Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia
March 15, 2014
The Cameron Highlands was a welcome relief after Melaka, not least for the fact it was several thousand feet up in the mountains and it was refreshingly cool after the 30+ heat I have been in since the beginning of November.
The trip up from Melaka was pretty decent. We left at 8:30am and with only one quick stop at KL for 20 minutes we were there by around 3pm. We stayed in a small village called Tanah Rata which is nicely located up in the mountains with easy access to everything that the highlands have to offer. Once off the bus it was the shortest of walks to find where we were staying, all of about 40 meters. We had two nights sorted for here so one full day to explore and two half days to see what we could cram in.
The first afternoon was spent finding our feet really. Checking where we could rent a motorbike for the full day as we wanted to avoid the regimented tours that are always available, sorting out how we get a bus from there onto Penang and generally sussing out what we wanted to do with our time there and how accessible it would be.
I liked Tanah Rata. It was a strange place for Malaysia and not something I expected to come across. It felt like a cross between the lake district with its cool leafy climate and somewhere I would expect to stumble across in the Alps as the buildings all had that tall, black beam and white-painted facade feel about them. It had a nice relaxed feel about the place. The food we got on the first day was really cheap and very tasty as well from one of the many Indian ran places on the one and only street that runs through the village.
Once we had all the logistics of the next couple of days sorted we grabbed a cheap bottle of Vodka (and it is really cheap here). We chilled out in a few bars and cafes topping ourselves up with cans of coke and fruit juice and sly shots of vodka in our glasses. We had read that the place below where we were staying gets really lively and noisy every night so we were keen to see what the crack was so headed along with our bottle in a bag and we pumped a few shots into some fruit smoothies and sat back to see what went on. To say the place was bouncing is a massive over statement. There were around four other people in the bar and a bit of Tina Turner live on the screen at the end of the bar…..jumping is not the word. So we retired back to our place for the night once the excitement of Tina had worn off and chilled in the communal area with some drinks until we crashed out in the early hours.
The next day we headed off and secured our trusty hog for the day. I’m really enjoying renting motorbikes while we are away together. They are really cheap in Asia, maybe not the safest of roads but as long as you keep your wits about you they are great fun. We have had such a good laugh on them and enjoyed so much freedom in what we do. We headed off down the winding mountain road until we stumbled across a couple of sign posts to the bee farm and the ‘Boh’ tea plantation which we wanted to check out. The bee farm was a bit disappointing. A wooden hut with a few bee hives knocking around and some sun flowers for sale in the nursery area. Dani isn’t the best with Gods little flying and creeping creations so we didn’t hang around for long before heading up to the tea plantation.
The scenery on the way up past the rolling and undulating hills of tea plants was breathtaking. Like scenery out of Lord of the rings, I expected to round a corner and come face to face with a hobbit sat outside his house. The landscape is like nothing I have seen before. Completely different to the rice fields we experienced in Bali.
We arrived at the tea factory and sampled some of their tasty brew, which to me, being a coffee drinker I have to admit the tea was very good indeed. Some mango tea and a cup of their finest later and we headed up on a small trek to a viewing point to take in the surrounding hill-side before clambering back down to head off on the hog again. On the ride back down Dani managed to get something in her eye which didn’t really want to leave her eye by the look of things. So after spending an hour trying to find what was in there to no avail we headed back off and back to where we were staying to try to ease her pain and get her eye checked out.
After a good hour of rinsing and checking we still could not find the little blighter but at least the pain had subsided enough for us to continue and head back out again. This time we went the opposite way out of town in search of Mount Brinchang, the tallest peak in the area at 6,667 ft. The scenery got even more dramatic as our wee motorbike slowly but noisily climbed its way up through the clouds and rain, towards the peak. We got within half a kilometer of the peak using the roads when it became clear the bike could take no more. Instead of its slow steady climb, it screamed for mercy and kept slithering backwards on the wet slick road instead. It was simply too wet and too steep to do it and as the dark clouds started coming in we decided to head back down and visit the expansive market we had passed earlier at Brinchang village. It had wafted out some sumptuous smells of food when we rode past it.
As we arrived at the market the heavens fully opened themselves and we were thankful not to be any further up the mountain as it was a torrential downpour. That didn’t stop us enjoying what can only be described as a gastronomical feast of local flavours from the many food stalls. The lamb and apricot jam kebab was my particular favorite and one I have stored in the memory banks to make when I get back home.
Once stuffed and unable to walk any more we mounted the steed again and after refilling the tank got the bike back just in time before the 8pm deadline. This night was a little more sedate than the previous one thanks to the absence of Tina and her ageing hips and we chilled again in the common room with some drinks, the second half of the Sunderland game on the laptop and some good in-depth local knowledge of the village and area from the old chap who worked there.
The next day we had until about 2pm before we needed to be back in the village to catch out bus to Penang. So once the hangovers were mended the best we could and breakfast was devoured we headed off on foot to one of the many jungle walks that start from just outside the village.
The one we chose was a trek that would take us to a place called Robinson Falls, a waterfall not too far into the jungle terrain. The problem with this trek is that at the start before it becomes purely a jungle track they have laid some smooth paving slabs for you to walk along. These slabs turn into a slippery proposition once wet and here in the Cameron Highlands it gets very very wet. So after slithering and sliding our nimble feet down to the falls it was pretty much all we had time to do before we needed to turn back to return for the bus. The falls were a bit of an anti climax, most likely because we had been spoilt with some of the magnificent waterfalls that we were lucky to visit in Northern Bali but it was a laugh anyway and a good little walk out.
With just enough time to pull our bags onto our shoulders we headed over to the meeting point for the bus and clambered aboard. Next stop Georgetown and Penang.
