The Cameron Highlands

I don't know why, but from the second I learned about the Cameron Highlands I was bewitched.  It's cool, up a mountain, and it's a place where tea grows. Perhaps it was the prettiness of the tea growing in Uganda or just knowing how much I struggle in hot climates but I was in.

Planning for it however, felt hard. It's a region,  it a city. And there is only one kind of central area, but the things you want to do still need a car from that central area. So in my research for this trip, I saw there was a day trip from KL and gave up trying to male it more than that.

That was both a mistake and the right thing to do.  The day was LONG. The hotel person and the cab drivers that we spoke to about our plans were both surprised that we could even do this trip in the day. However, we still would have had to do a tour, as nothing was walkable and it would have spent 2 of our 4 days in the KL region.

So we were told to be ready at 7am. At 658am we got a call to our room that the driver was already here. The van was full. We were to find out later, with a family from Brunei and another family from the Phillipines. We started off on the wrong foot with the family from the Philipines because as we entered the van, the seats that were left for us were too small to get into due to how far back the seats were put. These Van's were not built for westerners.  They were not too happy to not have the incline.

The journey was alot. Not only did it wind and have 483937 curves but it was also inclining. This is of course dramatic but when we first got out, I felt like I got a reprieve from fighting.  Fighting the turns, fighting the sick and fighting Joe's bicep that had NO give whenever I slammed into it.

Our first stop was a butterfly garden. It was enchanting for sure. Had the look and feel of a loose greenhous . So many beautiful flowers were there to treat the butterflies.  Past it they had other insects and animals like rabbits and so many more beautiful flowers.

After we stopped at a market. It looked small but continued to sprawl as we went. We bought some fresh strawberries, and dried fruit.  We then went to lunch on a golf course and finally got to speak with some of our tour mates!  We got on well with the family from Brunei!  It was two sister in laws and there female children. One was studying in the UK, another in Australia. They were very convincing to have us visit. The guide however was not so keen. He said everything closes early and there isn't much to do. Alcohol isn't a thing there due to the high Muslim population(the two women were wearing hijab but none of the daughters were-I wanted to ask but obviously couldn't).  Eirher way, they were great fun and we had a great symbiotic relationship ship of taking each others pictures. We even got one or two together!!

We finally made it to the tea plantation!  The reason for our trip. Essentially, you walked into a cafe overlooking the beautiful plantatio . Then you could walk down(they had some clear trails) and that was about it.  While it was pretty for sure, it was rather underwhelming. Until, the heavens ripped open, thunder filled the air and the rain tumbled down in sheets. It was pretty spectacular!  At that point we were back in the cafe which was covered but not enclosed and got a front row seat.

The rain ended and our final stop was a strawberry and bee farm. They advertise that you can pick your own strawberries but they are small and it costs way more than just buying them at the market down the street. So we passed.

We drove back, taking over 3 hours, including a rest stop. We decided to get dinner at an Iraqi spot but I couldn't eat much(returning to the heat?) But Joe was super impressed with the meal!

Our bed was not comfy but we were si tired it did not matter!