian families making sure there was no quiet.
One bright light for us was finding out that there was the possibility of viewing the worlds largest flower, the Raflesia flower. I thought it was only found in Borneo and only flowered in Dec,Jan and Feb. Not so. They were found in 1997 just outside the Cameron highlands. The local friendly malay indian travel person had told us that one was in flower and it was day 3 out of the 5 day flowering. We didn't really believe him so walked around town and got different answers from each travel agent. Anyway we asked for a money back guarantee (sure) and signed up for a day tour.
Oops. Food order mistake. Got an indian corner shop to make a chinese dish that took our fancy in Penang. Mistake. Indian food in indian places and chinese food in chinese place. Never the two should meet.
Next day.
On the hunt for the Raflesia flower. Apparently this one was over 1m in diameter. We were into a beaten up old landrover with our guide and two American backpackers. 1hr drive later we picked up a ulan alsi to guide us in the rainforest. We turned off the road and onto a shocking 4wd track. Excellent. Overnight rain made it even worse. Better. Was clay and had deep wheel ruts. Great. I thought we would be out pushing in no time but amazingly we made it to the end of the track. We were first to the rainforest and quickly walked out for 1hr with the guide and then all of a sudden we stopped. We had reached the Raflesia flower and it was ... looking pretty sad. The petals had drooped and were curled but I was impressed anyway. We walked back via a waterfall and challenging creek crossing before bumping into a rowdy group of fern hat wearing malaysians towing a less than enthusiastic 80 year old grandmother towards the flower area.
Next was off to a orang asli village and a blowdart demonstration. Don't like this touristy crap and felt that we were intruding in the village. Our guide was honest and said that we were probably seeing the last of the culture and it would soon be gone.
Off we went for a quick indian lunch break and then up to the highest peak of the Cameron highlands. We got there just in time before the clouds closed in. It was pretty cool to watch.
Then we walked into the mossy forest. Quite amazing. It is really cloud forest and rarely sees clear weather so the trees are covered with moss and the ground is spongy. There also were pitcher plants. It was quite spooky with the mist. Our guide was very knowledgeable and showed us traditional medicine along the way.
Our last visit was the BOH tea plantation. Scottish owned. Tea plant hedges are a type of camelia and if left to grow will become quite large trees. So tea plants are a kind of bonsi. The leaves are no longer hand picked. They now use a two man hedge trimmer to cut the leaves so the quality is lower as there is no selective picking. We visited the factory so now know the secrets of tea making just in case we decide to grow some in our back yard.
Afternoon rains arrived again.
Went back to same Indian restuarant and ordered indian. Didn't like it either. Two strikes so we will not be eating there again.
Next day.
Up early for a walk in the highlands. Walked Route 8 on the map. Steep climb and we were delighted to find a group of silver leaf langurs just off to the side of the track in the trees. Quite a surprise as we had been told there were no monkeys in the cameron highlands. We heard more along the way. It was a nice walk and we came across some flying squirrels who flew for us. We intended to go further but were not sure at a junction so followed a signed track and ended up heading down the mountain and came across a group of lost malaysians with no map looking for a waterfall. I showed them they were well off track before we headed down to the end of the track and back into town. Nice walking without turning into a ball of sweat.
Decided to book some accommodation on the perhentian islands but it turned out to be a lot harder than expected. Malaysian school holidays. Fingers crossed as have made a phone booking. So will be heading off tomorrow.
Now to seek out some cameron highland strawberries.
Bye,
David and Vanessa
