Phuket & Cameron Highlands

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Well after seeing Fiona off to the airport Nick and I made our way down to Phuket. We’d heard a lot of things about it so we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It was a 20hr journey but the scenery was stunning, massive white rocks with greenery covering the tops, palm trees lining the streets and stunning clear blue sky. However when we arrived we were extremely disappointed. We made our way to the beach only to find it was completely covered in sun beds, it was like Spain but in Asia. The streets were lined with pubs and clubs and everything was extremely expensive. Needless to say we only stayed for 2 of our 4 nights planned there. We then made our way down to Malaysia, 13hrs on a 7 seater minibus! It was our first overland border crossing so I was a bit nervous as I wasn’t sure what to expect. It went well though and they didnt check our bags or anything. At about 8pm we arrived in Penang (an island off the North West coast) it was smaller than I’d expected but it had a nice feel to it. We found a guesthouse down Love Lane and went out to find some food. Foolishly we left our wallets in our unlocked bag on the side of my chair and some fat, old, white man took all the money (about £30 in English and Thai) luckily we still had our passports and credit cards though so we were happy about that; it just shows that its not the locals like you’d think. Still Nick went out to look for him but he’d already gone. While in Penang we caught the local bus to Kek Lok Si Temple (apparently the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia). We walked up some steps which were surrounded by souvenir stalls and eventually reached a turtle pond which was at the front of the temple. The temple itself was impressive perched on top of a massive hill but the prayer hall was easily the best room in the complex. It had stunning ceilings that were so intricately decorated and massive murals on the walls and the stone pillars were carved into the shapes of dragons. We also went up the pagoda and got a great view over the town below. We stayed at a beach called Batu Ferringhi for the next couple of nights which was nice but the beach and sea were a bit dirty and the weather become a bit overcast. We decided then to move on to the Cameron Highlands up in the hills.

It took 6hrs to get there on what they said was a VIP bus (it clearly wasn’t!). As we got further up in the mountains the forests became more and more dense and the sky got darker and darker. We booked onto a trip which was 80rm (£13) to do a variety of things in the area. We woke up early and got on the minibus, after an hour driving we stopped at the side of the road, this is where we would start our trek. We trekked through the jungle for an hour and a half using bamboo bridges and fallen trees to cross the rivers. Eventually we started seeing the buds of the Rafflesia (worlds largest flower) surrounding the path and after a steep climb found a flowering one. It was massive and didn’t really look like a flower, but it was really colourful. On the way back we stopped at a waterfall but no one went in as it was flowing quite fast and it was pretty cold. We then walked back along the same path to a small aboriginal village that did a blowpipe demonstration and then we all got a go at it. Nick and I decided to buy our first souvenir in the form of a miniature blowpipe and darts made of bamboo! It’s so cool! We got back on the bus and had some lunch before heading to a tea plantation and factory. We stopped by the tea bushes and were given a talk on a bit of history and how the tea is picked. The scenery again was stunning and we all took a lot of pictures before heading off to the factory. The tour of the factory was very quick and they just went through how it was processed from leaf to final product, it was quite interesting but the smell wasn’t pleasant. We then went to a butterfly/ insect farm; we weren’t sure if we wanted to pay the extra 5RM (£1) to go in as we’d already spent a lot of our daily budget on the trek but everyone else did so we followed. I’m so glad we went as it was the best experience. They got all the insects out of the cages and let us hold them and one girl had 6 scorpions on her, Nick settled for one! We then made quick stops at a strawberry farm and Buddhist temple before heading back to our hostel.

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