More Tea Vicar?

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Our journey from Penang to Cameron Highlands started off well. Free bus to the ferry terminal then free ferry to Butterworth. sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet :-) Bought tickets for VIP bus to Cameron Highlands easily enough. Today was going great :-)


Halfway to Cameron Highlands we had a stopover in Ipoh. We were informed that we had to change buses. Hmmmmmm. We spotted our new bus and noted our VIP status had changed to VUP (very unimportant person). We found it hard to choose seats worth sitting on and when we did finally choose our seats, Chad had a lovely view of the road via the big hole in the floor. Eeeeeek ! For the next few hours we endured a bumpy and twisty ride up into the mountains where the draft from Chad's hole was gradually getting colder.


Arrived in Cameron Highlands and after viewing a couple of places we stayed at Twin Pines - our first proper hostel on our trip, complete with common room, books, etc. Now, I haven't had much hostel experience, and when I asked for some toilet tissue, soap and towels (noted missing items when inspecting room) for the room was surprised that we were told that we would have to pay for them !!! Luckily Chad had the foresight to "collect" these things for such an occasion :-)


Going out for dinner on our first night we definately noticed the drop in temperature. I had to wear 3 layers of clothing and I still felt a bit chilly !

Cameron Highlands is renowned for its tea and lovely walks and we agree with Alison, it is weirdly English!


The day after, we set off for our first walk and afternoon tea. Didn't get very far as it had bucketed down the night before and the tracks were soooo muddy and not very well sign posted. We went the wrong way twice and were nearly eaten alive by two massive dogs who were, thankfully, chained up! We decided we'd go by road and join the trail a bit further up the road. We finally found the trail and walked along the "jungle walk" following a lovely river with waterfalls and climbed up the steepest hill to a watch tower. It was worth the climb as the views were amazing. We didn't hang around too long as this kamikazee bee kept dive bombing me - must have taken a liking to my pink top!



A bit later on we came upon a strawberry farm and had the best strawberry ice pop ever. By now I was ready for some afternoon tea which we decided to have at Smokehouse Inn. This place is amazing. It was like being in an idyllic British country pub. It looked really old and had a fantastic landscaped garden. We settled ourselves in the shade and ordered pots of tea, scones, butter, cream and strawberry jam. All I can say is yummmmmm :-)


On our last full day we decided to walk to the local tea plantation which was 4k away. It seemed like a good idea at the time but halfway there we were knackered! I was certainly looking forward to a nice cuppa :-) The tea place was fantastic and had great views. It would have been perfect if the millions of flies had been elsewhere though !


We have enjoyed our time in the Cameron Highlands what with all the afternoon teas and walks but I was looking forward going somewhere warmer and having accommodation which was a bit quieter - Twin Pines had very thin walls and a lodger who snored very loudly !!!




Next stop - To Krabi and beyond

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