28 Apr The Cameron Highlands
Tanah Rata
A very hungover (or possibly still drunk?) me dragged Aaron into a taxi and then onto a bus for the long ride to the Cameron Highlands. It took about six hours, and while it was a beautiful ride, I was much too nauseous to enjoy it much as the bus whipped around each curve at high speed on the winding, mountainous roads.
The bus dropped us off in Tanah Rata, and we walked in the direction of a cheap hostel a local tour agent pointed out. There are actually two hostels in the same stairwell, but on different floors. I went to the lower level, which was fully booked, and was directed upstairs to Orchid Haven where we got two dorm beds for two nights for 64R. We asked some questions about the area, checked out the sign with local restaurant suggestions, then walked around and explored the town.
It’s a pleasant town to walk through, but there isn’t much to see. We found the bus station, checked out some shops and a small market, and grabbed some delicious tosai, tandoori chicken, and strawberry juice at Kumar’s Restaurant (much better than the neighboring spot with the same menu). After that, we enjoyed some white coffee and got to know a fellow traveler at the hostel. It was a lazy day and we went to bed early.
Rafflesia
In the morning we packed our day bags and waited outside for a jeep to pick us up. We had booked a half day tour with Hill Top Travel Co. for a jungle hike to see the rafflesia flower for 70R. We had wanted to do the tour on our last day so it would take up our morning as we waited for the evening bus back to KL, but the guy who sold us the ticket assured us that today was better – It is never guaranteed you will find or be in time to see the flower, but he said that this day would be the best opportunity, so we went for it.
The rafflesia is a parasitic vine that produces a large flower (up to 39 inches in diameter and 22 pounds in weight at the largest according to Wiki!), also known as the corpse flower because of its stench. It is found throughout Southeast Asia, though it is not especially common to find the blooms on your own, which is why the tours are given. Each flower blooms for about one week, with the brightest color on day one. As each day goes by the color drains and it turns brown and dull. The tour guides pay those who live in the forest to notify them when and where blossoms will be.
It was us and six others plus the tour guide. Historically, I am extremely skeptical of guided tours – I probably wouldn’t have gone on this one if Aaron hadn’t been along for the ride. But in the end, I’m glad I did. It was inexpensive, we got a good, moderate hike through the jungle in, and we saw a really cool plant that’s hard to find.
Hiking and botany? Yessssss.
The guide said that this was the first day of blooming, which is why the flower was so bright. Apparently there are variations of the rafflesia with small color changes and different scents. This one didn’t really smell like anything, thank goodness. He went over a few random facts about the vine, we saw a live and a dead rafflesia flower plus some new blooms popping up, then hiked back to the jeep.
The half day tour also included a blow pipe demonstration. Shortly after leaving the jungle, our guide pulled the jeep over off the side of the highway and walked us up to a small bamboo home and a man waiting there. He pulled out a 5 foot wooden tube, and quickly explained its use while loading a dart as trucks passed us on the busy road. We each attempted blowing a dart at a small target (only me and one other girl landed any), then he packed us up and he left. Kind of lame, but the hike earlier made up for it.
The Garden
Back at the hostel we waited out the daily afternoon rains, then went to check out a place Aaron found online called Tan’s Camellia Garden. It was just down the road from our hostel behind an apartment building, so we walked over. It’s basically a woman’s home and garden that she turned into an incredible fairy land. There were so many anthuriums and azaleas, I thought I was going to explode with happiness. I hope I have a home just like this someday.
In the evening we signed up for an Indian cooking class with the Orchid Hostel. It was only 15R, and I figure at least that’s one meal without MSG in it…It was kind of an awesome and hilarious experience. We took the ‘course’ with two other Chinese travelers. We were given long tunics to wear over our clothes, and the owner of the hostel immediately sat us down and started us chopping vegetables.
His high energy and limited English made it a fun and comical affair. We were constantly looking at each other and at him to see if we were doing what he wanted, because we couldn’t understand him. He would hand one of us a veggie, like shallots, mime cutting it, then walk away. Then he would throw his arms up when we didn’t cut it how he had intended. Everything turned out amazing, and the same few ingredients were used for practically all of the many dishes – salt, pepper, tons of oil, chili, garlic, shallots, and sometimes turmeric. The curry was a bit more intensive, and we made some delicious ginger tea as well. It was a really fun and inexpensive evening.
Path One Adventure-Time
Our final day in the Cameron Highlands we wanted to go hiking, so I did some research and read about the path up to Gunung Berinchang. This is the second tallest mountain in the Highlands (2,031m) so we would definitely get a good hike in. It is also supposed to be very beautiful and it leads to the famous ‘Mossy Forest’ area, so we could fit that in on our way down.
Sounds perfect! Except online references were giving me conflicting information about whether this ‘path 1’ was open or closed.
We decided to risk it and woke up early to catch the first public bus out to where the path starts in the next town, Brinchang. Unfortunately, the bus never came, so we started walking with our thumbs out. We eventually got a ride to the road we needed, and from there we followed Maps.me to the entrance of Path 1. We met a couple walking the other direction who said that the path was closed and they had wandered around a bit, but didn’t find anything. We thanked them and decided to continue anyways. Just ahead, we saw a slight bend in the road and what looked like some fencing and red signs. HOWEVER – we never actually saw anything saying that anything was closed, because just then we saw a small, moss covered wooden ladder stuck in the side of the hill by the road. I looked at Aaron, and he shrugged and said, ‘this is your game’, so up I went.
Just when I thought these few days couldn’t get any better…I followed the mud divets that were kicked into the side of the hill, and from the top saw what looked like a small path following a thick, black water hose. It was heading in a direction that would eventually meet up with the ‘proper’ path, so we followed it. Over a river and through some woods later we found the established path and continued on our journey…Very, very slowly, considering I had to stop every two seconds to marvel at the moss, and the trees, and the sounds of the birds, and to look for flowers, pitcher plants, or orchids…you get the picture.
We reached the peak after a muddy, mossy, exhilarating hike, though to be honest the hike itself was way cooler than the end view. At the top there is a building and some towers enclosed in a wire fence you have to skirt. We continued on the paved road toward the Mossy Forest, and eventually landed in a horde of tourist jeeps and buses. We walked through a little ways, and did finally see some of the orchids we had been looking for, but it was so crowded that I felt claustrophobic. And it was nothing compared to the beautiful hike we had just done.
We turned around and hiked down the road. We soon picked up a ride in the back of a pick up and they dropped us off at the Boh Tea Farm. It was like a beautiful landscape photograph – the hills were covered head to toe in verdant green tea plants. We grabbed some local tea and cakes at the cafe and did the short tour of the factory before heading the rest of the way back to town.
We stopped by a honey bee garden, then sat at the bus station intending to catch the local bus back to Tanah Rata. It was just our luck that it began to pour down rain and again, the bus never came. We eventually lost patience and decided to try hitching back so we wouldn’t miss our bus to KL, but we had a hard time getting a ride. After a long walk we caught two rides back to town, and our second ride even delivered us pizza from her work so we wouldn’t be late AND starving.
We made it to the bus stop with a few minutes to spare, made it back to KL, and checked into the same hostel we had visited previously, Central Lodge. I had to get up super early the next day and make a run to Andrew’s house because I forgot all of my underwear there after doing laundry, then Aaron and I took the train to the airport to save some time (55R). We had a heartwrenching goodbye…Or rather, a see-you-later, since I will try to meet him in Switzerland this summer, and we parted ways.
Next stop: Ho Chi Minh City!
Cost of Malaysia
I spent my money a lot more freely on extra things like craft supplies and beer while traveling here. I spent a lot less on lodging, due to the (amazing) couchsurfing experience, and I spent a lot on activities because of the scuba diving resort and flights. I also split a lot of costs with my friend, and he picked up the bill a few places because sometimes he likes to travel a bit more stylishly than I do, and I picked up the bill a few places to make me feel better about it. Therefore, the numbers are a bit skewed, but so it goes and here it is! It is definitely more than I’ve spent previously, but not bad for 24 days of travel, including a 10 day all inclusive resort!
24 days:
Transportation: 320.60R + $164.67 flights ($247.15)
Lodging: 159R ($40.90)
Food: 520.30R ($133.85)
Alcohol: 205R ($52.74)
Activities: 2,343R + $400 ($1,002.76)
SIM: 45R ($11.58)
Water/Electrolytes: 2.30R ($0.59)
Misc (medicine, arts/crafts, postcards, etc): 223.30R ($57.45)
TOTAL: 3,818.50R + $564.67 = $1,547.02
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