From Penang, we moved south and inland to the Cameron Highlands, an area famous for its high altitude, low temperatures and heavy rainfall. As our mini bus roared up the steep, winding mountain roads, the icy draft of the air-conditioning was replaced with cool, fresh mountain air that poured in through the open windows. Once we'd reached Tanah Rata, the "capital" town of the area, we felt something we hadn't felt for a while...cold! We had to break open our rucksacks and pull out garments which have long lived in the dark depths, tucked in right at the bottom, our trousers.
The area, having been discovered by the British at the end of the 19th century, still has a very English feel to it - a strange mix of Cornish seaside resort and a hillside Derbyshire town, all drizzled with romantic rain showers which roll up the valley each afternoon and hang around until the late evening, trapped in the horseshoe of steep green hills and mountains which surround the settlement. The town even has an English cafe, serving scones with jam and cream, apple tarts, chicken pies and tea...lots of tea. We even heard of a restaurant up the valley serving traditional roast dinners. And as if it wasn't British enough, the area is like a retirement home for rusty old, battered Land Rovers, shipped here in the 60's straight from the homeland, which now cough, splutter and chug their way around the mountain roads, laden with the day's crop of cabbages, strawberries, runner beans, cauliflowers and courgettes (to name a few), all of which grow in abundance at this altitude.
Our first day was spent being thrown around the back of one of the aforementioned Land Rovers, with mould growing around its leaking door seals and a crunchy, grating gearbox providing the soundtrack. We wound our way up the highest mountain in the area, explored a tree top jungle walk and relaxed at the Boh Plantation with a cup of freshly picked Earl Grey, overlooking a wide rippled green valley of lush tea bushes. The day ended with a walk through a butterfly farm although Rosie doesn't really like butterflies:
The most fun, however, was when we donned our walking boots and took to the hiking trails. Armed with the official trail map (which is little more than a hand drawn plan of the area with a few wiggly lines here and there) a compass and our wet weather gear, we headed for the hills. Despite the number of tourists in the town, we were completely alone on the trails - many hotels warn about the unkempt, wild nature of the hills and advise visitors to take a local guide with them (at significant expense). But, with the help of online forums, Wikipedia and Google, we spent three exhausting days working our way through the jungle and getting our kit thoroughly muddied while avoiding the bears, pumas, snakes, scorpions and spiders, all of which live in the region.
Using exposed tree roots and long snake-like vines, we hauled ourselves up steep muddy slopes with streams of the previous nights rainfall trickling down onto us. We climbed over, under and even through the immense carcasses of fallen trees, hopped across peat bogs and parted giant ferns and overhanging bushes to find the faintly marked path in the dense undergrowth. We traversed the lofty ridge of our valley with the wispy tails of clouds brushing the tree tops above us to the musical accompaniment of a troop of gibbons singing from afar. We eventually pushed ourselves to the top of yet another mountain and gazed down at the world below us where the clouds were once again sailing up the valley and collecting in dark huddles above the town. Lower down, corduroy-like rippled fields of tea glistened in the scattered sunlight, a warm golden glow hovering over the deep greens of the foothills which rolled off into the distance.
Our time in this most unexpected haven in the clouds has now ended and I write this from Kuala Lumpur. With the temperature again in the mid thirties, our trousers are firmly back in the rucksacks. "KL" is one seriously futuristic place and we feel a bit like we're in the mega city of a sci-fi movie - The Fifth Element, maybe - without the flying cars.
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