Cameron Highlands

22nd January

I have noticed some different makes of cars in Malaysia, that I've not seen before.

This, the Perodua Myvi

and a Toyota Alphard.....there are a lot of these around

Thinking about transport, I was messaging the young guy from Yogyakarta - Bagus - the other day. Every now and then he asks me how I'm doing and where I have travelled to. Last time, when I was in Australia, our Whatsapp conversation got quite deep, about different races etc. This time he was in Jakarta buying a 'new motor'

He sent me a short video of it

This is mainly how people get around in Indonesia, where as here, in Malaysia, I've noticed far less bikes.

This is Bagus with his Japanese friend

The transport system here is pretty good, but the pink public buses in Ipoh have not been running that long I heard. They were always late.......the ones I managed to catch 😂

and these private coaches are good but have also been late every time so far - the one I caught today to the Cameron Highlands was an hour late turning up. There are many companies running these coaches and they are used by tourists and locals alike.

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I met a nice South Korean man called Hankil, on the bus when I arrived in Ipoh. He is travelling alone and we got chatting. - I mention this because it was so strange -

I left my hostel in Ipoh this morning

and was wandering around the bus terminal, looking for some breakfast, when I noticed this which is interesting - a vending machine selling t-shirts from re-cycled material - I presume

So I sat down and there on the seat next to me was Hankil. He was also going to the Cameron Highlands on the same bus at the same time. We had another good chat. He said in South Korea, for a bus to be late would be un-heard of! If someone is late, they joke that they are running on SE Asis time 😂. I told him our trains can be pretty rubbish at time keeping......and expensive.

The mountains on the way were stunning. The road was very winding - as can be seen from google maps

Tanah Rata was our destination. I tried to take some good pictures but it was tricky from the coach window - this was just outside Ipoh

then further on

as always - you can't capture the beauty on a phone camera and I always seem to just miss the good shot!

I was just dropping off to sleep on the coach when we pulled into Tanah Rata bus station. We seemed to get there much quicker than I expected. Mind you - the driver wasn't wasting any time on the mountain bends - quite hairy in places! After dropping my big bag, I explored the town before check-in.

This made me laugh 

Here is some history I've taken from the board in the town (below):

The area is named after a Scotsman - William Cameron - who spotted the place in 1885. He was a British colonial government surveyor, on a mapping expedition of the Titiwangsa range with a guy called Kulop Riau. They used Elephants to carry them for months to explore the range. Imagine that!? Climbing Mount Pondok, Cameron reported that he saw a plateau, 1800 m above sea level and the temperature falls between 8 and 25°C . But Cameron failed to mark his find on the map (which seems a bit neglectful......considering he was on a mapping expedition!). The location of the plateau was finally confirmed in the 1920s and was not fully developed until 1925......100 years ago! It was proposed by Sir George Maxwell as a hill resort and British planters realised the potential of its fertile mountain slopes for growing tea - a prized commodity at the time. In 1929 John Archibald Russell started a tea plantation which is now the Boh tea plantation and the region is Malaysia's largest tea producing region. It is also a large supplier of legumes and vegetables to Singapore and Malaysia and is a prime tourist destination.

During the Colonial era it was a haven for the British who were stationed in Malaya as the cooler temperatures provided relief from the hot humid tropical climate. Many decided to make it their retirement home, setting up bungalows and mansions. 'Days were spent pruning roses, tending to strawberries, sipping English tea.' 

The British military had a large presence in Tanah Rata and there was the emergency period during the 1960s when the 'rag tag' communist army tried to destabilise and take over the country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameron_Highlands

It is certainly much cooler here and a quite pleasant temperature for walking around

This cat was flirting with me and climbed on my lap while I was sat in the park

I got checked in. The owner or manager Charan is lovely and very helpful with information and recommendations of where to eat etc. She even sent a video of how to get inside to drop the bags. The place is called 'The Cave'.

My bed - I had to have an afternoon nap.........

I had to put a jumper on later as it was getting a lot cooler - typical that I go to a region where it's cold, shortly after dumping all my warm clothes! Hopefully, it might be a rest from the mosquitoes which have eaten me alive!

I ate at a Malay place just round the corner. They were chopping up coconuts & maling fresh coconut milk. Malay food is very similar to Indonesian food, as is their language. I had Nasi Ayam & hot lemon tea.

I bought some strawberries which are grown extensively in this region - I found this old 'Mills and Boon' book on the shelf - I don't think I'll be reading it though.