The journey from Georgetown to the Cameron Highlands should have only taken four hours. It ended up taking nearer eight. The traffic up through the winding roads was unbelievable. At one point it took us twenty-five minutes to travel 1km. The reason apparently was because it was the King's birthday and a public holiday so the entire population of Malaysia appeared to have travelled to the Cameron Highlands. As the minutes ticked away and we sat in traffic tailbacks we entertained ourselves playing 'Who Am I?' and sticking pieces of paper to our foreheads before taking turns to guess which celebrity we were. I was Julia Roberts, then Tom Jones.
The one consolation to our delay is that we were travelling through some of the prettiest scenery in Malaysia. Lush green forests and mountains covered in greenery. We finally arrived at our destination just before 5pm. The town we were staying in, Tanah Rata, was the main town in the Cameron Highlands but still pretty small, consisting of one main street but with some surprisingly busy restaurants. We had curry that night. Again. At this stage I had lost count just how much curry I'd eaten. Then it was a stroll back to the hotel, quite a basic affair with no air-con though none was needed as temperatures had dropped a good ten degrees since we'd left Penang. By nightfall it was positively chilly and excitedly we donned long sleeves and hoodies for the first time in several weeks. While some went to watch a DVD, I opted to read my book. I'd brought a copy of Anna Karenina with me, a book I love and have previously read before but at 800 pages, it takes some ploughing through. I was still only half-way.
Next morning we were headed for an all-day excursion, our last one of the trip. Loading into two 4x4 land rovers we were heading first on a rainforest hike to see the Rafflesia, the world's largest flower. To get there we had to drive for 45 minutes or so through the winding Highland roads then do some off-roading up a dirt track to the start of the trek. The trek took us through the rainforest, up and down some narrow pathways, across streams and, because the bamboo bridge crossing the river had been destroyed by local farmers, we had to scramble down the steep hillside, across the riverbed and back up the other side where the bridge had been. I found the trek very hard going. It was a hot day and assurances it would be a cool were a little wide of the mark. I decided to sit out the last twenty minutes, rejoining the group as they made their way back from seeing the flower. From all accounts I hadn't missed much. Retracing our steps we hiked back down the trail, scrambled back down the hillside and across the river and made our way back to where the 4x4s were parked.
We took off to the next stop, an Aboriginal village for a quick tour then headed for lunch. Unsurprisingly, it was curry. Again. Then, with time and traffic against us we made our way to the Boh tea plantation, whilst enjoying one of the highlights of the trip - some high octane, fly by the seat of your pants driving. Appu our driver had demonstrated just how good he was during the off-roading we had done earlier in the day. Now, with the traffic queuing up in massive congestive lines like it had the day before, he powered up on the opposite side of the road to overtake, only pulling over when an oncoming car came into the path of the landrover. Worried that we would disapprove or report him to our tour leader, he suddenly stopped. We egged him on and promised we wouldn't tell. He resumed powering up the hill while we whooped and cheered from the back of the 4x4. At one point we were even playing tag with other cars who were doing a similar thing to us. It was dangerous but exhilarating and meant we got to the tea plantation before it closed. We were shown around the factory, then the gift shop before being taken out to the plantation itself where Appu told us the history of tea growing in the region. His extensive knowledge was surprising until we learned that both his father and grandfather had worked in the plantation.
Deciding to give the butterfly and insect farm a miss we headed straight to the strawberry farm. We were well over time at this stage but nevertheless enjoyed some delicious strawberry refreshments in the shape of milkshakes, ice-cream sundaes, cake and waffles. The Cameron Highlands is world famous for its strawberry production and we were in our element sampling some of its produce. If you're so inclined you can buy just about anything shaped like a strawberry from fridge magnets to ear-muffs, slippers to umbrellas.
Powering our way back to the hotel past the lines of traffic, we arrived back late but exhilarated by the afternoon's activities. We thanked Appu and gave him an extra tip. We headed back into town for our final dinner in the Cameron Highlands - guess what? - and headed home to pack and have an early night. Next day we were off again, this time to Kuala Lumpur. It would turn out to be a memorable city.