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Published: January 3rd 2016
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The Cameron Highlands are a relief after the heat and humidity of southern Malaysia. Another former British hill station good for trekking, the temperature is a steady 17 degrees or so all year round - we even had to break the hoodies out in the evenings, for the first time in months.
We stayed in Tana Ratah, which is the town most of the jungle trails start and finish in. We felt ambitious and energetic on the first day there, so headed for a trail that goes steeply (very steeply, as it turns out) up to the peak of the mountain Gunung Jasar. It was a pretty tricky trek, scrambling up, holding onto tree roots, slipping in the mud, but well worth the effort for the panorama from the top. Walking through the jungle was great as well; we saw hummingbirds buzzing around and loads of jungly flora. From the peak we intended to follow a loop around, but at the half way point found that the return trail was closed (sadly this seems commonplace in the Cameron Highlands, as jungle is constantly cleared for logging and housing - Malaysia has the highest rate of deforestation in the world). We
could still see the trail starting off through the bush, so we started to try and follow it - it was great fun for a little while, swashbuckling through the jungle. However, a couple of hundred metres in we found that with the path not in use, a huge multi-net spiders web had grown right across the trail, with no way around it, no way above or below, and no way through other than forging directly into it. As it was filled with large, very colourful spiders, and we had no idea what the poisonous spider situation in Malaysia is, we decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed back along the road instead.
The other main thing to do in Cameron Highlands is visit tea plantations - there are numerous tea growers in the area, and the tiered plantations are very scenic to wander around. We didn't really want to fork out on an organised tour, so had planned to walk another jungle trail down to the Bharat plantation, which we'd been told did free tours. Fortunately, we checked with our hotel before we did, and were told "don't do that hike - on the initial
road section people drive terribly so you'll be hit by cars ...and people have removed the signposts on the trail so you'll get lost ...and there's been lots of muggings on that trail ...oh, and there's loads of wild dogs, and it's puppy season, so you'll be attacked." Fair enough! We did a couple of different hikes instead over the next days, then paid up for one of the organised tours, and were actually glad we did in the end. The tour started with a visit to the BOH tea plantation, where we wandered through the fields and saw tea picking going on, learning about how they pick the leaves for different teas (white tea is the little fresh shoots and must be picked by hand, green tea is the young leaves, and black tea is the whole lot all blended together, if you're interested). This plantation is pretty industrial, so they just do black tea as it's easiest, and use a combination of mechanised and hand picking, paying Burmese migrants a pittance to do so... We were taken quickly through their factory and learned about the various stages of tea production, then sat out on their balcony with an
amazing view for a quick cuppa of the produce.
After the tea plantation we were taken to the highlight of the tour, the Mossy Forest. This is an incredible primordial cloud forest, where everything is inches thick in soft moss, including underfoot, making it feel like walking on cushions. The forest is also an important source of medicinal herbs to Malaysia, such as citronella and tiger balm, as well as being full of huge, impressive pitcher plants. It's a very vulnerable ecosystem that's technically closed off to tourists now, due to past issues with littering and people ripping moss off the trees as a souvenir, but the tour guides still take groups in on the quiet (obviously we neither littered nor ripped off moss!). I've never seen anything quite like it before; it wouldn't have seemed out of place if a dinosaur had come lumbering out - we were really glad we went.
After Cameron Highlands we were up to Penang, one of the street food capitals of the world. We quickly got back into our foodie groove there, munching away through the days. Even more than the rest of Malaysia, Penang has a rich multicultural history from
its days as a trading port, and it's reflected in the fantastic food. Food highlights from Penang...
char kway teow (prawn and cockle noodles; the unique Penang version draws Malaysians from all over the country to the island just to have a plate),
asam laksa (like the Malacca version but spicier, slightly minty and soured with tamarind), some fantastic South Indian food (a little hawker stand near our hotel served
roti canai that was equal to or even better than any breakfast we had in India), and so many more amazing dishes... Top of the bill was without doubt
oh chien, an incredible fried oyster omelette with coriander, served with chilli and garlic paste; absolutely delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking about it...
While in Penang we came across a parade one evening which was the perfect metaphor for the integrated multiculturalism on the island. The parade was for a Chinese festival, Pesta Chingay, so the majority of it was Chinese dragons and the like (plus a load of 'flag-balancers', a slightly weird but pretty impressive discipline where they balance huge flags on their heads, chins, or any other convenient part of the anatomy). But in between every
other cultural group was represented; so a Chinese dragon joined in the dancing to Indian music with a Kathakali group, while further back Santa joined forces with a Chinese drumming troop, and so on right down the line. It was awesome! We sat at a hawker stand on the street, eating yet more fantastic food, watching it all go past, thinking Penang is a pretty great place...
Almost Christmas time - off to Langkawi to sit on the beach, stuff our faces and drink lots of duty-free booze.
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