Blogs from Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia, Asia - page 3

HE SAID... With a six hour minibus trip to Tanah Rata ahead of us, we woke early (in Melaka) and walked around the corner to Restoran Melaka Raya for a teh tarik (pulled sweet milky tea) and take away banana rotis (flat flaky Indian bread). This small street–front cafe with small plastic tables and chairs is open 24 hours, and it serves incredible food and tea. We jumped in the minibus at 7.30am and began our journey north towards the Cameron Highlands. We pulled into Tapah for a quick toilet stop at 11am, and stepping from the comfort of the air–conditioned minibus into the furnace outside was breathtaking – it was incredibly hot! We then began our slow and eternally snaking journey upwards into the Cameron Highlands. The road was narrow with steep drop offs over ... read more

Two things the Cameron Highlands are famous for are the jungle/ rainforest walks and the tea plantations. We bought a map and began exploring. First we set off on a jungle trail to Robinson waterfalls, the path was fairly flat but strewn with fallen down trees that had to be climbed over. Now I don’t mind that bit but I do worry what creature or insect may be lurking unseen just where I need to put my hand! The vegetation was amazing, twice the size of anything we have in the UK. The jungle trail ended up close to the road that led to one of the largest plantations so of course we had to go and see it. After walking for over 5 kms we came to the tea rooms/factory. Most of the road to ... read more

Arrivés dans la montagne après 3 heures d'autoroute où les paysages se résument principalement à des palmeraies qui s'étendent sur des centaines de km, nous trouvons notre guesthouse. La propriétaire est française, l'auberge est super propre et accueillante : il y a des petits salons un peu partout où les gens lisent, discutent, boivent un thé. Ici, nous sommes au pays du thé et des fraises. Il y a juste une rue commerçante avec les magasins et les différents restaurants. Dans les magasins, que des articles représentant des fraises partout : trop kitch ! Certaines maisons sont en colombage et d'autres sont typiquement british : on se croirait un peu dans une station de ski. Hier soir, pour la premiere fois depuis des jours, nous avons eu froid et obligés de mettre un gilet. Il y ... read more

The Rafflesia is the largest flower in the world. It can grow up to one metre in diameter & weigh up to 10 kg in weight! There are several species of Rafflesia and they are only found in a few places in SE Asia. And it is becoming more rare, as the rainforests they best grow in, are being diminished by logging & clearing. The first Western botanist to discover the Rafflesia was a Frenchman in Java in the late 1700's. But his illustrations & notes were seized by the British & were not rediscovered until 1954. Meanwhile in 1818, a British botanist collected another species in Sumatra and named the flower in honour of the very notable Sir Stamford Raffles, modern founder of Singapore. Also commonly know as the 'corpse flower' because of its stench ... read more

This morning we checked out of our hotel early and stored our bags with the front desk to pick up again before we caught the bus back to Kuala Lumpur in the afternoon. Our main goal for the day was to see the BOH Palas Tea Plantation and Factory and to purchase some world class tea. The tea plantation is actually in Brinchang, the town next to Tanah Rata where we spent the night, so we hired the same taxi driver we got yesterday to take us to the plantation. He was a great driver to hire because both his grandfather and father worked on the plantation as tea pickers. Our taxi driver was able to teach us a lot about the tea process because he knew it first hand - he grew up as a ... read more