Malaysia Day 6, Cameron Highlands

We awoke at 9am and started to pack up our things. At 10 we went downstairs and each had a beef rice bowl at Yoshinoya, done in time for a 10:30 checkout when our driver Sonny arrived. The three of us got into his van and headed out of town towards our next destination, the Cameron Highlands, where we will spend the next two nights, only the two of us. Ric's parents were originally going to accompany us, but they changed their minds so that they could visit local friends, which meant this would be a nice romantic break.
Sonny was chatty and full of information, and he fillled us with knowledge about the local area and vegetation during the four hour ride to the mountains. He pointed out rubber trees, durian trees (apparently the fruit smells bad), and the many, many palm trees that were originally imported from Nigeria by the British colonials.
We started on a highway at first, before stopping at an enormous reststop halfway along our trip. It was seperated into two areas; one that had western food like Baskin Robins and Duncan Donuts, which in no way interested us, and another foodhall filled with local cuisine and produce. This was far more packed with diners. We were still fairly full from breakfast, so Sonny ordered some local coffee for us to try. Heavily sweetened and slightly bitter, it was delicious. We never would have thought to try it if he hadn’t suggested it. This is the benefit of centering ones holiday around locals. You experience the country as the locals do.
Once we hit the road again we veered off and started on the narrow, winding mountain road. This would take the majority of our trip, as we passed by ramshackle old huts made of wood and bamboo. Sonny advised us that Malaysians go crazy for British Football, which is an essential for them. Hence, we saw many dwellings that were little more than shacks, but each one had a satallite dish.
Everywhere along the winding road we would see dogs; lounging or wandering aimlessly. Every once in a while we would see locals selling fruit from little wooden stands, while behind them they enjoyed a magnificent view of the emerald green valley. There were some spots of brown which indicated trees were being cut down within the valley, which is supposed to be protected, so Sonny said he would contact his sister, who is a journalist, so that this can be made public. It was quite obvious that although he lives in KL, he adores the Cameron Highlands and doesn’t want anything to mar the beauty of this area.
Along the way we stopped on the roadside to walk along an ideallic waterfall and take photos. Along the road were about a dozen shacks selling all manner of fruit, fried bananas, and various local-made goods for the tourists that no doubt always stop here. We weren’t pressured to buy anything at all, but Sonny did walk along with us to show us what the various things were. He pointed out how they built piping to relocate the water from the falls for bathing, he picked up an open piece of durian fruit, covered in ants, so that we could experience the smell. He introduced us to various herbs widely used in the region; encouraging us to smell the eucalyptus and the cinnamon.
We bought nothing, and proceeded to the car to continue along our way. We stopped at a tea shop along the road that overlooked one of the tea plantations in the region. It was an amazing panaramic view of tea trees in luscious shades of green. Kelly had to visit the bathroom facilities, which were totally fly infested. In fact, being up here in the mountains you get ALL aspects of nature. The good and the bad. Lots of bugs.
We took a bridge joining two mountains, and drove through the first moderately large village we have come across in hours, called Ringlet. It was simply a run down town, neither Muslim, Christian or Bhuddist, but a combination of all, which is the standard in this region.
It wasn’t long before we came upon the town in the Highlands where we would stay. We drove up a winding road to the Heritage Hotel, in Pahang Darul Makmur. The hotel is quite old, built by British colonists in the Tudor style, so like back home, but with an Asian twist. Exiting the car we immediately noticed it was so much cooler than in KL. Christian was in Heaven. We checked in and gave Sonny a big, fat tip, since he had taken such care of us. We took the lift to the second floor, and noticed certain sections of the corridor were open to the outside. Hence, we noted the construction works going on directly outside of our room. A huge crane making major noise was powered on, and the door to our room was two steps away. We entered the room and, realizing we could still hear the thing, called the front desk for a change. Since Christian promptly fell asleep within minutes, Kelly went down to obtain the key and inspect the new room before disturbing him. Deciding it was moderately better, she collected the bags and husband and entered room 231. It had a small balcony overlooking a lovely courtyard and a view of the mountains beyond that. The room itself was old and decidedly one star, but this is still the best hotel in the area. It was quite large, and did have a small refridgerator and electric kettle, two necessities for when we travel, but it was lacking a third; an inroom safe we usually demand. You just can’t get that up here. Christian has been running himself ragged for days so we napped for an hour before heading down the street to the small town. It is an incredibly small tourist town consisting mainly of restaurants,with a few small foodstores tourist shops. We put 10 ringgit only in Christians phone so that we could make phonecalls if necessary. We noticed an eyeglass store across the street. Since we've gotten here, Christine, Ric, and even Sonny have suggested we purchase second pairs here since they are so much cheaper than in the US and UK. Both of us received an eye exam and purchased new glasses; complete with UV protection and diamond coating, for RM1180 (about 173 pounds). We couldn’t buy one pair back home for that little.
Because Kelly was wearing contacts, they instructed her to remove them and told us to come back after dinner, so the eye exam wouldn’t be distorted.
We left there and walked along the boardwalk till and Indian man grabbed us and sat us forcibly at a table. So indian it is then.
Our waiter was an absolutely adorable 8 year old Indian boy, complete with pen and pad. Cute as a button, he efficiently took our order. Kelly had rice and chicken with 3 kinds of vegetables served on a large banana leaf, whilst Christian had boneless chicken tikka with spinach rice and garlic na'an. Along with freshly squeezed juice (watermelon and carrot) the whole meal with tip came to RM26 (4 pounds) and we were superstuffed afterwards.
We returned to the opticians and completed our eye exams. They were incredibly professional, pointing out problems with our current prescriptions that cause us headaches.
Once done, we strolled back through the cool, night air to the hotel; hearing the amazing mountain sounds all around us.
Returning to our room, Christian found a salamandar attached to our window curtain. Where did its tail go?