Greetings from the Cameron Highlands!

So i last left you on the Perhentian Islands, that night i was introduced to the joys of a local spirit known as Monkey Juice....it is a tasty rum yet super strong & we got very very drunk resulting in getting into bed at 4am n therefore missing our 8am ferry which meant missing our 10am bus to Taman Negara ( jungle rainforest). Not the best & my hangover lasted ALL day. So we got the 4pm ferry back to the mainland then had to get a sleeper train to Jerantut where we could get a bus to Taman Negara, unfortunately we got the noisiest, jiggliest sleeper train & arrived at 3am in a deserted train station n then had to walk to a desertated bus station to wait for the 5.30am bus. We were so so tired & had to be alert as we were in a random Malaysian town in the middle of the night on our own. Anwyay, we got the bus & arrived in Taman Negara at 7:30am & got a guesthouse & gratefully slept for a few hours. We then set off into Taman Negara for a walk in the jungle along one of the "short trails" to the top of a hill with a beautiful view, after an hour walking we still hadn't arrived at the viewpoint when a tropical storm broke over our head & soaked us to the bone!! Not the best. Everything got stained purple from my bag so they are all going to have to be binned.

The next morning we set off on our proper trek to a hide in the jungle where we were going to stay overnight. First we took a detour of 2km to the Canopy Walk which is wooden bridges suspended 30ft in the air by ropes, pretty cool. After that we set off towards the hide (Bumbum Kumbang) which was supposedly 11km away (our version of 1km & Malaysians version of 1km is drastically different!!), we had been warned that the route we were going was "a bit up & down". A bit up & down is a total understatement! We were climbing up one side then climbing down the other side, climbing up, climbing down, climbing up, climbing down - you get the jist. There were ropes to help you which shows how steep it was, at one point i was abseiling backwards down one hill! It also didnt help that it was so muddy from the rain the night before & trees had blown over in the storm so we had to clamber over them. To put it in a way that someone can relate to - it was literally like being in a sauna on a stepper machine for 7hrs straight! It was hard hard work, at first it was quite good fun but 7hrs later it was not fun we were tired, ridiculously sweaty & hungry. We were so relieved when we arrived at the hide although the wooden slats that were our bed for the evening weren't very appealing...anyway we watched out the hide & for our efforts we saw deer, glow worms, fireflies, grasshoppers & tapiers - i also think i saw a panther but it ran off so quickly we couldnt be sure, but for the purpose of the story i'm saying i saw a panther! We also heard a lot of birds & animals but didnt see them. We had to get up at 5:30am to start trekking back in the dark(me scared? not likely! haha) to where we could get the boat from so we could get back to the mainland & get the bus to the Cameron Highlands. We got back had a quick shower where i discovered i had a leech sucking my bloody on my arm!! I totally freaked out! Yuck they are awful creatures! Jo squirted it with mossie repellent until it let go so i then bled lots :( I wasnt a happy bunny.

Cue epic journey to Cameron Highlands via Jerantut, Kuala Lumpur & Ipoh - what should have taken maybe 5hrs on a single bus ended up taking 2 full days involving 8 different buses/trains. We didnt eat a proper meal the entire time! It was awful!! Eventually we arrived in the Cameron Highlands where it is cool & green & beautiful. The landscape is breathtaking, rolling hills so green & clouds touching the tops of the mountains.

We went on a tour of a tea plantation - i still dont like tea despite trying my best! Went up to the tallest mountain but due to the clouds couldnt see a thing then went to a Mossy Forest which was awesome - the moss was so thick & dense you could bounce on it like a trampoline (not quite as high obviously but bouncy notheless). Our guide was so informative & enthusiatic it made for a really interesting day!

Heading to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow afternoon then off to Borneo on the 20th - woop woop!!!