After a stressful day in KL, we took a curvy 4 hour bus to ride to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Most of the roads were at best 1 and a half lanes in size. It was still very humid in Cameron but the temperature was noticeably cooler- 5 degrees at least if not more. Still with no air con, clothes would not dry easily, and were still sticking to us at times.
We journeyed into town the first night for a super cheap Indian set course meal that was nearby a site that was simply labelled on the map- 'unfinished construction site'. It looked as thought it was sitting there for years, and mold was growing on it much like most of the run down building in KL. Still it was clear that this would be a much more relaxing than our previous day- with breathtaking views all around us.
On the second day, we headed out on two half day tours. The first was to a tea plantation which was actually pretty cool despite the fact that the tour took 5 minutes and they promptly directed us to the restaurant and gift shop afterwards. The views from the restaurant were still amazing, something out of a postcard (pictures to come- probably when I get back. I'm literally writing on a computer in Laos that seems to be as fast as dialup from 1995!).
When the tea plantation was finished, we traveled further up into the mountains. The roads got narrower if you can believe it. So much so, that the driver had to keep honking his horn to make sure anyone ahead knew we were coming. We got to the top and it was very misty, I think we were literally inside a low cloud, so the view from the top was not as good as it could be but still a great experience nonetheless.
The second tour of the day started after a short lunch with a visit to a flower plantation that was nice- it had many variety of flowers and seemed to go on forever. It went downhill from there. We were paraded from 'farm' to 'farm' which were in fact gift shops for a fruit farm, a cactus farm, and so on. With the exception of the view from the watercress plantation, it felt like a big waste of time.
At the end of the tour, they took us to a steamboat restaurant. Now, this is not a riverboat cruise, it is a place where the group throws ingredients into a big hot bowl of water or stock to make a communal soup. Everyone was confused whether everyone got a plate of vegetables or just one. I found out of course that this usually entails seafood, which I cannot eat. Andrea's mom, Anne, and her aunt Linda agreed to get a separate steamboat with me but it ended up being all for not. I was already sick, having had some bad food or water or perhaps even heat sickness, and I could not eat hardly anything. I felt bad but there was nothing I could do, add to that Anne and Linda inadvertently dropped a bowl full of chile peppers into the soup and could not eat anyway. Steamboat wasted.
We retreated back to the hotel, where I took medication, and slept and slept and slept, and finally felt better in the morning. Next thing, we were back on the bus for KL for our final day in Malaysia.
Next up- "Malaysian Maladies"...
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