The coach from KL to the Cameron Highlands went well - no motorcyclists damaged!! My goodbye with Lee & Lex was emotional..... It was raining here when I arrived and has rained every day for the last week or so, normally in the afternoons. The mornings are great if you can get out of bed early enough although the sun does shine well into the afternoons, in fact the weather has been better since I've been here than it had for the week previous, I must have brought it with me. It doesn't really get much above 23 degrees up here which is nice, you can actually walk around without perspiring by the bucket load. Got HOT showers at our place, ye ha! And you need blankets on the bed at night. I've even had socks & trainers on my feet for the first time in 2 months.
Some brief history - the Highlands were named after William Cameron who mapped the area in 1885. It soon became a place where colonialists settled to get away from the heat of the lowlands. Soon after farmers etc settled here and the first Tea was planted in 1929 by JA Russell who founded the Boh tea estate which is still trading today. The highlands are Malaysia's most extensive Hill Station and Tea & strawberries are still extensively farmed here.
I'm staying at the Cameronian Inn http://www.thecameronianinn.com/ nasan56@streamyx.com which is a little off the main rd. A guy called Nash picked me up from bus station which saved a hike although a few of the guesthouses up here do that. On Friday the owner of our guesthouse (Ganesh???) had agreed to take a bunch of young English (Dean,Sam,Abby,Rachel & Becky) out for a sightseeing trip in his minibus. I was invited along so what the hell, why not? Within minutes I'd become the designated driver and spent the next few hours driving around the Highlands in a beaten up old minibus. Was great fun, I really enjoyed it. And for the second time this trip I was offered a job, apparently I'm a good driver (yeah Forest I am) and was needed for Nash's position. So that afternoon the 5 & I went off trekking. We done route 9A which was relatively easy apart from my slipping off the path and sliding down the side of the valley before grabbing hold of something solid and pulling myself back up to the path. 3 of the girls decided to cab back to the guesthouse while Dean, Becky & myself decided to tackle route 9B for the return journey. Jeepers, it was practically a vertical climb up the side of the valley that took about 45 mins - very physical but strangely rewarding.
Next day I met Gary & Danni, a couple from Hastings who are really great. We've spent a fair bit of time sitting in the sun & talking about nothing & everything if you know what I mean. In fact I was supposed to be blogging & booking trips & bus tickets yesterday morning but have only just managed to tear myself away (it's 6pm Sunday now). So my plans are now a little behind and the tea plantation I wanted to visit isn't open on Mondays so it looks like I'll spend another few days up here, which isn't a bad thing really. At the end of the day if I miss my return flight to the UK from BKK, I'll just have to stay out here longer and do a few more countries. It's only time, why rush?
Some brief history - the Highlands were named after William Cameron who mapped the area in 1885. It soon became a place where colonialists settled to get away from the heat of the lowlands. Soon after farmers etc settled here and the first Tea was planted in 1929 by JA Russell who founded the Boh tea estate which is still trading today. The highlands are Malaysia's most extensive Hill Station and Tea & strawberries are still extensively farmed here.
I'm staying at the Cameronian Inn http://www.thecameronianinn.com/ nasan56@streamyx.com which is a little off the main rd. A guy called Nash picked me up from bus station which saved a hike although a few of the guesthouses up here do that. On Friday the owner of our guesthouse (Ganesh???) had agreed to take a bunch of young English (Dean,Sam,Abby,Rachel & Becky) out for a sightseeing trip in his minibus. I was invited along so what the hell, why not? Within minutes I'd become the designated driver and spent the next few hours driving around the Highlands in a beaten up old minibus. Was great fun, I really enjoyed it. And for the second time this trip I was offered a job, apparently I'm a good driver (yeah Forest I am) and was needed for Nash's position. So that afternoon the 5 & I went off trekking. We done route 9A which was relatively easy apart from my slipping off the path and sliding down the side of the valley before grabbing hold of something solid and pulling myself back up to the path. 3 of the girls decided to cab back to the guesthouse while Dean, Becky & myself decided to tackle route 9B for the return journey. Jeepers, it was practically a vertical climb up the side of the valley that took about 45 mins - very physical but strangely rewarding.
Next day I met Gary & Danni, a couple from Hastings who are really great. We've spent a fair bit of time sitting in the sun & talking about nothing & everything if you know what I mean. In fact I was supposed to be blogging & booking trips & bus tickets yesterday morning but have only just managed to tear myself away (it's 6pm Sunday now). So my plans are now a little behind and the tea plantation I wanted to visit isn't open on Mondays so it looks like I'll spend another few days up here, which isn't a bad thing really. At the end of the day if I miss my return flight to the UK from BKK, I'll just have to stay out here longer and do a few more countries. It's only time, why rush?
2 comments:
If you email Lee, pass on my best wishes to them both!
Socks & trainers, put your thong on..there's a sight to be seen, lol! sorry thongs!
Still really hot here, yay! Taking next printout to Ju's this week - any message?
So, you're sorted babes, a job, can always find somewhere to stay...may just have to join ya for a visit if you do get delayed...miss ya, keep well babes, me xxx
14/5/08
Been Ju's today, she wrote a note for me to type up for ya:
Hi Bill
It's Jue you are looking so well, I missed you to say bye, everyone's ok
c u soon
love ya loads
Jue
Hope u are good babes, these natural disasters are getting a bit too close for comfort...be safe, me xxx
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