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Published: September 27th 2007
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From KL we caught the public bus to the Cameron Highlands. After a rather hairy 5 hour journey the first thing we did was to pile on a few layers as the temperature there is considerably lower than we've been used to for the last 3 months! We spent our first day here on one of the organised tours to Boh's Sungai Palas Tea Estate. We were taken on a tour of the tea processing factory and were able to sample some brew (and some great cakes!) at the tea shop they have built in to the mountianside. The trip also included a stop at the top of the regions second highest mountain, Mt Brinchang (2031m) from which there were some breathtaking views. Our guide, Bala, took us for a walk in the mossy forest near the peak of the mountain and gave us some tips on jungle survival! The final stop was a butterfly and insect park before we requested to be dropped near the local Orang Alsi (aboriginal Malaysian) settlement. Although it was interesting to see the village, Kirstie started to feel uncomfortable about the amount of strange looks we seemed to be getting, so we didn't stay for
long.
We spent our second day in the highlands walking with Yen! Yen is a resident guest at the lodge we stayed at and every day he takes visitors out in to the jungle. The information about the planned route for the day described the walk as 'moderate' so we thought "perfect, we don't want to over do it before we head to Taman Negara". Half an hour in to it, Yen decided to extend the walk by 2 hours and take a more off-the-beaten-track path which was any thing but moderate! 6 hours later we were both aching and exhausted, but it was worth it just to get more of a feel for the jungle.
The next day we caught a minibus to Taman Negara, a national park containing some of the worlds oldest rainforest. We came to the park with high expectations, hoping to do some longer treks deeper in to the jungle than we have been previously but it wasn't to be this time. So instead we settled for a walk along the canopy bridges which are suspended 25 metres above the ground among massive trees which again offered some amazing views across the rainforest. We
Boh's Sungai Palas Tea Estate
Enjoying tea and cakes with a view over the plantation have to admit that we were pretty scared, which is fair enough considering the bridges consisted of wooden planks no more than a foot wide which were suspended by rope! From here we decided to take a walk to the top of Bukit Teresik and bumped in to Becca and Mark, a couple we had met back in the Highlands, and also met Alex and Carmen. The walk to the top of the hill was more moderate than our walk with Yen (thankfully!), but a lot more sweaty with the increased humidity there. On the way back there were a few additions to the group with the appearance of some wild boars! That night we met up with the guys and had dinner at one of the floating restaraunts by the park. Due to Malaysia having a largely Muslim population, it isn't easy to find beer on the drink menus at most of the restaruants. One of the men who worked at the restaraunt we were in over heard us discussing this and told us that at 10pm we would be able to order beer. 10 o'clock struck and we queeried the beer offer and 10 minutes later we were
asked to move to another table away from the doors and windows. The lights were dimmed and the beer came out! It was very strange! We almost felt like we were doing something illegal!!
We decided to go off on our own on our second day and explore a bit more of the rainforest. One of the disappointing things about the park is that all the tracks are signposted which is good in some respects but it doesn't really give you much of a sense of achievement. On the plus side we did get to see more wild boar, a monitor lizard, a woodpecker and we also spotted some elephant footprints in the mud!
After 2 minibus journeys and a VERY bumpy boat ride through a storm we arrived at Pulau Perhentian Kecil (small Perhentian island). With crystal-clear aquamarine waters and powdery white sand beaches it is a definate contender with Railey in Thailand for the most beautiful place we've visited yet. Our first day here was spent topping up our tan on the beach and being blown away by just how clear the sea is - easily 25m visibility. As a result of this we decided to book
a snorkelling trip to Pulau Perhentian Besar (big Perhentian island!) where we got to know Pauline and Ralf better, a Dutch couple we had met on the minibus from Taman Negara. Thanks to the amazing clarity we got to see green sea turtles, white and black tip reef sharks, a school of huge bump head fish (which were very intimidating with their boney beaks used for eating the coral!), damsel fish, parrot fish, small rays, nemo fish and mean trigger fish, as well and some beautiful corals. For Paul, the highlight was getting to swim alongside a huge turtle as it came up for air while no one else was around, and for Kirstie it was simply being able to get in to the sea with out even a seconds hesitation. All in all one of the best experiences we've had so far. That night we had dinner with Pauline and Ralf before making our way back to Kuala Lumpur the next day.
Next stop, Sumatra, Indonesia...
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owen
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Brilliant
Looks brilliant and i want to open a bar on that beach.... Any chance you think?! Loving all the bloggs and Paul's tan! All well here apart from the Artic weather that has appeared! xxxxxx