Hi All,
Having over indulged for Ross’ birthday, we headed inland to the Cameron Highlands for a few days of hiking. As we arrived in the town of Tanah Rata, we were surprised to find tower blocks and building works - not just the green valleys we had envisaged. It seems the tourist industry here is dominated by Asian visitors who favour function over the European ideology of building to match the surroundings. While this meant that we couldn’t look out from our guesthouse to the jungle, it was even more of a reason to hike for hours off the beaten track. In a humble little guest house we felt back at ‘home’ again despite having had a fantastic time in the Shangri-La resort.
On the first day we took trail 10 into the jungle. Rather than booking on an expensive guided tour, we decided to tackle it by ourselves. After making our way through a building site we began walking through dense woodland which actually reminded us of walking through Ashridge Forest back home. While the moss covered trees and cooler climate were familiar, the banana trees certainly didn’t resemble a walk up Dunstable Downs. At the top of the peak we had a great view of the town below. Pleased we managed to navigate our way back without any problems we rewarded ourselves with tandoori chicken and naan bread - yet again drawn in by the numerous Indian restaurants.
On our second day, we managed a solid 23 km. We began by descending 6km on trail 9 into mossy jungle. In places, the pathways were so overgrown that we had to hack through the forest and climb over fallen trees. Once at the base of the valley, we walked up hill for a further 6km. This time passing vegetable farms until we reached BOH tea plantation. We carried on up the road and waved hello to workers picking the tea with giant secateurs and others weighing their sacks from a morning spent picking. Finally (very hot and sweaty) we reached the lookout tower and were rewarded with a fantastic view of the tea plantation that stretched down the valley. As we entered the factory, we were hit by the surprisingly overpowering smell of tea. Then after a brief but informative tour we treated ourselves to a pot of tea and yummy cakes - one carrot and one Oreo cheesecake! Refuelled we headed back 11km; downhill then back up through very steep jungle woodland.
Just a short one from us this time. Next we are heading to Taman Negara National Park for some more jungle trekking. Well technically we have already been but are yet again behind on blog posts, this time because of remote locations and lack of internet.
Love R and D xxx
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