Departure: 04/29/09 at 10:00am
Sight Seeing: Hiking, Tea Plantations
People: Friendly
Food: Same, same
Accommodations: Hillview Inn ($15)
Pictures: Pictures of Malaysia
Summary: Well Adam and I got intentionally stuck again. However, this time it wasn’t on the boiling beaches of paradise, rather the tropical jungles at a cool altitude of 6,000 ft. Known for the agriculture and tea plantations, the Cameron Highlands were a nice change of pace. The town was small and not really mentionable, but the jungle hikes, scenic views, and tea were very memorable. We hiked just about all of the trails on the map and met some cool people along the way.
Details: During our first hike it was raining cats and dogs (not even close to anything you would see in the Bay Area) and we couldn’t find the trail head to save our lives. Finally after we were soaked to the bone, we started the trails which lead us down a path following a water fall. The trail literally dumped us out in someone’s field where we walked about 6 km up a paved road to the Boh Tea Plantation. The walk was breathtaking. The top of the bushy tea plants are cut flat at about three feet for easy picking. Put thousands of these plants tight together, you get a rich green pattern that covers the hill sides. Now add a little mist, fog, and a stream for effect and you get about the most beautiful thing in the world. Definitely top ten thus far. While we were relaxing our legs and enjoying a cup of tea at the plantation, we asked a German couple if we could hitch a ride with them back to town. They obliged and we were off. Half way there, we realized they were headed to a different town so they dropped us off at a main road where we proceeded to walk with our thumbs out in the breeze. Within a few cars, we found ourselves sitting in the bed of a covered truck heading through the windy roads into town. It was an awesome day!
A couple of days later, we did a strenuous hike to a local mountain peak where the trail was held together by massive tree roots. Most of the trail was pretty steep where your feet had to step up higher than your knees literally each step. After I had a heart attack and a mental breakdown, we made it to the top where we met a very nice Irish couple and chit chatted for about 30 minutes. Then it was time to head back down. The roots holding the trail together were wet and slippery from rain fall and made the hike down challenging. Adam slipped and fell into some mud, which was pretty hilarious. Then I fell and hit the side of my butt on a root which gave me a bruise the size of a football. It was a memorable hike to say the least.
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