The Cameron Highlands

24 - 26 March

Our time in Malaysia is limited; we have to make our way down to Singapore by April 10th for the onward journey to Australia. Thus, wanting to experience as much 'good stuff' as possible we booked a bus heading north to the scenic Cameron Highlands.

A word of advice, when booking a bus out of KL do not go for the cheapest option; ask for 'Super VIP' at least. Our bus was a wreck. It was filthy. And it left KL an hour late.

The journey to the Highlands was both amazing and scary as the clapped-out bus painfully negotiated increasingly narrow and hairpin-bended roads as it slowly climbed through forested mountains to our destination, Tanah Rata.

But...what a destination.

Tanah Rata is a small town consisting of one main street, and predominantly surrounded by lush forests and hillside tea plantations. Tea and strawberries are the chief exports of the Cameron Highlands.

Here, the temperature was considerably cooler than we had become used to and - shock horror - rain was frequent!

We spent Saturday (25/03) attempting what was described as an 'easy' walk in a nearby section of rainforest. The day was baking hot, but after about 90 minutes in the humid atmosphere of the forest we were absolutely drenched in sweat and pretty worn out (oh, and very grimy too). It was all we could do to take the long trek back to our hostel - atop another hill -, get showered, and head out to the pub. (An Indian pub; a first for us).

Sunday, we opted for a full-day tour of the Cameron Highlands in the capable hands of two local guides, Kumar and Francis:

After visiting the highest accessible point in the Highlands and taking in the somewhat mist-shrouded views, we arrived at the high point of Sharon's day; a trip to the oldest tea plantation in Malaysia (established 1926).

Tea, as far as the eye can see

Next stop was another rainforest trek; this was good fun as we had a highly entertaining mixed group of fellow trippers. The guides took delight in describing to us the poisonous effects of many of the plants surrounding us; even the most humble species of bamboo can prove fatal...
The forest was wet, muddy and extremely slippery in places, but we all made it back relatively unscathed until *SPLOSH!* Sharon totally submerged her right foot into a particularly deep boggy puddle. Cue hilarity from the rest of the group.

After a break for lunch, the majority of the group departed, leaving Sharon and I in the hands of Kumar, who had promised to show us some of the indigenous wildlife of the Highlands. An earlier visit to a butterfly farm had given us some idea of the creepy crawlies to be found in these parts, but not these fellas! (Click to enlarge, if you're not squeamish)

The finale to the afternoon was a trip to a village of the native Semai Tribe. This was reminiscent of a visit to a hilltribe in Thailand, although the Semai have the luxury of electricity, provided by state-funded solar panels. Thus the gathering around a communal television set for the latest episode of the local soap-opera becomes something of an occasion in the otherwise rural existence of these folk.

The highlight for us was an introduction to, and the opportunity to take tea with, the village Chief - Osman.
Formalities over, we were invited to try our hand with the Semai tribe's traditional weapon; the blowpipe! The target was a shoe attached to the side of Chief Osman's bamboo house. Chief Osman -

gave us a perfect demonstration, and then it was our go. I hit the target three times out of five - one a perfect bullseye - thus doing considerably better than Sharon who strained to avoid killing any of the chickens/cats/children which wandered around the house...

...and all too soon we were back on the road to our hostel, our time in the Cameron Highlands almost over.

Kumar, our guide, cares passionately about the environment he shows to visitors in his daily work and is passing on his considerable ecological knowledge to his sons; he is deeply concerned about the damage that potential over-development will inflict on the Highlands.

It seems that fewer and fewer tourists are making the journey to the Cameron Highlands, seeking instead the more heavily promoted areas of Malaysia. Our opinion is that you would be missing out on an area of outstanding natural beauty and history by overlooking this spectacular area of the country. Go there before the lush rainforest becomes a concrete jungle...