The Cameron highlands..a.k.a: TeaTown* (*= only known as that by one person)

So I arrived in the Cameron highlands after a 4 hour journey.
I took a couple of photos while entering the highlands and here they are!

There are a lot of tea bags to be filled from these mountains

cool photo of the road bisecting the mountains

It's the first time in a very long time that the amount of westerners exceeds the amount of Malaysian people. This must be known as a real tourist destination. I had to stay  in Daniels (Kangs) lodge as it says in 'the lonely planet' that it doesn't mind the sign above the reception indicating what the lodge thinks of the lonely planet!!! Sure enough, the sign was there..

A compliment for a compliment (sort of!)

          When I was signing in for the couple of nights, I got talking to Casey from East Malaysia.
He was here on a quick holiday and was planning to see as much as possible within 24 hours before heading on. So, we decided to head for a walk around theld area. I made the fatal mistake of leaving my sandles on (note to self : It wasn't fatal, otherwise you would not be able to write this! (but it sounds exciting so I'll still use the word!) )
            We decided to head into the forest beside the  waterfalls at Hutan Lipur (parit falls)  but not before we grabbed a bite to eat. Eating is important before during and after walking you know!!!!
So, we went to a restaurant that allows you to choose the amount and what you want to order.... Normally, if there is rice, i'll go with that - some chicken and some kind of sauce, just like this picture!

Note there is no knife with any meal (with the exception of steak where you are given a steakknife)

Casey went for a healthier option without any sauce but plenty of veg.

After filling up, we were ready for the walk.We headed past the entrance bridge and into the jungle\forest.

The location of the waterfalls

Proper trekking gear - check

Trekking sandles- ugh- check

Sun cream nearly applied on face - check (sort of)

Taking note of location of bridge - there's no need for a check for that (regretfully!)

Anyway, we walked inside the jungle where we saw a river was circumventing the jungle.

Cool river

We walked to a high point of the jungle whereupon we were garnted a class vista of the area.

View of the Cameron highlands

Trees in every direction

This was where my natural radar went a bit haywire. We were not sure of the way out of the  Jungle so we trekked on for maybe 40 minutes in our quest to find an exit. Unfortunately, Casey called for some assistance from the hostel but then we forgot the name of the place that we were walking. d'oh! We walked a bit further and after about 5 minutes, i realised that sandals and trekking are not compatible. One of the straps broke! (If there are any sandal manafacturers reading this, you should invent sandals for trekking because they would allow the feet to breathe! (but they would have to have strong straps!!))  Casey mentioned sticking by the river the was circling the jungle and eventually we found the river and we were free!!! It was an interesting journey. I had built up a bit of a hunger (as is the norm on these travels!) so we went to a local eatery where we got some do-do..

chilli sauce with do -do and some chinese soup

The do-do hit the spot but we had to eat fairly quickly. The house next door to the restaurant was being fumigated against a mosquito outbreak!!! The fumes from the fumigation spread from the house into the shop but we were lucky in that we had just finished the food before the fumes hit the restaurant!

Fumigating a house against an outbreak of Dengue fever (well, fumigating the house to kill the mosquitos. If a house caught dengue fever, those mosquitos would have special powers!!)

We headed back to the hostel for a rest .I noticed the aquarium at the hostel and here it is!

The aquarium at Daniels lodge

Later that evening,We decided to have a quick walk around the town .I had an opportunity to test out my new camera at night time ! here is the result of that.

Picture not quite as blurry as before, this camera has potential!

I was hungry from taking one photo, so we decided to gab one of those special burgers (a 'special' burger is a buger with an egg. they really go well together ) )

preparing the special burger

Portrait of a hungry man! The burger is on its way Casey!

After finishing off the burger, we headed back to the hostel where we checked out the mythical fireplace by the bar. I think this was the first time that I can remember that a fire was actually needed to heat up the area. The cameron highlands does get fairly cold at night!

Casey enjoying the fire outside the bar at Daniels lodge

At this stage, it was time to call it a night as there was a big day ahead the next day for me (I was booked to go on a trek followed by a few more things, see below!!!)

The next morning, I met up with Casey where we grabbed a quick bite to eat from a shop and then i headed off for a day trip wjile Casey did the half day trip as He had to grab an early bus back to K.L.
I jumped into a 4*4 vehicle around 8.45 and around 8 of us were on our way!

The jeep brought us up this road!

We went for a 4 hour trek up the mountain and boy was it hot. We saw a load of butterflys another waterfall and a rare half flower/half fungus.

Staying pn the trail. if i stepped off this trail, I would be in serious trouble!

These might look like leaves but they are Butterflys!

The half flower/ half fungus Rafflesea flower 

Note: if you touch this while you are sweating, the flower is so sensitive theat it will turn black and die so do not touch the flower!!!

The waterfall 

After visiting the waterfall, we all went to the Orang Asli village where one of the aborigines showed us how to use a blow dart. We had a go and I have to say I am slightly better at using a blowdart than I am at using a bow and arrow!

Don't fire at me!!!

It was at this point when we went up to the tea plantation.

Here is a pic of some b'oh tea 

We went into the factory that prepares and makes the tea . here is the actual process



After going through the tour, we went for a cup of tea,You were given a real birda eye view of the tes fields from here! The tour guide was telling us that  Scottish man started the tea fields around 1937 , His graddaughter is continuing the tradition to this present day.The tour guide told us that she was married. What a pity. I could have had free tea forever :-(

Views from the tea shop.

A closer view of the tea leaves

            The tour guide was saying that Bangladeshis work in the te fields as they are a cheaper source of labour. This tea is not sold in Europ. Only tea picked from Sri Lanka is sold in europe and the tea leaves are picked by hand in Sr Lanka whereas from here , they use a teacutter implement.Picking by hand creates a better cup of tea apparently and you should always use tea leaves NOT tea bags as when creating tea bags, the factories will use excess dirt and extras when putting the tea in the tea bag. Note to self: Remember this when buying tea in the shop!!!
                After heading to the tea plantation, we paid a quick visit to the butterfly sanctuary where we saw a range of animals varying from a butterfly to a leay animal!

Scary looking butterfly

Gecko

That is a leaf insect which  is crawling up to my face, ah, can someone take it off me now!!!

A scorpion

After the visit to the butterfly farm, we had one last stop , the strawberry farm! If you do pay a visit to this place, make aure to try the strawberry milkshake.yummy!

A strawberry farm

At the end of this day , I was fairly shattered and I had an early bus to grab to get to KL and on to Medan (Indonesia)...