Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

(see map) - trin: We arrived in Tanah Rata, the tourist base for the Cameron Highlands, in the mid-afternoon. After checking in we headed to the local clinic. Mike got a blister on his toe back in Gili which had refused to heal in the tropical climate. By the time we arrived, it was really infected. Luckily, the owner of our hostel was also the town doctor. The exam, first aid supplies and antibiotics cost only $20US.

The following day we took the Countryside Tour. It included visits to a butterfly farm, tea plantation, rose & flower collection, honey farm, strawberry farm and the local Buddhist temple.

First stop was the butterfly farm that also featured other local insects and reptiles.

Grasshopper - Can you believe it's face really looks like this?

Butterfly feeding

Green eyed geckos

The highland's main attraction is the tea plantations. The geometric patterns on area's hillsides produce over five million cups of tea a day.

BOH is the leading tea producer in Malaysia. At their plantation we toured the factory and learned all about the process of making tea.

Tea Time

A dahlia at the flower farm. One of my favorites.

Tiled walls at the Buddhist temple

After the tour we decided to try Tanah Rata's specialty, the Steam Boat. It is similar to the Chinese Hot Pot. The nice lady who ran the restaurant gave us a quick tutorial on how to cook the food in the steaming broths. Once we got the hang of it, it was pretty good.

Um... what was that? At first we were over cooking things a bit.

That afternoon Mike and Florent (half of the French couple we met on the tour) hit the local golf course. This was daring considering it had poured every afternoon since arriving in Malaysia.

They got lucky and were able to finish fifteen holes.

The next day we hiked through a rain forest and down into a neighboring agricultural valley.

At the end of the hike we were walking through someones asparagus field.

Here I am at my dorkiest. So of course, Mike wants it documented. In my defense - I was wearing rain gear over the shorts and dark socks and never thought I would need to take it off but it was hot down in the valley. So, what the heck?