You'd never think that smack dab in the middle of hot, humid Malaysia there's be a little piece of cool, green Scotland but there is and its incredible. We rode our rickety bus from KL to Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands in relative calm until the mountainous, curvy roads made us hellishly nauseated. I'm sure it didn't help that I was trying to read but I normally don't have a problem. We arrived just in time to avoid a nasty spew stepping out into the darkness with the hopes of findoing a decent hostel. We got a ride up to Father's Guesthouse and promptly passed out. The next day we got to take a decent look around and the place turned out to an excellent place to crash with converted Army barracks from the 40's and a semi-converted Christian mission. Inside the office area they had a movie room and little restaurant that served up a killer chicken curry. Father still lives lives here but he's got to be nearing 90 and doesn't get out too much. We didn't get out too much either while Amanda got over a chest cold with a lung hacking cough. The cool air probably didn't help but at least you could breathe the air. I think the air in KL comes with clumps free of charge. We decided to take it easy while she recovered and after a few days booked a little countryside tour for the surrounding area. Our guide picked us up with a few others and drove us out to the Rose Center where, based on the entrance to the place I couldn't help but wonder if we were in for a day of tourist traps and stupid sights. I was wrong and glad for it as the Rose Center actually turned out to be one of the nicest garden nurseries I've ever experienced. They grow tons of different roses on the ground floor and a path leads past them up the mountain behind the greenhouse. After a quick stop to catch my breath I kept hiking up the path. I passed more flowers and was eventually rewarded with a bench
and a view! Amanda showed up later to show off a giant cactus before we had to head back down to head off with the group. Our next stop was one of Amanda's favorites, a strawberry plantation! This plantation is actually a co-op of about 20 farms. They all grow organic strawberries out of peat moss bags to avoid pest problems and then sell them across the country or at their little store. I didn't know Amanda was such a connieuseur of the red fruit! I decided to get a fix myself with a strawberry shake and some berry ice cream! After we were all sugared up and sticky we were off again. Next stop was the butterfly farm where we got to see more jungle bugs than butterflies. Some were pretty exotic. This leaf is actually an insect with a perfectly camoflouged body. This frog isn't doing too bad for himself either. We got to hold some kind of chameleon iguana who seemed quite comfortable on Amanda's chest! Our tour also included Jerry's favorite animal! These little guys were nasty. (Hope you don't find any of these in your shoes Mudd!) After checking out a few cool preserved butterflies we headed over to see the famed tea plantations of the Cameron Highlands. You know that piece of Scotland I was talking about? Well, this is it. Ever heard of Boh tea? A Scottish family started planting the originaltea bushes in the early 1900's and its only grown from there. The bushes like the cool climate and the rolling hills. The bushes last about 100 years and young leaves are picked every 3 weeks. Every worker out here has to pick about 400 pounds of tea leaves every day! And that only makes about 90 pounds of usuable tea! At least they can enjoy the views while they break their backs! At least they don't have to deal with many bugs. There's no fruit or fragrance to attract insects or BEES! Our next stop was the Bee Farm
where we avoided getting stung and Amanda made it clear who was queen on this trip. She's always yelling "Honey carry this" or "Honey buy me that!" [sigh] I couldn't take it and went back to the car to await our last stop at the Sam Poh Temple. Built in the early 70's at a cost of 1.3 million Ringgit ($325,000 US) they put their money to good use by creating Chinese versions of the Beatles. These are giant statues of Ringo and Paul with George and John across the hall. John looks a little angry but the likeness is obvious!

We finished up the day and did a little more jungle trekking later in the week before we took off to Penang. I'll let you know how it turns out. I gotta go. Amanda's yelling in my ear: "Honey! Get your ass off that computer!"