We clearly enjoy spending time in these hill stations because we have found ourselves in another one - this time the heavily visited Cameron Highlands area. Hill stations were established during colonial times for the specific purpose of a minibreak (to borrow a great British term) to higher elevation to escape the heat of the cities, and the Cameron Highlands actually delivers in terms of providing a much appreciated respite from the hot Malaysian temperatures. The day time temperature has been hovering around 22C - a very comfortable sensation not experienced since probably back in London last summer/early fall?

Unless you have your own car, the exploring of Cameron Highlands is best done through organised tours, and there are lots of half and full day ones to choose from, at fairly reasonable prices. On our first day, we joined a tour that took us on an intense trek through the jungle, specifically to view the elusive rafflesia flower. Known as the world's largest flower, the rafflesia blooms and thrives for very specific periods of time, and luckily our guide knew where the current one was to be seen. The flower we visited measured about a half metre in diameter, but apparently they can grow to about 1.5 metres! Troy was especially thrilled to be able to see and photograph this flower, as he had hoped to see it last year in Borneo, but no blooming ones were accessible (that sounds like a swear, but it's not, ha ha). We returned from the tour energised from the great exercise and rafflesia discovery, only to take off our hiking shoes and discover three feet covered in blood - one belonging to Troy, and two belonging to Clare. Our first thought was that we had developed blisters that had gone awry, but then wondered if they were possible leech bites. Not having had leech bites before, we did some quick Google-ing and determined that was what they most definitely were, mostly due to the fact that the bites would just not stop bleeding! We tried to not freak out that we had just read that leech bites can bleed from 10 hours to 7 days (what?!), cleaned and Band-Aided our ankles, and luckily the bleeding soon subsided. When we hiked in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand last year we were given leech socks, and although we don't expect a tour to provide those, it would have been nice to at least have a warning so that we could have prepped some better leg coverings for ourselves. Well, chalk up another first! Our second tour the next day was luckily leech free, and we mostly explored the gorgeous hills of the area, including the Boh tea plantation, which is just about as scenic as it gets here. Cameron Highlands is also known for its tasty strawberries, and we partook in many strawberry related treats, including strawberry milkshakes, jam, tarts, and a pavlova. It was a lovely couple of days, and we were incredibly lucky to have lots of sunshine and blue skies as Cameron Highlands is quite the rainy environment. But now it's time for a return to the heat and humidity as we get back into city life down in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.