The Cameron Highlands

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12-13 & 19-21 August 2008

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, 14 -18 August 2008

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Taking the long bus journey from LCC Airport into Kuala Lumpur (KL) we couldn't help but notice the huge improvement in infrastructure. Indonesia hadn't been that bad but KL was definitely 1st world. We might have considered travelling directly to India had it not been for one vital piece of paper.... a visa! The following morning we made our was to the Indian High Commission, we checked teh address on the internet and felt confident we had all the necessary documents. This was going to be a breeze. What we didn't count on was that for the past 18 month's the visa application office had been moved to a downtown location. Do you think that someone should have updated the website? Travelling has an ability to uncover societies incompetencies. With our visa application lodged, we walked a short distance to KL's most iconic landmark - The Petronas Towers. As it was now 10:30am we were too late to snag a couple of tickets to visit the sky bridge that links the two towers. No matter, we walked around viewing them from all angles before dipping inside to the extensive shopping mall. Having watched the construction of the towers on Discovery Channel it was great to finally see them for real. We then walked through Little India followed by Little China slowly making our way back to our hostel.

We were told the visa's would take a minimum of 5 working days......& that the day of submission didn't count and guess what....Friday was an Indian holiday so that didn't count either..... needless to say Saturday & Sunday didn't count so we had one week to occupy ourselves. We decided to leave KL and head for the Cameron Highlands. The following day we checked online and Claire's visa had been approved!!!

The bus we travelled on to the CH's had an advertisement on the front proclaiming that one should visit the highlands. On it was a picture of a Rafflesia. This is the largest flower in the world and while they are present in Borneo we didn't have the opportunity to see one. They only flower for a few days each year so it is a special experience to see one in full bloom. The following morning we were collected at 9am for our full day tour of the CH's. After taking our 4 wheel drive up the muddiest trail imaginable we commenced our 90 minute trek into the jungle in search of the elusive Rafflesia flower. We had two local Orang Asli (indigenous Malaysian) who apparently knew where there was one in bloom. After backtracking about three time sit became clear that they really didn't have a clue but credit where it is due - they persevered and eventually we came across the most beautiful of flowers. It was a great moment and made all the more special by the hardship of the jungle trek we had to endure to find it. On the was back we had to re-cross the rivers we encountered previously and Claire accidentaly plunged her boot into the rushing water. Doh. Then we stopped by a waterfall and we both got stung by a wasp! Double doh! On the way out our 4x4 got stuck in the mud, thankfully one 4x4 had got through just ahead of us so they were able to pull us out.

Later we visited a local village and the Orang Asli demonstrated how to use the blow pipe which they still use today. We then distributed some small gifts to the children. Claire decided against sweets and opted for copy books and pencils (we have visited several of villages on our travels where guides suggest we bring sweets and we find children with rotting teeth, they have no access to dental hygiene or care).

Picture Opposite: Orang Asli child with one of the notebooks and pencils

Next stop was the Boh tea plantation, founded by a Scotsman J.A. Russell. It was the first highland tea garden in Malaysia. It has a stunning setting nestled in the lush green hills of the CH's. We stopped for lunch, a factory tour and to sample some of their finest teas of course. Boh is one of only a few tea plantations in the world which plants, processes, packs and markets it's own premium brands.

Collecting the tea leaves

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As if we hadn't had enough excitement for one day we then made our way to the butterfly farm where let me tell you, butterflies are definitely not the main attraction. They have all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures for you to handle. Rhino horn beetles, stick insects, lizards, leaf insects, scorpions and oh yeh butterflies. I, Dave, had a rather large scorpion placed on my chest, and as he started to approach my groin I pleaded with the staff to remove it and it's intimidating stare.

The final stop of the day was at a Strawberry Farm. After about 5 minutes of hearing about the strawberry growing process we made our way to the shop to enjoy strawberry milkshakes, strawberry ice cream, strawberry jam. It was an excellent day out and made all the better by our witty and knowledgeable guide.

Nice views from the watch tower in Tanah Rata town.

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We stayed 5 nights in the Cameron Highlands and spent the majority of the time simply enjoying the cooler climate. For a relatively small town it was a surprise, a pleasant one, to find a Starbucks occupying pride of place on the main street. So, put simply our routine was one of coffee slurping, draughts playing, movie watching, internet surfing, scones with jam & cream scoffing nirvana.

We headed back to KL on the Tuesday, 3 working days post visa application, and on Wednesday morning it was approved. Hurray! (Little did we know what we were letting ourselves in for). We had met a nice couple Dan & Phi in CH's and we had travelled back to KL together. Early (7am) on the Wednesday morning we all made our way to the Petronas Towers in order to get tickets to visit the Sky Bridge on the 41st floor. The tickets are free but if you are not in the queue by 8am you can forget about your chances of getting one. We were in good time and while Dan & I waited in line the two ladies went and fetches some freshly brewed coffee. O'Briens no less! The Irish franchise is spreading it's wings. The coffee even came with a cinnamon shamrock on top. Because we had arrived early we were able to proceed directly to the Sky Bridge. Before ascending to the 41st floor however we were obliged to watch a movie extolling the virtues of the Petronas Petroleum Company. This reminded us a little of the advertisement they had played at Speights Brewery in Dunedin (NZ). But Speights had a catchier background tune. Without any further delay we made our way to the Sky Bridge and enjoyed the views it afforded over the city. One's gaze invariably came back to the majesty of the twin towers. When you hear a Malaysian referring to them as the "Twin Towers" it is impossible not to think of the tragedy in NYC. While the Petronas Towers are not the tallest buildings in the world they are the tallest twin towers. Once our 15 minute slot had expired we were escorted back to the elevator for our 40 second journey back to the ground. We bade adieu to Dan & Phi and the hopped on the Monorail to Times Square - a large shopping mall in the Golden Triangle area of town.

For our last day in KL, Claire's eagle eye had spotted that Le Meridian Hotel were doing a rather exquisite afternoon tea special. There were two options to choose from, aptly names "This" and "That". So we had "this and that". It was sheer indulgence. We each had about 12 hand crafted open sandwiches, pastries, tarts, miniature desserts, scones with jam & cream. We were full after 5 but persevered to polish off the lot. Tea and coffee were free flowing to wash it all down. And the bill, a mere 6 Euro each. Cheap at triple the price. And with that we said goodbye to South East Asia, we jumped on a bus to the very attractive and modern KLIA airport and boarded a Malaysia Airways flight bound for New Delhi India. To put into context what happened next one needs to remember that Malaysia is a Muslim state and consequently drinking alcohol is discouraged. One method to discourage is to make alcohol prohibitively expensive - even more pricey than Dublin establishments (that's when it is available on a menu). So, you can imagine our surprise when we discovered that all alcoholic drinks on the flight were included. Being so used to no frills airlines this concept was novel to us... so we proceeded to take full advantage. Needless to say by the time we arrived in Delhi we were both inebriated.