Rounding out Malaysia

The Cameron Highlands is an extensive hill station in Malaysia known for its natural scenery, rolling hills, tea plantations, and vegetable/strawberry/insect farms. Clusters of small towns/villages scattered. We arrived at one of them, Tanah Rata, by bus from Ipoh, and randomly settled on Twin Pines, the cheapest and most dilapidated, mosquito-infested hostel to date. Andrew was dead set on seeing the tea plantations of the surrounding hillsides, so we threw our belongings down and figured we could make the estimated hour-long hike up Mount Batu Brinchang and check out the Boh tea plantation just before closing time at 4:30pm.

Wrong.

We started by taking a short bus ride down the road to get closer to the base of the mountain. We headed up what appeared to be a promising path, before we realized it led to a series of housing units. We were directed back down the path, and down the road. We spotted yet another path and hiked up, through a random village, before we reached the edge of the village and found ourselves face-to-face with dense forest cover. There didn't appear to be any clear path leading up the mountain, so we asked for directions, and were again told to turn back around and walk further down the main road.

Fast-forward two hours and we had hiked 12 kilometers by the side of the highway and up the mountain in the baking heat, with cars and motorbikes breezing by us heading to the same location. We ended up arriving at the plantation at 4:32pm...just as everyone was leaving and the staff had begun cleaning the cafe. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery on our way walk and had time to snap pictures at the actual tea plantations before immediately trudging back down.

I half-jokingly made the suggestion to hitchhike down the mountain, because we were the only idiots walking alongside the road while other tourists were whizzing down in cars. 30 minutes into the walk downhill, my exhausted-self decided that there was actual merit to my idea, and tentatively/still-half-jokingly stuck my thumb out at random passing cars (who knows if that signal is universal?). More than a few passed without much sympathy...BUT THEN an awesome young couple from Kuala Lumpur happily offered us a ride to the base of the mountain, amused that they had also passed us making the trek up as well. So grateful for good people.

Once back into Tanah Rata, there was really nothing much left to do, considering its tiny size. We checked out the night market and grabbed bites to eat. Worth noting was the amazing diversity we found -- Malays, Chinese, Indians, and many other ethnic groups. The cultural makeup is also reflected in the variety of food options - we had delicious Indian dosas in the night market, but also saw pad thai, cakes, skewers, tempura, etc. Sadly, the banana lead platter we had at a local Indian restaurant did not live up to its looks. In general, the gastronomical highlights of my trip were Penang and Ipoh, hands down.

Malaysia's Cameron Highlands were interesting enough, but let's just say my two days spent there would probably have been better served elsewhere. My backpacking trip is winding down with a few short days divvied up between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Then onto SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA.