Cameron Highlands

Before I start this blog I would like to mention the unique combination of music that we listened to during our long drive. It's quite the selection!  Bjork, best of Miles Davis, Gorillaz, early Greenday, Calypso compilation, Justin Timberlake ('cry me a river!') , Sonya Kitchell, and to top it off KORN! 

On Saturday at seven o'clock in the morning David and I get up, grab our bags and head North in our 1.6L Nissan rental car to the Cameron Highlands. This area is known for its lush green rolling hills, tea plantations, and British colonial architecture. 

                                                   

We find our way out of K.L. with two maps (yes, two) and drive for two hours on the Expressway past palm oil plantations until we get to the town called Tapah.  From there they say that '60km on a long and winding climb with hundreds of bends can make an uncomfortable

journey' but David and I are extremely entertained!  We dodge cars, large trucks, dogs and kids while I scream pretty much at every single turn.  Note that David has a big grin on his face this entire time.  Yes, very entertaining I must say.  At the 20km marker we get out of car, stretch our legs and view the beautiful waterfall and visit a number of roadside shacks that sell produce and handy crafts.

Finally after an hour and a half we reach Tanah Rata which is the town we are supposed the spend the night.  We drive through town but realize it isn't the small, colonial, quiet town that we expected.  It's dirty, noisy with construction and tourists everywhere!  We drive to the next town but it gets worse!  We left K.L. in order to get some fresh air, but instead inhale nasty fumes and there's trash everywhere! David pulls over and stares out of the car window for a very awkward five minutes.  At that point we decide to call it a loss and head  back to K.L. (This is when things started looking up) On the way back we stumble upon a cozy British cottage and have a cup of local tea and hot biscuits.

With that out of the way, we stop at a place that sells all sorts of plants and cacti.  We buy a lavender plant and 5 cactus plants for only $4!  Our next stop is Ee Feng Gu Honey Bee Farm. We walk around the flower and bee filled gardens and taste some of the honey straight off the honey comb!  yum yum.  On our way back to the car David notices a sign to the Boh Tea Estate.  After 8km on another small, windy road (this time only one lane) with amazing views of the lush tea plantation we finally get to the main entrance.  David parks the car, we step out and follow directions to the look-out point.  We slowly climb the hill and get to the top and the view is just absolutely amazing. This is definitely worth the drive to the Cameron Highlands.  We are a long ways away from the dirt, the noise, the people. We take a deep breath and enjoy the peace and the lovely smell of the fresh tea.  Loving the world once again we decide to go home.  

Right before we get to the main road David asks me, "do you hear that?" "Does that sound like a rock or does our tire have a leak in it?" oh, oh!  I stick my head out of the window to look. Yes, definitely a flat tire..  We stop the car, change the tire, and on we go!  This is the part when we listen to our KORN CD.  After another 3.5hrs drive we get back the Ascott hotel and have the best sleep of our life, with a full day on Sunday to just simply relax!