I finally managed to tear myself away from the Perhentian Islands, after more than a month on the Island.
I had a choice of where to go. I really wanted to see Taman Negara, which is a big national park set in the Malaysian jungle. I had been told that it is really touristy with lots of resorts, and as a result there are no animals of real merit to be seen as they have all been scared away by all the tourists. Also, because it is the rainy season it is very (VERY) wet and with that comes a whole load of leeches. I heard stories of people trekking through the jungle and coming back to find leeches all over their bodies. Not nice! For this reason I decided to bypass Taman Negara and head straight over to the Cameron Highlands.
I got the bus early in the morning, and after the taxi from Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Small Island) to the mainland I was very happy to find that I was the only person on the bus!
Great. All to myself. Time to lay down and catch a few Zzzz's (since I hadn't been relaxing enough lately!!)
The bus journey was rather uneventful. The driver was rather amusing and seemed obsessed about asking how many women I had had while travelling! Strange guy!
En route I had to change busses and when we stopped off I got chatting to a few people who were going the other way. Since they had just come from Taman Negara I felt it was a great opportunity to get some recommendations on accommodation and things to do. I was recommended Daniel’s Place, which had had a really bad write-up in the Lonely Planet. Worth a shot, as I trust personal recommendations much more than guide books.
Place change so fast in SE Asia that a write up from a year ago doesn’t really mean anything.
When I arrived in Taman Negara I got dropped off at my Guesthouse and had a look around. The room looked fine, basic, but pretty much clean and no bed bugs and there were a few other backpackers sitting around, so I checked in.
I arrived in the late afternoon, so I had a quick walk around the town and found a shop that processes film camera’s, and they could even put the pictures onto a memory card for me! At last, after carrying around a disposable camera from the Full Moon Party and an underwater disposable camera from a dive I did on Koh Tao, both from about 2 months ago, I could finally look at the pictures! How ever did we manage before digital cameras?!
I guesthouse had a Jungle Bar in the back, with a camp fire and a few people sitting round with a Guitar.
I went out for dinner on my own and found a whole bunch of curry houses! Heaven. I have been craving a good curry and Nan bread for weeks! It was great.
I was really tired from the journey (it’s amazing how doing nothing but sleeping on a bus drains your energy!) so I just stayed in my room and read my book. I am currently reading a book on the French Foreign Legion, which is actually quite interesting. I also booked a tour for the next day, since I only had one or two full days in the Highlands before moving on.
The next morning I met for my trek at about 8:45am. I met a couple of other people who were also on my trek (a German guy called Volker, a German girl called Eva and a French girl called Sophie). We headed off for some breakfast before being picked up and, of course, were a bit late!!
The tour started with a trip to a tea plantation, which is the main attraction of the Cameron Highlands. We went to the Boh plantation, which is the largest in Malaysia. They don’t export their tea to the West, but sell it to Malaysia, Singapore and a couple of other countries around SE Asia.
This was pretty interesting and the tea was very nice. It tasted a lot more earthy (fresh) than the tea back home.
After the tea plantation we went on a one hour hike into the jungle to see one of the worlds largest flowers, the Raffleasia. This was pretty cool. It is actually a mushroom and when it flowers, it only stays in bloom for 4-7 days, then it dies and the guides have to find a new one for the tourists.
At the end of the trek we stopped at an Orang Ansi (Original People) village to see them using a blowpipe, a weapon used for hunting. They use a poison dart, with the poison coming from the Ipoh tree, and then blow it through a long bamboo pipe. One dart is enough to kill a person, but it takes about 4 or 5 to drop a large cat.
Our final stop was a butterfly sanctuary with a bunch of flowers, animals, such as beetles, snakes, lizards, spiders, turtles, etc. and of course, the butterflies. These were huge butterflies and very colourful, great for photos.
After spending around 2 months living on beaches, it was so nice to get back into the travelling lark and it felt even better to do some exercise!
That evening I spent with the guys from the trek and the other backpackers in the hostel. It was nice to sit around the campfire drinking a couple of Tigers and chat to the guys.
Volker, Eva and Sophie were planning on heading to Taman Negara the next morning and I had to decide whether to go with them, stay in the Highlands for an extra day of have a couple of extra days in the cities (Kuala Lumpur and Singapore). There was only a strawberry farm to see in the Highlands, which I wasn’t bothered about seeing, there are plenty in the UK! And I didn’t fancy too much time in the cities, and I really enjoyed hanging out with the Germans, so I decided to brave the leeches and head over to Taman Negara.