The strawberry farm was the next destination on our itinerary for the morning. From the time we left Tanah Rata that morning, to the time we reached the strawberry farm we were visiting, we probably passed at least 7 or 8 other strawberry farms! They’re EVERYWHERE! They grow the strawberries in greenhouse-type things and they pot them individually in order to save space by stacking them. There were signs that said, “Do not pluck the strawberries,” which was tough because we found some that looked PERFECT and delicious. I bought a strawberry C.H. t-shirt for my quilt and strawberry jam. AND…Ellie and I split a strawberry milkshake. Apparently this farm is known for its strawberry milkshakes, so we couldn’t pass it up! IT WAS THE BEST “MILKSHAKE” I’VE EVER HAD!!!! The milkshake was more like a smoothie and the strawberries they put in it were just SO good. The strawberries we get at home are terrible compared to these ones!

Next stop: BOH Tea Plantation. BOH stands for “Best of the Highlands.” I’d never seen tea plants/plantations prior to this trip…it’s so awesome to look out over hills covered in wavy rows of tea bushes. The rows of bushes are about 2-3ft wide and they seem to extend for ever and ever! And the smell…mmmmm! We were able to take a free tour of the tea factory. It surprisingly wasn’t very big, but I guess it gets the job done! The 4 BOH tea plantations in Malaysia produce 4 million kg of tea annually – that’s 5.5 million cups a day! We found out that the conditions that tea is grown in really has an effect on the taste of it. There are 8 steps in BOH’s tea-making process: plucking, withering, rolling, fermentation, drying, sorting, tea tasting, and storage. Every morning, workers pick tea leaves that are immediately transported to the factory to be processed. Interestingly, the BOH plantations do not have any type of irrigation system because it rains 14 days out of the month in Cameron Highlands! Whoa! That’s why it’s so lush and green! Afterwards, we scoped out the gift shop and then did a little taste test. I’m not a huge tea person, so I didn’t really care for the tea, but I sure did enjoy the shortbread cookies Ellie and I shared!

Our final stops on the countryside tour were at the butterfly farm, veggie market, and the honey bee farm. We decided not to pay to go into the butterfly farm, so we wandered around the market for a bit. One thing I’ve noticed in all the countries we’ve visited (expect Puerto Rico) is that the stores and markets all sell the same things. There will be an area with about 10 different vegetable and fruit stands that are all selling the same products – for the SAME price! In craft markets, the prices to vary a little depending on who you’re dealing with and how good your bargaining skills are…but it’s just funny that you start seeing the same stuff over and over again. Anyways, we saw some new fruits and vegetables and one woman let us try a bunch of things we had never tried before. Ellie ended up buying the C.H. “apples” that turned out to taste like cucumbers, not any type of fruit! I bought a container of fresh strawberries for 2.5 ringgets (less than $1) and they were to die for! The honey bee farm wasn’t too exciting. It was really cute because there were lots of pretty flowers and wooden boxes within the gardens where the bees live. Nobody got stung; although there were bees everywhere!