A nice cuppa tea

The last two days of our Malaysian adventure have been spent in the Cameron Highlands in a little town called Tanah Rata (seemingly peaceful by day, Beirut by night).

The highlands are really beautiful. Miles and miles of hairpin bends surrounded by lush tea plantations and lovely hilly vistas where the low clouds graze the horizon and sink down into the curves of the landscape giving it a real atmospheric mood.




The trip was dicey, to say the least. Frequently, we were overtaken by boy racers right into the path of oncoming trucks, motorbikes and dogs. Mostly, I just shut my eyes and hoped for the best. All of them made it past alive (including the dogs who nonchalantly sit in the middle of the road, lazily eyeing the trafic as it nearly runs over their tails).




We visited a couple of the tea plantations and sampled some of their offerings (iced tea for me - black currant, passion fruit and 'orchard burst' - yum).




The plantations are huge; camellia bushes as far as the eye can see. The workers usually live on sight, accommodation is provided, as is a Hindu temple, school and even health centre (Boh Plantation).




The highlands are not just famous for their tea, but also their strawberries which you can pick yourself and buy by the weight (everywhere you look, there are strawberry based souvenirs from hats and umbrellas to slippers and bath mats!). A Cameronian delicacy is strawberry jam and cream scones with a nice cup of tea or a refreshing glass of strawberry juice!




That done, I'm now sat by a hotel pool near KL International Airport where I will stay until I fly home tomorrow night.

The journey has come to an end now, we have successfully managed to negotiate our way around thousands of miles of Malaysia and Borneo by plane, train and automobile... not to mention on foot and by boat, through city, jungle and island! We've travelled through ten different airports, stayed in ten different hotels and visited goodness knows how many cities. It's been a busy trip and one hell of an adventure.

Now, where next?

Location:Cameron Highlands, Malaysia