More Malaysia - Cameron Highlands

Here we go with part 2, it's now over two weeks since I was actually there so let's see how much I actually remember.

We arrived in Tanah Rata (think that's how it's spelt) quite late at night so didn't have much time to explore after finding our hotel and getting some food. 

The next day we started our exploring by joining a tour to a large tea plantation in the Cameron Highlands. There were loads of fields up and down the hills full of tea plants. I've never seen a tea plantation before so I was pretty impressed. I think Megan has so maybe it was less exciting for her. We went on to a rose garden where we saw some roses and other flowers (I'm not the best horticulturalist so I have no idea what flowers they were). After that, we visited a strawberry farm because it's one of the only places where strawberries can be grown all year round (apparently).

Stawberries

A flower that probably isn't a rose

The following day we went on a slightly more intense tour. The morning involved a long hike in the hot and humid jungle in order to locate the Rufflesia plant. Unfortunately, the Rufflesia plant doesn't grow somewhere easy to access and in large quantities. The hike involved steep hills, precarious bamboo bridges and a lot of mud. Being a little on the overweight side and very much unfit, it was a struggle for me and I ended up sitting out the end of the hike. I did get to see a dead Rufflesia though. Slightly black and disgusting so I didn't take any pictures to prove my efforts. After stopping off for a traditional southern Indian style lunch, we went back to the tea plantation because every single tour had to take it in.

Hanging out among the tea plants

The tour then took us to the Mossy Forest, something Megan was particularly keen on but involved more hiking. Luckily, it wasn't so humid or so steep this time so I made it through without highlighting my rubbish hiking abilities. The Mossy Forest is so called because of the large amount of moss found in it. It was on all the trees and the ground, making everything quite damp and spongy.

Mossy Forest featuring some insectivorous plants

The final stop of the tour was a butterfly/creepy crawly type place where we got to have a go at holding various animals. For some reason, the guide decided Megan was really keen and let her have a go on every single creature first. I had a go at holding everything except the scorpion, although it's sting had been removed it still put me off a little bit. Animals featured included large stick insects, leaf insects, chameleons, butterflies and grass snakes.

Holding a chameleon

The following morning we left the Cameron Highlands to head to Langkawi. This featured another long and slightly uncomfortable journey (I'm slightly too tall for Asia which means leg room can be a bit cosy). We had a bumpy five hour journey to the port where we caught a very fishy smelling boat over to Langkawi.

I will write about Langkawi in my next entry, before this entry goes on for too long.