|
|
|
Cameron HighlandsAfter Thailand I headed for Malaysia. My first stop was the Cameron Highlands. It was named after a British guy who discovered the place a while back and it quickly became a kind of retreat for the expats who needed a break from the oppressive climate elsewhere in the country.The Cameron Highlands are nestled high up in the Malaysian jungle, accessible only by quite a narrow, twisty road. However, the local drivers don't seem to be too bothered by this. I travelled this road in the dark, and there was much sounding of horns and swerving across the road. The climate in the highlands was a great relief from Thailand, it was still warm and sunny, but not humid - breathing became a whole lot easier! The main exports of the area are fruit, tea and even honey. Thus, the main tourist attractions revolve around these. I spent a thrilling afternoon wandering round tea plantations, strawberry farms and bee farms. Some of the Japanese tourists who were also on the tour were fascinated by the strawberry farm - to me it was reminiscent of my mum's small strawberry patch in our back garden! The other attraction of the Highlands was the jungle trekking. Contrary to my expectations, the jungle around the town is not teeming with large amounts of exotic wildlife. I'm told that there are monkeys etc there, but I guess they have more sense than to hang around near the tourists! I did see a couple of rather large flying insects, though! The jungle trekking was the first exercise I'd done since leaving home (aside from lugging a backpack around, of course!) and really took its toll. A morning's trek in the jungle sets you up for the other typical Cameron Highlands past time - lounging around doing as little as possible. Its a very laid back and relaxed place and its so easy to just sit around for day after day doing pretty much nothing. The backpackers hostels generally show films all day long from their vast collection of pirated titles (it gets a bit obvious when someone gets up and stands in front of the camcorder being used to record the film!). I met people at the hostel who had only intended staying for a few days and were still there several weeks later! After a week of relaxing and lazing around I was ready to move on again. It was to be a complete reversal of scenery and climate - the Perhentian Islands! |