Cameron Highlands, Malaysia November, 28-30, 2013

Cameron Highlands

I looked forward to a change in temperature, and was excited about returning to the Cameron Highlands.  Natalie and I had been there together in 1994.  Our bus brought us into town on Nov. 28, American Thanksgiving.  A pleasant driver led us to a little guesthouse and we settled in, and headed out in search of food.  We bumped into these two Americans, skyping home and missing Turkey dinner…well kind of…I guess vegans don't enjoy Turkey dinners.  We started to chat…went to grab some lunch…and our trip was never the same…in the best of ways.

Alison and Omar, from San Francisco Bay Area, (come to think of it a huge chunk of the Americans we have met are from there….what could that mean?) left their jobs in June 2013, hopped on a sailboat in Darwin, Australia and sailed on the Tropicbird through the islands of Indonesia and were now sailing through Malaysia.  They asked us to go on a hike with them.

This must have been one of the tests in their "new recruits" manual!  We started out in the heat of a sunny afternoon.  Using Omar's trusty "map app"…who goes on an afternoon hike with an electronic map anyway?  (Maps with Me…we have grown to love it and would recommend it to anyone.)  Anyway, after a wrong turn into someone's backyard, we were on our way.  Walking…talking…and ascending up, up, up….that viewpoint was going to be awesome.  Before long the sun went behind the very dark and grey clouds, and the rain came pouring down.  Our steep path became a river of oozing, slipping and sliding mud.  Like good girl scouts we were as prepared as we could be.   We didn't freeze, or float away, we snapped our shots and continued to laugh along the way.

The next day, we planned to rent bikes and motor around the highlands visiting the tea plantations, vistas and all the area had to offer.  What happens to the best laid plans?  We aren't too sure.  To make a long story short…the rain chased away the bike dream.  In order to support our bike rental dude we hired him for the day to taxi us around.  He was happy, we were happy (he did have an incredible smile, which was not caught on film) and off we went to the famous BOH Tea Plantation.  Where the adventure began….but did not finish!

8 000 acres of tea make up the famous BOH Tea plantation which was founded in 1929.    A combination of high rainfall, cool climate, acidic and mineral-rich soil make the growing conditions perfect.

The tea is plucked two years after planting, and continues to be harvested every 3 weeks after.  On site it goes through a five step drying process before packaging.  

Each batch of tea harvested, doesn't possess the exact same flavour.  Therefore, in order for all "Earl Grey" tea to taste the same, tea tasters use their expertise to blend the appropriate flavours to ensure taste consistency.  Apparently this not unlike the process used in wine making.  How beautiful is this?  When we were done our visit, we waited for our taxi…and we waited…and we had tea and scones…and we waited…and we called… and our taxi man and…his friend was on his way to get us just stay there…my son is at the hospital, just stay there…my friend is in the parking lot…my friend will be there soon…get the drift!?!?! When the sun was soon to set, and the crowds dwindling at the plantation we decided we needed to move to Plan B.

Meet Plan B.  We stopped this lovely young couple from KL, who were sharing a weekend getaway.  We inquired about getting a ride…they looked as us…the four of us…they looked at each other…then he jumped out, put their bags into the trunk and invited the four of us to jump into the back seat. 

We all laughed at the situation, and we did hope our man's son was really not in the hospital.  Our new friends dropped us off in the next town at the night market.  

We never have trouble entertaining ourselves at a market.  Our first stop was corn on the cob.

Yummy crispy pancake-type treats filled with fresh coconut.  Still in touch with our "invisible taxi driver" he claimed his friend was waiting for us at the KFC. We never saw either of them again.  We headed back to our town, and entertained ourselves at the car show that had set up in a small parking lot.  

Our taxi woes were thrown from our minds as the music blared and we were mesmerized by the lights of these pimped-out cars.

How does the story end?  In his defence, our man did agree to meet us the next morning.  However, we were heading out of town on an early bus.  We will never know what would have transpired:)  And our plans to go to Borneo…we tossed them out the window and headed with Alison and Omar to meet the Tropicbird in Georgetown, on the island of Penang.

Malaysia, November, 2013

Malaysia

We flew into Kuala Lumpur, and headed straight "home".  Well, that what it means to a traveller to stay with a friend in their home.  Cynthia's mom, Tricia, graciously hosted us for close to a week. We were sad to leave Bali, so it was awesome to receive a friendly greeting from home.

We enjoyed the markets.

Chestnuts roasting...

...with coffee beans.

Could this be the quintessential picture of life? Those of you who have seen "The Amazing World of Walter Witty"  will understand.

Monkeys as we wondered our way through the green spaces.

Sign is pretty clear to us!

Just hanging around. 

When will we ever learn?

I could have done a whole blog on orchids from the orchid park.  They were outstanding.

A quiet place outside, to read the paper, surrounded by orchids and...fans.  Look up.

KL was decked out in full Christmas sparkliness.  Everyone wanted their photos taken.  How Canadian is a maple leaf and a polar bear?

Where is Santa?  When will he be here?

I think that KFC is giving McDonalads a run for their money over here.  Check out the delivery vehicles.

We found an indoor skating rink.  

There will never be words accurate to describe the fun we had...and they had at the rink. This was one of our most favourite memories.

Tricia (our photos our currently on a camera I can't access right now) left shortly after us to head back to Canada:)  We headed off for a few days in the Cameron Highlands.  Our plan was then to fly to Borneo...and then we met Alison and Omar and nothing was the same again.

Mae Hong Son Loop - Part Three, Jan, 2014

Mae Hong Son Loop - Part Three

So there are many things that give us pause while we are away.  Should we participate, should we visit this attraction or not, should we buy water and drinks in plastic....the list is long, and frequently pondered.  The whole fact that we are travelling here can be something to be debated.  You can read, and ask questions, and read some more and discuss...but it is always tough to come up with an answer that can often be seen from several sides.

We did choose to visit a Karen Longneck Village on our journey.  We were excited about the short journey in the motorized longboat down a fast moving river, surrounded by many shapes and shades of green.

The Longneck Tribes are refugees from Burma.  The women (sometimes called "giraffe women") in these tribes wear heavy brass rings around their necks.  These actually perform a visual illusion, rather than lengthening their necks.  The rings push down the collar bone and upper ribs, to create an impression of a longer neck.  Although there are differing views, we read that the effects are not permanent.  The rings can come off and the body will readjust it itself.

The women at the village were very open to talking with us, and having their photos taken.  They were all selling simple wares, which we purchased every time we took a photo. This woman's rings weighed about 5 kg.  We picked them up and they were indeed quite heavy.   It seemed to be a choice if they wore the rings.  The dilemma is are we making this a circus show, or is it a choice to for them to share their culture and make a meagre living doing it.

This woman was truly delightful.  She picked up her guitar to play a beautiful song for us.  From what I have read, there are many villages where life goes on as normal, without the tourist visits.  These villages have agreed to see visitors  If that the truth, or what I want to hear?  Not sure.  

However, we did visit, we took photos, but we also talked with the woman which we would have missed if we had stayed away.

How do you not enjoy free range chickens grabbing lunch in the middle of the road?

I know I said there were fall colours.  There were also magnificent pink blossoms on trees too.

Fields of green.  The brilliant green is a field of carrots.

Not much happening in town where we stopped for lunch.

Jim pulled out his Muay Thai skipping rope, and entertained us all...including the locals passing by.

On our way to the toilet we passed through the house. On the top floor, to the left of the large spot of blue is..

a rooster of course!  They are truly everywhere.

Thumbs up on the facilities.  We have determined there is no rating scale.  Reality is that when you need to pee...

you use whatever is readily available.  For those of you unfamiliar with a squat toilet....our feet go on either side, you squat, do your business, and then wash it down with the bucket floating in the reservoir of water.  This Canadian girl has never understood the concept...I think peeing in the bush is much easier.

A local Wat on the way out of town.

Inside the Wat.  

Driving into another town.

Increasing our elevation.

To reach a waterfall.

It took the four of us to find the waterfall once we entered the park.  All of the signs were in Thai:)

One of our sleeping options for the night. 

We chose not to sleep in these cabins with the great floors hanging over the cliff.  After all, we didn't have sleeping bags and it would have been chilly:)

Home for the night.

Beside the little cascading waterfall and running river.