The Cameron Highlands - Malaysia

We decided to escape the balmy filth of Kuala Lumpur for a little while to kick back and relax in the mountains - a cool retreat into the Cameron Highlands was a nice reminder of what life was like before the humidity set in. We realized that we had stumbled into a retreat geared towards couples seeking a quiet time away from the city, and a lot of the couples we met up there looked surprise to see three single dudes and no female counterparts. It was a nice place and we had our first experience sleeping in a dorm situation. The longhouse dormitory slept twelve people in total, and we had to take a bit more caution when leaving our personal belongings behind.

We opted for an arranged tour that took us around the area of Brinchang, the town next to our base camp in Tanah Rata where Father's Guest House was located. Our first stop was Sam Poh Buddhist Temple. The sculptures looked a little bit like plastic, but I was impressed with all of the different symbols that were worked into the design of the temple as a whole.

Next, we visited a giant rose centre full of all sorts of different floral life. The best part of visiting the centre was the view it offered of the surrounding highlands if you were willing to hike up a long stone staircase. We then checked out a small strawberry farm where we each indulged in a fresh strawberry milkshake, some dried strawberry snacks and a batch of the fresh stuff. After that we visited a live butterfly farm full of all sorts of different creatures and a nearby local market.

Our second-to-last stop on the day trip was at the Boh Tea Plantation, where we learned all about the exploitative methods of employment akin to all plantation work. It turns out that the people working on the tea farm are paid a humble pittance to collect tea leaves by the kilogram. "An expedient worker," our tour guide explained, "can earn up to RM44 on a good day." That's close to $14 in Canadian dollars. Most of the employees are foreign workers from Indonesia or Bangladesh. At the gift shop they sell hot cups of tea, and Phil and I were wondering what it must be like for the people working to watch a family of tourists spend the equivalent to a day's wage on snacks in the cafe.

We concluded our day trip in the Cameron Highlands at a lacklustre bee farm where we saw no honey. The evenings at our guest house were spent watching movies with all of the other travelers. We watched a pirated copy of The Inside Man and half of My Super Ex Girlfriend, but I was so disappointed that I left to write in my travel journal. At least the beer was cheap. If I ever return to Malaysia when I'm married, I'll definitely head back up to the highlands, but I don't recommend it for people looking for a party scene, unless you need some rehabilitation after partying too much.