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Published: September 1st 2008
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Our bus ride to the Cameron Highlands was long and a little bit scary sometimes. Going uphill the bus constantly sounded like it was going to die and we could only go about 10 mph so we thought the engine was going to die. Then we would go downhill. The driver apparently didn't like to use brakes and it was a windy road so we were going around these corners really fast and a couple times we weren't sure the bus was going to stay upright! But we made it alive which is the important part. In the Cameron Highlands we stayed at the Hillview Inn. It was a cute little inn on the edge of the town. It was nice because there were living room areas on every floor so we could all hang out there. Cameron Highlands basically consists of farms: strawberries, vegetables, and tea plantations. All the fields are covered to protect them from birds and excessive rain so driving through the hills it looks like the hillsides are covered in plastic wrap! There are also a lot of hotels/resorts because apparently a lot of people go there to relax since it's cooler than the rest of Malaysia.
But there honestly isn't much to do. We spent the late afternoon/evening eating and talking and watching movies at the inn. It was a lot cooler though which was nice! I even got to put on my fleece!
The next morning most people did a tour to the strawberry farm, tea plantation, and butterfly farm. I didn't go because I felt really sick so Brendon will have to tell you all about it later.
After lunch we got on a bus again heading towards Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. This time we were in a luxury bus. The seats reclined incredibly far and there were real feet rests, not just the kind where it's a metal bar. They were practically armchairs! Our driver was better too; we didn't constantly feel as though our lives were in danger. However, we did apparently have faulty brakes. When we had descended out of the hills we stopped at a mechanic to get the brakes replaced because they "didn't work very well". Good, AFTER we already did all the downhill part.
Kuala Lumpur is definitely a busy city, just like Bangkok was. When we got off the bus we had to navigate
our way to our hotel, crossing busy streets and avoiding other pedestrians. Not the most fun with our bags. For dinner we went to the food court at the Petronas Towers. The towers are the second tallest in the world and look really nice when they're lit up at night!
Today we had the option of doing a tour but we decided to explore on our own instead. Brendon, Paul, Yan, Allison, and I went to the Batu Caves in the morning. We took the public bus both ways. In the morning it was early enough that we got seats. On the way back there was no way we could've fit anymore people on that bus! The caves are famous Hindu shrines. The main cave, Gua Kecil, was pretty big; the ceiling was 100 meters high. The rock formations were pretty cool and there were a couple small temples inside. Also a bunch of monkeys. The second cave we went into was Gua Gelap. For that cave you have to be on a tour because they want to keep it undisturbed. There were TONS of bats! And tons of bat guano! Everywhere! We had to wear helmets and I'm not
sure if it was to protect us from rocks or bat crap! The stalagtites and stalagmites were pretty neat! There was also a pretty good view of Kuala Lumpur from the first cave because we had to climb 272 steps to get there.
In the afternoon Brendon and I went to the National Mosque. It used to be the largest in Malaysia, now it's the 4th largest. It's only open to tourists at certain times. Usually it's open for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, but since it's Ramadan starting today for this month it's only open for one hour each time. Inside there are volunteers who talk to you about the mosque and about Islam. The guy who we were talking to was very talkative and was open to discussion; he wasn't trying to convert us. It was really interesting to talk to him and we learned a lot! We even stayed longer than the allotted hour because we were having a good discussion. Now Brendon is studying Chinese and I'm catching up on the internet. I found a really cheap internet cafe! Only 2.5 ringgits per hour! At our hotel it's 6! Then our
group is finding chinese food for dinner.
Tomorrow morning we're waking up early so that we can go up the Petronas Towers before we leave for Melaka. After one night there it's off to Singapore and the end of our trip! It has gone by fast! It always does I guess.
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