Free Indian breakfast
Today, we were going on a tour of the Cameron Highlands, and there’s quite a few things to see on the tour, so I’m quite excited. Once we were up and ready, we went next door for an Indian breakfast of roti, egg, and tea, for the equivalent of £1. This was because the manager of our hostel has some relation to the Indian restaurant next door (he’s also Indian). It was a very simple breakfast, but I actually really dig it. Once we were finished, we went to the hostel to wait for the minibus that would tour us around the Highlands.
Of course, punctuality isn’t always a speciality, so we ended up waiting over half an hour for the bus to pick us up. Even then, he couldn’t fit down our street, so we had to walk to the tourist office to wait. This wasn’t too bad because it was literally opposite our hostel. Once we were on the minibus, our tour of the Cameron Highlands began. The first destination was to be a butterfly farm/sanctuary. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, but it’s all part of the experience, so why not?
For more activity ideas in the Cameron Highlands, click here.
Butterfly surprise
As I said, I wasn’t expecting too much as I’ve never thought butterflies were very thrilling. It turned out to be pretty awesome to be honest. The vast majority of butterflies were huge, and they are actually the national butterfly of Malaysia. They’re quite large, and are mainly black with a striking green pattern across the back. There were loads of other different types of butterfly flitting around, it was better than expected. Outside of this conservatory, there were all manner of different creatures, from snakes and lizards, to stick insects and tortoises. When we first arrived here, I had my first experience of wiping my bum with my hand. It was a mixed experience, but one I had to learn.
The next place we visited was a bee farm. We first entered a building which contained information on how honey is made, and then a large shop containing a huge range of honey products. They were quite fascinating to see, but I’ve never been a huge fan of honey to be honest. We walked around the grounds outside, but in all honesty, there wasn’t too much to see. The scenery was nice, and we could see the bee hives from a distance, but I guess I can’t expect to see too much unless I wanted to get swarmed by bees.
Tea as far as the eye could see
Our next destination on our tour of the Highlands was to be a tea plantation, probably the main industry in the Cameron Highlands. It was a bit of a bumpy ride along a cliff edge to the plantation, but there’s just something alluring about the tea plants growing on the hills for as far as you can see. We parked up at the plantation, and then walked through the tea processing plantation – no cameras allowed! There were information boards for us to read about the process, and it was okay, about as much as you’d expect. The rest of our time here was spent at the café where there was a terrace overlooking the hills and mountains around us. It really felt magical, and really beautiful to see.
The next place on our tour, was called the Rose Valley. This wasn’t an actual valley of roses, but more of a glorified orchard or garden centre. There were rows upon rows of gorgeous flowers, of a hundred kind. It was a beautiful place to have a slow walk around. There were a few animals to one side of the establishment, but nothing spectacular, certainly not supposed to be the main attraction here. Regardless, this place was a very serene environment to be in; there were so many flowers I’d never seen or known had existed.
Somebody say strawberries?
If there was a fruit that I’d not eaten or seen in Asia, then strawberries would be it. Perhaps it’s not the correct climate for strawberries, but I hadn’t seen strawberries anywhere. However, the tour of the Cameron Highlands had shown me that this was the perfect climate for strawberries. Due to the altitude and environment, it was pretty cool and moist, quite similar to the weather in the UK. There were a multitude of companies growing strawberries here, and we went to have a quick look at a strawberry farm. You could also buy desserts of all kinds that included strawberries in their recipes. Nearby, there were shops selling them cheap, so Mat and I bought a punnet or two of strawberries. Gorgeous!
That was the final visit on our tour of the Cameron Highlands, a really good mixture of activities and sights. During our time at the hostel, we had got talking to the receptionist, a Chinese-Malaysian girl called Wan Ning. She was very pleasant and was working here temporarily until her univeristy course started. A group of French tourists gave her a hard time and made her cry for whatever reason, whilst Mat and I were studying a map of the different walks in the Cameron Highlands. Once it was all over and done with, we offered to go for lunch with Wan Ning, to cheer her up.
Eating like the locals
Mat and I went to a nearby shopping centre, and waited for her at a steamboat (hotpot) restaurant. She turned up, and then helped us to order a load of different foods for the steamboat, which was basically a hotpot. It felt like the hotpot experience we had with Cristina in her home town, I love eating like the locals do. Needless to say, we were full as hell after our meal, and neither of us could move. However, Wan Ning had to go back to work, so she scurried off to work, whilst Mat and I recovered. We slowly made our way back to the hostel, buying a pastry or two on the way.
For my first hotpot experience, check it out here.
When we got back to the hostel, we just chilled out for a bit. Tours can take the energy out of you, because you’re constantly on the move. I even had a nap to recuperate my energy levels. At night time, we went out for some food, although it was raining. We found a small stall selling fried chicken, it looked pretty good, and the guy said it was chicken breast/thigh through and through. He lied, it was full of tendons, cartilage, and bones. At the nearby shop, I found some chocolate buttons, these helped mitigate the disappointing chicken.
