Who's for Tea?

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WOW! The Cameron Highlands - what a relief!!!!! Not only had we survived yet another maniac's bus driving but the temperature had dropped a good few degrees and the humidity had gone! We could actually breathe the air without feeling like we were gasping through a blanket!

Man were they gorgeous! We were nestled not quite in the clouds, surrounded by rolling hills, tea plantations, vegetable farms and all in all lush green-ness! Something you don't really realise you miss til you see it again! We stayed in a place called Tanah Rata, which is actually quite a bustling little town, with some fantastic restaurants (Kumar's) and a great guest house (father's guest house - very reasonable dorm and a much needed hot shower!)

Day 1 saw us braving a Jungle Trail - Can you believe it? I couldn't! After rather fresh in the mind experiences I didn't think I would ever brave another such setting again EVER!!! However, the delightfully cool temperatures up there make you feel human again and capable of taking on the world! So we opted for possibly the easiest to break ourselves in gently (although this did involve a 4km walk all uphill on a rather dodgy road!)! This excursion also involved a much sought after (by Jen) cuppa tea and cake! And this was a High-Tea indeed, opting for a rather scrumptious bit of carrot cake and cuppa we sat overlooking a rather impressive tea plantation, feeling on top of the world in our new found freshness! The yomp back up the road was a little less great, being all up hill, but fortunately it wasn't anywhere near as much of an incline as the Taman Negara hell that we put ourselves through!! Sleeping however, was a slightly different cup of tea to what we have become accustomed to! We now found that rather than a thin cotton sheet and still being a bit on the warm side, beneath 3 blankets we were cold!!!! (I guess you could say I have acclimatised!) Nicking the blankets from next door's bed (we braved a dorm again!) soon resolved that one though! Although the night was made a little more eventful by a rather large Cicada which graced us with its presence!!!!

Day 2 saw us braving another local bus - not quite so scary this time and only for about 20 mins to get us to the 'attractions' road. Which we intended to follow back, sight seeing all the way. This began with a rather fantastic Butterfly Garden, where we saw some of the most amazing colours, shapes and sizes of butterfly - check out the piccies! Next came the Pluck Your Own Strawberry farm - bit different to how we do it back home! And the themed shop which sells just about everything you can think of in the shape of a strawberry!!!
We continued meandering looking at temples, shops, vegetable stalls and spectacular views - making it about half way...before deciding to splash out and spend 30p each on a taxi to get us back before dark!!!!

Our 3rd and final day saw us taking on (well attempting to) another trek, past a rather disgusting waterfall up to a viewing tower to look out over yet more views! We rewarded ourselves with Tea and Scones and (after such a hardgoing day) resolved to spend the rest of the afternoon chilling!!!! Well.......we had to prepare ourselves for the looming bus journey back down the mountain!!!!!!

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