Cameron Highlands

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We got bored of waiting for the Indian embassy to give us a visa and we had missed our flight to Delhi on Sunday because of them so we decided to head out for the weekend for some fun!! The Cameron Highlands are freezing!! We had to get extra blankets on the bed, now Steve feels the cold as badly as me!! Thats what 5 months in Asia does to you!! The first day was a bit dull for me as I had some tummy bug so was a bit pukey (nice!)..

Anyhow, on the second day we decided to head back into the jungle in search of the 3rd largest flower in the world called the Rafflesia. Well apparently its not a flower but a fungus but they don't tell you this till they've taken your cash! Our guide was an Iban villager (if you believe they still exist in a tourist area!) called Joe who walked through the jungle at the speed of light, we were all struggling to keep up with him as there had been loads of rain and the ground was really muddy. He thought it was hilarious that we told him to wait in Malay (not quite as funny as the guy in the hotel thouhgt it was when I asked for a broom in Malay but hey ho, his sides really did split!).. Anyway, after a couple of hours we found the 'flowers' which were really amazing (see piccies, but not quite 2m across!). We heard gibbons calling in the forest to which we shocked all the other walkers by recognising. On the way back down the hill we jumped into the river for a cold mandi, we really have turned into jungle people, we don't feel properly clean unless we wash in the river now!!

After swimming, Joe took us to his village were we got to wander round and have a go on a bow pipe. It was supposd to be a traditional village but the guy we got talking to was from Sumatra and lives in Kuala Lumpur so not in the village at all!! It was good fun though! Steve went for a drink with the other guide later that evening and did discover that the village there is not strictly genuine as all the Iban people have long had there homes burnt down by palm oil companies!

We also visited a tea plantation and a strawberry farm which passed some time (the food and drink was great but not much to see!). However, we did go to a really cool insect and butterfly farm. No-one except me or Steve would hold any of the insects which were all giant ones, I was the only girl and even after I held them the other boys could not be convinced (babies!!)..Check out the photos coz it was really fun!

Well our India visa finally arrived so we hopped on the VIP bus back to KL (which broke down!) and now we are in Singapore with the visa ready to fly to India on Friday!! HURRAY!!

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Photos

Such a cheerful place!
Did I mention that Steve thought the hostel owner wanted to murder us!

Tea plantation
Oh my god we have matching jackets on!!