Flower Power and a Watchtower

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Instead of paying to go on a guide jungle trek today, we decided to adventure out on our own following trails number 4 & 6. Trail 4 is the gentlest of all the jungle treks in this area and I was surprised to see that the first section of it is even paved. The route runs alongside a little stream that wound through the forest and trickled down in litlle waterfalls every so often. The water was crystal clear and it would have been very picturesque if it hadn't been for all the garbage washed up on the banks. Along the way we passed a cool looking mini suspension bridge but it had fallen into disrepair and been roped off which was a shame.

The path grew steadily more difficult and we were soon surrounded on all sides by the most amazing flora. Brightly coloured flowers danced gently in the breeze; there were umbrella ferns with leaves easily as big as a car, indigo toadstools hidden in dark corners and mosquitoes that buzzed menacingly around our ears every time we stopped to get our bearings. Thankfully we didn't see any of the scary looking insects that we saw at the butterfly park! We veered off the path for a while and made our way up some very steep ground to a watchtower that we saw signposted. It was hard work climbing up and Glynn could tell that he wasn't fully recovered from his cold. At the peak we climbed the wooden stairs to the top of the watchtower and were rewarded with a 360 degree view across the valley. A few minutes later we were joined by some elderly Japanese hikers and we chatted happily about Japan with the man who spoke very good English. The two ladies he was with, his wife and sister-in-law, got very excited to see my hairband which was a Hello Kitty in a kimono!

We could have stayed at the watchtower for ages but there was still lots of walking to be done so off we trekked again. The path down was tricky as the soil was really loose in places and I slipped a couple of times. The ground was springy as we walked, a most unusual sensation as you could really see it sink and rise as you stepped on and off it. We got the feeling the entire slope must have been made of moss and tree roots and it really felt like we were walking across a bed and not the jungle flooor! The trail was poorly signposted and it was difficult to know which route to follow when the path forked. We were lucky and only had to double-back on ourselves once though before finding confirmation that we were heading in the right direction again. We eventually emerged by a campsite by the Forestry Commission and were enthusiastically greeted by 3 Malay chaps, one of whom was bathing in the stream.

The path joined the main road to Brinchang here and this was the direction we needed to go to find the army base. The quiet road wrapped around a completely deserted golf course and led us to the junction with our goal. We were surprised to find that the military base still bears the name of my dad's school. What was once General Slim's School is now Kem Slim army training base. We took the road up the hill to the front of the camp and chatted to the friendly men at the gate. Because it was Sunday today, there were no senior ranking officials on site to talk to about the history of the school and base but one of the chaps gave me the name and contact number of a Captain who might be able to show us around the following day. Unfortunately there was a big sign by the main gate prohibiting anyone from taking photographs which was what I had been secretly hoping to do for my dad, so I didn't think a tour of the base would be of any use. I still went away with the feeling that not much had changed since 1959 when my dad was at school here - the site looked to be dotted with old bunkers and had small stilt buildings protruding over the steep slope at one side. At the bottom of the slope was a decrepit concrete tennis court that was partially overgrown with weeds. I guess the Malaysia military budget doesn't stretch quite as far as the Cameron Highlands!

We followed the road on to Brichang, another very small town with more hotels than anything else. There was a local craft centre that seemed worth a look but it was mostly full of the usual mass-produced souvenir stuff although I did come away with a handful of postcards (expect some real mail soon folks!) and a wooden tangram, a ouzzle game which I had as a kid. We considered catching the local bus back down to Tanah Rata as we were pretty tired from the long walk but a taxi for 2 of us was only marginally more expensive at 4 MYR (about 60p).

Back in TR, we dined in another of the street's Indian restaurants which serves banana leaf meals. Basically, your plate is a banana leaf and all the trimmings are placed directly on it. I wasn't quite brave enough to try eating it in the traditional way with just my hands though! We settled back in at the hostel to watch a movie in the tv room but the machine only plays VCDs which you have to hire for 1 Ringgit. We tried a movie out but the quality was awful so the Cameronian Inn gets null points on the entertainment front. God job we brought some books with us...

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