The Cameron Highlands were beautiful, the green hills of tea leaf plants looked unreal, so bright and like someone took a giant comb to them. I made a friend named Bio from Pangkor Island, Malaysia on the bus from KL and we walked a lot around the area; the first day there I think we walked around 25 km and then hitchhiked another few when we could. We walked up to one of the highest hills in the Highlands at 6,666 ft. At the top we tried to take the jungle trail back down the other side but after a couple minutes we were already nearly ankle deep in sticky red mud and crawling under and through vines. So it was back down the way we came. Besides tea, the area is also known for strawberry farms. We stopped at a couple vegetable and strawberry farms and picked up some fresh lettuce and strawberries and had freshly made strawberry juice. It was the best salad and strawberries I've ever had!
The next day I went on a jungle trek with Yen, the guide from the hostel. I was the only one who showed up so I had my own private guide for the 5 1/2 hour trek. While we walked he told me about the plants, animals and insects. He talked about the Highlands and how the development is making the animals and insects much more scarce. He talked about Malaysia's economy, people, history. It was very interesting, Yen would make a great teacher. And what a great environment to learn in! The weather in the Cameron Highlands is very cool compared to the rest of Malaysia so it was a great break from the heat but after a few days it was time to move on to the next stop and step back in to the heat wave.
