From Taman Negara we took a private mini-bus for the 5 hour bus ride up into the mountains of Malaysia known as the Cameron Highlands. This area farms all of Malaysia's fruits, vegetables and flowers. The views from the bus were spectacular looking over hills and hills of greenhouses. We arrived at Father's guest house around 5pm and checked into the cheaper rooms which were situated in old British army barracks.
The next morning we had a delicious breakfast of tea from the Cameron Highlands and hot scones with whipped cream. After we set off on one of the many hiking trails that surround the area. Along the trail we saw a lot of beautiful fungus growth on trees and views of the region. The trail we took passed by Robinson waterfall which wasn't too spectacular, before dropping down a muddy hillside onto the main road. We were planning to follow the road to the BOH tea plantation, but decided the 7KM was more than we were wanting to walk. We followed the road 1KM to the main road, passing by a honey farm along the way. At the main road we waited about 20 minutes until the local bus picked us up to take us back to the city of Tahan Rata (where we were staying). There were 3 other people that were waiting for the bus who had taken the same hill trail, an Australian man and a European couple. The Europeans waited about 10 minutes before they decided to just walk the 10KM up the main, steep, windy hill back, and the Australian waited about 18 minutes before heading back to the trail which was 6KM. Just 1-2 minutes after the Australian left the bus came. The lazy Americans win again!
Every meal in the Cameron Highlands consisted of Indian food. We ate a lot of naan and curries. The next day we went on a tour to see the rare Rafflesia flower, an Orang Asli village, the BOH tea plantation, and a hike in the Mossy Forest. We started the tour by climbing into the back of an old school Rangerover with our driver "Bob". We set off down the main road, quickly turning off onto a very muddy side road. The trip to the hiking trail was one rough 4x4 adventure. There were 3 Rangerovers in total, all slipping and sliding up and over rocks and through giant puddles. We had to get out and walk a number of times for our own safety as the Rangerover struggled to make it up super steep slippery hills, and areas with drops (Bobby will post some videos from the ride on Vimeo, eventually). When we finally reached the destination it was a short 15 minute walk to the Rafflesia flower. The flower was beautiful and very unique. There were 3 other buds along the vine that wouldn't bloom for another 6-8 months. The flower we saw was 2 days old, and will get darker red each day until it turns brown in a total of 5-6 days.
Next we went to the Orang Asli (original people) village where we learned a bit about the natives and how they make the blow guns that they hunt with. There was one traditional hut made of bamboo, but most of their houses have been updated made with metal siding. After we had a quick lunch and headed to the BOH tea plantation, the largest in all of Malaysia. The BOH tea center was a beautiful open building overlooking the fields of tea. We enjoyed the view with tea, strawberry pie, coconut pie, and pound cake.
Last we headed to the Mossy Forest, which looked almost the same as the forests back home. Lots of plants related to Rhododendrons and moss covered trees. It started raining as soon as we got out of the car so our hike was quite quick which was unfortunate. We were able to see a few pitcher plants, another carnivorous plant of the region, but didn't get any pictures because of the dumping rain.
In the morning we took a bus back to KL, staying at the Tune hotel, a transit hotel right at the airport terminal, in order to catch our early 7am flight to Phuket. Hopefully there will be less rain on the beaches of Thailand.
-Amy
Malaysia Photo Album
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