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A note to say that our less detailed blogs go online at www.mytb.org/lauradom
Eventually I will write them up all neat and tidy here.
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Monday, 24 November 2008
22. Cameron Highlands.
You'll be glad you packed those warm clothes if you visit the Cameron Highlands.
The bus from Melaka back to Kuala Lumpur is best experienced from the front seat of a double-decker coach. The road fills the window, and it's like you're watching The World's Most Horrific Driving Caught On Tape. People have rearview and wing-mirrors, but you wouldn't know it. Mopeds are like cats weaving in and out of your legs as you try to walk.
Haggling.
Everyone loves a good haggle, but how do you know if you actually have a good deal? In Malaysia it seems that you can't really, and you'll generally feel like you've paid too much regardless. As if it needed saying, don't haggle with the food stalls or tiny independent shops. You may get money off, but you're taking it from people that really need it.
Markets are a different story. In big ones, especially in KL, make a big show out of your haggle and you will find yourself paying between 1/3 and 1/2 of the asking price. Be charming, cheeky and confident and those 65RN trainers become 30RN, the 85RN shirt becomes 20RN and so on. Walk off if the last offer is within 5-10RN of yours and you can probably expect an agreement pretty quickly.
It's a lot of fun.
Eating.
Backpackers are curious creatures, aren't they? They seem to cluster together in restaurants. We actively sought a place to eat which had to tourists in it, because we assumed it would be cheap and good. It was, but as soon as we had been there for ten minutes we were among a large group of similar tourists. It's like some people need a white face as a seal of approval.
Let's not get started on the guide books. Seriously, who needs places to eat in a guide book? Hostels come in handy if no-one is touting at the bus station, but you can buy food and drink absolutely anywhere. Gangly Gary and Pasty Pete stood in the road staring at the guidebook for restaurant recommendations should be ashamed!
Anyway, five hours North from KL is a welcome break from the heat. The Cameron Highlands sit at the top of a windy mountain road and offers temperatures in the 20s instead of 30s. It's picturesque, surrounded by rainforest, and home to some enormous tea plantations.
Cheap places to stay outnumber expensive ones, and everyone is very willing to help. Our 25RN double room came complete with staff willing to help us plan our entire 5-month trip and make recommendations for Japan as well.
The problem with staying in the cheapest places is that they tend to be cheap for a reason. Rats can be one reason, as can beds with wooden crates for support. I fell through mine straight away.
The town we stayed in went by the name Tanah Rata, and was the starting point for many one-day treks. I ambitiously decided to conquer all of them, but managed four of ten before we moved on.
Walking through the forest was great, but to call the walks treks was a bit of an exageration. They were tiring, but generally pretty easy and simple to follow. One trek even offered 100 Chinese highschool students coming the other way. Albiet they were having a lot of difficulty, and one of them had to be carted off on a stretcher after getting 'cramp'. The problem with the popularity and ease of use was that there was virtually no wildlife to speak of. Anything which lived around had been scared off long ago, though I did see one snake, and one large milipede, or centipede, or something during the 20 hours or more that I spent trekking. Bird-sized butterflies were quite common though, and a butterfly and insect farm was nearby for those who were discontent.
Our adventures took us on a long walk through the jungle to the Boh tea plantations, and attempts to hitch-hike back were immediately successful to our elation.
The plantations themselves roll across the hills in clumpy lines almost like heather on the English moors. Little figures make slow progress snipping the bushes to process into tea. The walk there also blessed us with a very close sighting of a huge eagle, possibly hunting some of the same family of rats that sniffed around our hostel.
Apparently there was an indigenous tribe nearby called the Orang Asli, but our friend at the hostel told us that they were over commercialised and only worth visiting to buy sourveniers.
We ate so much curry that I was in heaven, but Laura but thoroughly pissed off with the endless naan breads and chicken-knee kormas. There seemed to be very little variety in the food, and after a few days we left for Panang island.
The bus from Melaka back to Kuala Lumpur is best experienced from the front seat of a double-decker coach. The road fills the window, and it's like you're watching The World's Most Horrific Driving Caught On Tape. People have rearview and wing-mirrors, but you wouldn't know it. Mopeds are like cats weaving in and out of your legs as you try to walk.
Haggling.
Everyone loves a good haggle, but how do you know if you actually have a good deal? In Malaysia it seems that you can't really, and you'll generally feel like you've paid too much regardless. As if it needed saying, don't haggle with the food stalls or tiny independent shops. You may get money off, but you're taking it from people that really need it.
Markets are a different story. In big ones, especially in KL, make a big show out of your haggle and you will find yourself paying between 1/3 and 1/2 of the asking price. Be charming, cheeky and confident and those 65RN trainers become 30RN, the 85RN shirt becomes 20RN and so on. Walk off if the last offer is within 5-10RN of yours and you can probably expect an agreement pretty quickly.
It's a lot of fun.
Eating.
Backpackers are curious creatures, aren't they? They seem to cluster together in restaurants. We actively sought a place to eat which had to tourists in it, because we assumed it would be cheap and good. It was, but as soon as we had been there for ten minutes we were among a large group of similar tourists. It's like some people need a white face as a seal of approval.
Let's not get started on the guide books. Seriously, who needs places to eat in a guide book? Hostels come in handy if no-one is touting at the bus station, but you can buy food and drink absolutely anywhere. Gangly Gary and Pasty Pete stood in the road staring at the guidebook for restaurant recommendations should be ashamed!
Anyway, five hours North from KL is a welcome break from the heat. The Cameron Highlands sit at the top of a windy mountain road and offers temperatures in the 20s instead of 30s. It's picturesque, surrounded by rainforest, and home to some enormous tea plantations.
Cheap places to stay outnumber expensive ones, and everyone is very willing to help. Our 25RN double room came complete with staff willing to help us plan our entire 5-month trip and make recommendations for Japan as well.
The problem with staying in the cheapest places is that they tend to be cheap for a reason. Rats can be one reason, as can beds with wooden crates for support. I fell through mine straight away.
The town we stayed in went by the name Tanah Rata, and was the starting point for many one-day treks. I ambitiously decided to conquer all of them, but managed four of ten before we moved on.
Walking through the forest was great, but to call the walks treks was a bit of an exageration. They were tiring, but generally pretty easy and simple to follow. One trek even offered 100 Chinese highschool students coming the other way. Albiet they were having a lot of difficulty, and one of them had to be carted off on a stretcher after getting 'cramp'. The problem with the popularity and ease of use was that there was virtually no wildlife to speak of. Anything which lived around had been scared off long ago, though I did see one snake, and one large milipede, or centipede, or something during the 20 hours or more that I spent trekking. Bird-sized butterflies were quite common though, and a butterfly and insect farm was nearby for those who were discontent.
Our adventures took us on a long walk through the jungle to the Boh tea plantations, and attempts to hitch-hike back were immediately successful to our elation.
The plantations themselves roll across the hills in clumpy lines almost like heather on the English moors. Little figures make slow progress snipping the bushes to process into tea. The walk there also blessed us with a very close sighting of a huge eagle, possibly hunting some of the same family of rats that sniffed around our hostel.
Apparently there was an indigenous tribe nearby called the Orang Asli, but our friend at the hostel told us that they were over commercialised and only worth visiting to buy sourveniers.
We ate so much curry that I was in heaven, but Laura but thoroughly pissed off with the endless naan breads and chicken-knee kormas. There seemed to be very little variety in the food, and after a few days we left for Panang island.
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