The Cameron Highlands are cool

We were on the move once again. Having somewhat ridiculously got ourselves stressed out in KL we were glad as our bus left the city and began its four hour climb into the Cameron Highlands. Almost as soon as we were surrounded by green again we felt relieved. By the time the roads began to wind and our altitude began to rise city living was quickly forgotten and replaced by the anticipation of stepping out in the clean mountain air. As we got closer to our destination we got a brief preview of the beautiful tea plantation vistas we’d soon be seeing on mountain treks and we were excited. As we approached the town itself, buildings that wouldn’t seem out of place in the European Alps began to appear. There was something strangely familiar and distinctly non-Asian about this place. When was got off at Tanah Rata the bus it felt like we’d been transported home as we inhaled temperate mountain air. We couldn’t wait to check in and have afternoon tea, hoping to also find the scones, butter and strawberry jam we’d seen advertised along the road.

Checking in however ended up taking a little longer than we would have liked. We’d made friends with a fellow bus passenger on the bus, Heidger, who like most of the people we’d encountered had a reservation at Father’s Guest House, the most popular room in town. We also tried to book ahead, but having only tried the night before and with it being the start of a Malaysian holiday we were out of luck so we’d decided to chance turning up and looking around. After making our way to every guest house, we were fortunate to find a room for two people, never mind something to our liking. However, tomorrow would be the end of the weekend and we’d be able to upgrade from our room with two single beds to a double and a guest house with a little more appeal. First though we sat down for some fresh local tea, along with freshly baked scones, butter and locally made strawberry jam. We almost had to pinch ourselves. It was all very British, though that isn’t so surprising given the history here.

The Cameron Highlands are a throwback to British colonialism where the tea loving Brits had taken advantage of the highlands to grow altitude-loving tea plantations in the hills. Naturally they’d brought other cultural influences from home with them as well and whilst the British may have left, the Cameron Highlands haven’t changed much since. Aside from the tea and strawberries, many other crops are grown here which you wouldn’t normally find in this part of the world and the locals have preserved the British customs around our favourite beverage. It’s unique and unusual place, which is just as popular with Malaysians wanting to get away from it all as it is with backpackers.

Dinner soon followed after our tea, and with night time temperatures well below twenty degrees, I was looking forward to my first decent sleep (requiring the use of a cover!) in days. After moving over to Father’s Guest House the following morning we had a lazy day simply happy to enjoy the climate and tranquillity, whilst orientating ourselves and planning our first trek. It wasn’t long before we bumped into Heidger, who we’d seen the night before stocking up on supplies for his first trek with a Spanish traveller, Eneko who he’d met at his (and now our) guest house. They we raving about their day in the jungle and the view of the tea plantations at the top and were keen to follow up with another trek tomorrow. We wanted to tackle the highest peak on the map, which naturally meant taking “jungle trek No. 1” a climb of over 1200 metres to reach a peak of just over 2000 metres. We weren’t alone this desire and it wasn’t long before our group increased in size. By breakfast there were eight of us ready to go. With Germany, Britain, Spain and Norway all represented Maren christened the group using a word that I’d just recently explained to her and so “Euro-rabble” was born.

After a short local bus to the start of the trail we began our assent. Despite it being much cooler than KL the steep climb up soon got our hearts pumping and the sweat pouring off us. Whilst the path was well trodden, it required some concentration to negotiate the natural steps made of exposed tree roots and the obstacles in our path. Which also made it a lot of fun. As we went up we increasingly noticed the plant life, some of which is quite unusual. The wildlife we saw however was fairly benign, with butterflies, spiders and birds the only inhabitants we spotted along the way. Despite needing to stop for regular water breaks and some minor scrapes (especially with overhead branches - see pics for the blood running down Maren’s face) it wasn’t long before we reached the top where we climbed up a watch tower to get above the tree line for a panoramic view of the highlands. After resting up we were keen for another challenge and decided to take another trail off the road back down to town that we hoped would lead to another nearby peak. This was even more demanding and amusingly two of the group (Mirage and Eneko) managed to end up knee deep in mud. However after realising just how far we had to go and with our supplies of water quickly running out we decided to turn back. It was simply going to take too long. We returned to the road and started to make our way home. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves surrounded by neatly trimmed tea plants, which when viewed from a distance look a little like someone has created a massive garden maze onto the hills. The contrast of the rich deep greens and the blue skies with fluffy white clouds make for a pretty picture. After making our way a little further along the road we came to a strawberry farm which had a cafe for visitors. We were all in need of refreshment and were beginning to get tired, so it wasn’t hard to convince the group to stop for a break, especially with the prospect of some fresh strawberries. The home made strawberries ice lollies were the choice for those seeking instant gratification (like me), with the others in the group (like Maren) having to wait a little longer for their strawberries and ice cream. My strawberry lolly has to be the best lolly I’ve ever had. When we were back on the move it was clear that fatigue was setting in and it wasn’t long before we were trying to hitch a ride back to town. Fortunately is very easy to do in these parts with those who have space in their car happy to pick people up. The first person who stopped did so after his young daughter had took pity on us apparently saying “poor them” as they passed. We were grateful to the little girl and his kind father who gave us a ride all the way back to town. The others had little trouble either and it wasn’t long before we were all back at our guest house ready for a good meal and a beer after our exploits.

The following day Maren and I got up to hike again, but this time following the trail Heidger and Eneko had taken a couple of days previously. Whilst it wasn’t quite the same jungle experience on the way up the views of the farms and tea plantations on the way down were even more picturesque. After we’d made it back down into the valley we ended up at tea plantation cafe, cooling off with a long glass of iced tea. Refreshed, we headed to the nearby town of Brinchang to visit a butterfly farm which also had displays of some of the other forms of wildlife you might find in Malaysia, with insects and reptiles making up the bulk of the display. It was the butterflies that were the star attraction though with some beautiful species some of which were as wide as my hand. It was another great day and having worked up another big appetite we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at back at our guest house. We were joined for dinner by Heidger who shared a final beer with us. All of the Euro-rabble were leaving in the morning to popular destinations on the back backpacker circuit. Heidger was off to Thailand to meet up with his girlfriend, the lads (Mike, Mirage, Eneko and Sam) off for more jungle experiences in Taman Negara and ourselves along with Vaira heading to the Perinethin Islands. We were looking forward to being at the sea again and from what we’d seen of the pictures the Perenthin Islands looked amazing. We’d read that they were one of the best diving and snorkelling locations in this part of the world, so what better place to learn to scuba dive and get our open water diving license? We simply couldn’t wait to get there.

All the pictures for Cameron Highlands at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.lander/CameronHighlands