TEAAAA! One of the things I miss most about olde Blighty (apart from all you lovely people reading my blog that is!) is a nice cuppa! So where better to be going then what is essentially a massive tea plantation in the hills...can't wait.

Early start, up and out of the hotel in Penang by 7am (I'm kind of glad to be leaving, it was literally giving me a rash!). Followed by 8 hours on a bus but do you know what, I didn't mind one bit cos the scenery was absolutely stunning! Our little old bus crawled its way up the windy hill roads and at some points it was struggling so much that I thought it would start rolling back down. But it was ok cos it just gave me more time to appreciate the amazing views over the plantations and into the valleys! Finally got to the highlnds mid afternoon. After a quick shower & nap I went on a little jungle trek and saw a little waterfall before going for dinner at an Indian restaraunt. The resturaunt wasn't much to look at from the outside and most of the cutlery was plastic but the food was amazing.

One of the best things about the Highlands is that it has a more temperate climate and it was quite a relief not to be bathed in sweat for once :)

Day two saw a full on Jungle trek to see the Raffles asia flower. The trek was a bit off the beaten track and some of the dirt tracks on the way to the jungle were pretty bumpy, especially in the back of an old land rover! I lost count of the amount of times I bumped my head on the ceiling. Finally we got trekking and within about 30 minutes of walking up hill I was covered in sweat and had been biten by loads of ants, whose path I had stopped in. We saw the flower, which takes 5 years to bloom and only blooms for a couple of weeks. The rain of the previous night made the decent back down the hill a bit hairy! I actually spent most of the decent on my arse trying to grab on to any tree or vine that would keep me up for more then one second. It got to the stage where the guide, who was hopping around the slippery terrain like a gazella, felt a bit sorry for me and was handing me branches to help me steady myself ahaha! After bouncing down most of the path on my backside we arrived at a waterfall where I washed off the mud and cooled off..awesome!

After the jungle we went to a tea plantation and had a nice cup of rosy whilst looking at the amazing views....it was absolutely stunning and I would highly recommend it. After a quick trip to a butterfly farm, which also had various creepy crawlies and snakes, we went to a rather disappointing strawberry farm before going out for a chinese and a few beers in the evening.

Verdict on the Cameron Highlands, absolutely stunning scenery, good climate and friendly people! I would definately recommend this place and I could see myself coming back.