Sinking in mud

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Had brekkie before tour, for some reason yogurt everywhere in Malaysia tastes like cottage cheese which is an odd taste sensation when mixed with fruit and cornflakes....

The 4x4 picked us, an English girl called Kathryn and two Danish guys (Frederic and Gerardis?) up at the hostel. Francis our guide seemed nice and friendly, until he tried putting a big bug in my hand at the petrol station! A Canadian couple joined us a little further along the track. We decided to sit in the sideways seats at the back of the car for the full "roll around" experience.

We drove for about 45mins or so weaving through little villages and hills and then we went off roading for about 30 mins (a Swedish couple joined us for this bit so we had quite a full house!) though this forest. This was proper off roading, we were being flung everywhere, the mud was so deep and soft and we were all looking warily at each other when the car seemed to get stuck, was lots of fun 😊 We made it to the top though and here started our very steep, muddy hill/forest walk/climb. About 2mins in we had to walk over a bamboo bridge which was quite rickety and just at the end Rob put his left foot down and the bamboo beneath it broke! Luckily his right foot was still secure and he had stuff around him to grab on to. Guides didn't seem too concerned!

We were climbing to see the Rafflesia flower and the guy from the neighbouring village who found the flower (this is partly how they earn money) kindly made us walking sticks which came in handy. When we started walking along the muddy path and he pointed a tiger imprint in the mud out to us eek! The climb although only 30mins or so was knackering and we all had sweat pouring down our faces by the halfway point. When we reached the flower it was in full bloom and was quite impressive. We took pics then began our descent stopping at a little swimming area where I plodged to cool off. Going down was much easier and the bridge had been patched up by the time we crossed back over it though we were extra careful this time.

After another fun, mus drive we stopped at an Orang Asli Village (original people) and they showed us how to use a blowpipe to hunt and we all had a go. Robby hit the target first time, I had 2 attempts and lets just put it this way, it would need to be a pretty big animal for me to be the one bringing back the bait. We had a wander taking pics of the village.

After dinner at a local Chinese Restaurant we visited the BOH tea plantation. The views over the plantation were amazingly beautiful. We had a quick tour around the factory and then sat in the cafe with a cuppa and some cake overlooking the plantation. It had started raining so by the time we reached the Mossy Forests it was very sludgey. The forests are up high in the mountains, basically up in the clouds which gives them an eerie, mystical feel. They look like somewhere fairies should live. We walked through them for 20mins or so getting very wet and muddy then we made our way by the road up to the peak of Gunung Brinchang (over 2000 metres above sea level). It was freakishly quiet and not windy at all which surprised us. Also you could feel how nice and clean the air was. We climbed a little tower (with very steep metal stairs) and took pics of the panoramic views up in the clouds. We then headed back to the hostel and had our pic taken with Francis.

Couldn't wait for a shower! Booked another night here and our bus back to KL on Saturday. Had spaghetti for tea and watched The Inside Man in TV room before having an early night.

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