MALAYSIA - Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands are the Highest region of the mainland and benefit from all year round reliable weather, never too hot, never too cold. Because of this it is also one of Malaysia's favourite tourist destinations for both people from home and abroad. The British also loved it because of the climate and the fertile mountains and saw the opportunity to turn the area into the largest tea producing area in Malaysia. It is also famous for the trecks that can be taken in and around the area and after checking into our very picturesque and friendly hostel we sampled the delights of the scenic pathways. We were a little taken back by the Englishness of the area, particularly when arriving at Ye Old Smokehouse, a Mock Tudor pub/tea room.

It was like we hadn't let the countryside of England. It overlooked the local golf course which looked like quite a test. We did some investigation and made the decision to have a round on what had been described as the cheapest round of golf in Malaysia.

It would have to wait however as the next day we went on a fantastic tour of the region, take in a rose producer and the views from their land, strawberry farm, honey farm, tea plantation and visitors centre and an insect and animal centre. It was a brilliant insight into the area.

We learnt a little about the strawberries that grow all year round thanks to the excellent climate, the tea manufacturing process from plant to useable leaves at their beautiful site with a stunning visitors centre building and saw first hand some of the creepy crawlies that inhabit the Malaysian countryside including the mighty Rhinoceros Beetle which is one of the largest beetles in the world. Other delights that Attenborough would have been salavating over were lizards, snakes, toads, frogs and giant insects including a 10-12inch grasshopper, stick insects and mantises.

Next day while Clem was having a quiet morning Karl and I had a much longed for round of golf, the first for over 3 months. It was an interesting round with some pretty shoddy rented clubs, but still very enjoyable in some fantastic weather. The course featured a lot of water which Karl visited many times and used many of our allotted 6 balls each. In fact we found ourselves on the last tee, quite an intimidating shot with only one ball left each, we managed to keep the balls in play and finished the round, Karl having lost 10 balls, however he does hold a pose well!

We caught a bus from the Cameron Highlands south. Next stop Kuala Lumpur.