Jan 15-18 Cameron Highlands
Tea Plantation – terraced hills, if you don’t prune the tree grows tall and is useless – every two years they prune to keep branches and leaves fresh; lettuce and strawberries – all grown under plastic and in deperate gutter rows, bonfire chatting, and the worker vehicle of the hills – 1960’s Land Rover – I forgot to get picture of the 4 door cab one like my dad owned – that was for the brothers to think back
I finally got to ride in a mercedes – it was a diesel and was a TAXI (of all things), Buddhist Shrine for our local backpacker hotel owners (they also had a Hindu shrine on grounds); scorpion from the insect/butterfly farm – then Tim was walking through a dark tunnel thinking of scorpions and lo and behold Josh was waiting to scare and take a picture – he succeded; jungle lounge pool table; kids able to go to a bar – there was no underage issue – hey we are all backpacking – enter into the conversation and fun
taking a break from tourist sightseeing – went to park and played – Josh trying to slide down the “rail” – misses skiing; Tea Plantation shot
finally blogged Kuala Lumpur after the pictures were uploaded – so if you missed it – go on back
Time for some cool mountain air. Cameron Highlands is an hill station developed by the British as a respite from the heat of Malaysia – located at about 3000 feet. It’s also been developed into a vegetable, strawberry and tea growing area. The tourist attraction is the primarily for its Tea Plantations and strawberry farms… and the largest flower on earth – the Rafflesia, which is abiout 2 feet across.
The trip up is on a very tight 2 lane road with 96 hairpin switchbacks – it is hard to get two buses to pass each other on the road. Halfway up, our bus driver and the oncoming bus both took a blind curve too fast. Our driver slammed on his brakes, swerved, and ran into the side of the mountain at the mid-point of the bus where Josh was located –scary/exciting!? Everyone was fine though and we just continued on our way as though nothing happened.
This part of the trip was to get out of the heat and rest a little from travel and sightseeing. The air was wonderful when we stepped off the bus. We were actually a bit cold! We stayed at a really neat backpacker hotel – small $10 rooms as usual, shared toilets as normal – yet finally a HOT shower (most have been cold or luke warm), very clean, lots of travelers probably due to it having a TV-Movie room area, “jungle bar” and evening bonfire. It was also off the main road, which means a lot, because you don’t hear motorcycles whizzing by all night. And last, we were a distance away from the mosque, so we didn’t get woken up every morning by the call to prayer! We thoroughly enjoyed playing pool, watching a few movies, hanging out on the veranda doing homework, writing, internet, and staying up till 1am sitting around the fire pit talking to other backpacker travelers – mainly English, Austrian, German, Holland, Argentinian, and a big Japanese group. A Korean guy said he saw us 3 times in Singapore; an Austrian couple was in the same hostel in Kuala Lumpur; and another couple had seen us walking like a family of ducklings in KL . (Tim had noticed some people laughing at us as we walked down a busy street in Kuala Lumpur, and in Cameron Highlands, we got to meet them and give them a hard time for laughing at us!) They actually said they were laughing with us:) All the travelers think it is the greatest thing for us to take the kids out of school and see the world. They all wished their folks could have done that with them. They also think it’s great that we are not doing the mid or high end hotel thing, but following the backpacker grouping. It actually is pretty neat – Josh loved to hang out with us at the firepit listening to everyone talking. Other thoughts: most have been totally against the Israeli push into Gaza, are looking forward to the Obama administration. Most have quit their jobs after saving up for a big world or ½ world trip, or have a 2-3 week vacation and are traveling Asia. Most are 20-28 year olds – boy do we look like the old generation – but they still think we are cool/sic!?
The first day, we just let the kids sleep in and just have a “down” day. The only problem with a down day means they have to do homework! The next day was our sightseeing day – which included the tea plantation, strawberry farm, and butterfly/insect farm. The tea plantations were beautiful – planted on incrediby steep hillsides. The hike in to see the Rafflesia was a 4-5 hour trek in mud and leaches – not what the kids wanted to do. You also could take a 4×4 adventure trip which would get you within a hour of the flower, but was far too costly for a whole family – especially when kids are not that interested. Hopefully, we’ll see on of these amazing flowers later in the trip.
The next day we left in the afternoon for Penang, another island back on the northwest coast of Malaysia. Tim got up early and went golfing at the local public course while everyone else slept. The other highlight was that the wall fronting the hostel had graffiti painting on it with the name of the hostel. Tim talked to the owners to see if Josh could add to the wall. After showing them some of Josh’s work, they decided tey wanted him to paint “Home Away From Home” and the Rafflesia flower. It became more of chore than we thought.t would be. The paint wouldn’t stick because there was a lot of moss growing on the wall. so we had to scrape it all off, which meant finding a hardware store and buyin some scrapers. Then we decided we should prime it, so we had to buy that and a roller and whitewash the wall and let it dry overnight. Finally, Josh got to paint. See the Picture blog for better pictures. It came out quit well. Josh is leaving his mark on Asia!
Tags: Travel
tahoejohnson
Ahaa, its good conversation concerning this piece of writing here at this website, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting at this place.
popular acne prescriptions cefdinir online order prescribed acne medication names
you’re in point of fact a excellent webmaster. The web site loading velocity is amazing. It seems that you are doing any unique trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterpiece. you have performed a fantastic task on this subject!
What i do not realize is in reality how you are not really much more smartly-preferred than you may be now. You are very intelligent. You understand thus significantly with regards to this topic, produced me individually consider it from numerous various angles. Its like men and women aren’t interested except it’s something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your personal stuffs outstanding. All the time maintain it up!
Magnificent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept
It’s enormous that you are getting thoughts from this post as well as from our dialogue made at this place.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to this outstanding blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Talk soon!
Excellent pieces. Keep writing such kind of information on your site. Im really impressed by your blog.
Hello there, You’ve done an excellent job. I’ll certainly digg it and in my opinion recommend to my friends. I am sure they’ll be benefited from this site.
Hey I am so excited I found your blog, I really found you by error, while I was researching on Google for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a fantastic post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the great work.
Wow! After all I got a weblog from where I be able to genuinely get useful information concerning my study and knowledge.
9anime.cam is one of the most visited and popular free online streaming website . It also enables you to view recently added videos. it Provides categories, for example popular Anime, newest Anime video, etc. they provide us newly and old cartoon episodes . so users can always watch their favorite Anime cartoon Episodes. You can directly stream or download any episode. https://9anime.cam/
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my difficulty. You are incredible! Thanks!
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same results.
I every time used to read article in news papers but now as I am a user of internet thus from now I am using net for content, thanks to web.
In fact when someone doesn’t be aware of afterward its up to other visitors that they will help, so here it occurs.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks a lot!
A person necessarily help to make critically posts I would state. That is the very first time I frequented your website page and so far? I surprised with the analysis you made to make this particular publish amazing. Wonderful task!
Hello there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
Can you tell us more about this? I’d like to find out more details.
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a co-worker who had been doing a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me breakfast due to the fact that I discovered it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk about this issue here on your web page.
What’s up, I read your blogs daily. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep it up!
Simply wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness to your post is simply spectacular and that i could assume you’re knowledgeable on this subject. Well with your permission let me to clutch your RSS feed to keep up to date with approaching post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please continue the gratifying work.
Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your web site is fantastic, let alone the content!
Hello there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any recommendations?
Hi there, I wish for to subscribe for this website to get latest updates, therefore where can i do it please help out.
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thank you
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was curious what all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% certain. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. Kudos
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your next write ups thank you once again.
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be interesting to read through articles from other authors and practice a little something from other sites.
Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Bless you
Tremendous issues here. I am very glad to peer your post. Thank you so much and I am taking a look ahead to contact you. Will you please drop me a mail?
allergy medication without side effects buy generic astelin 10ml best antihistamine decongestant combo
When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I receive four emails with the exact same comment. There has to be a means you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a twenty five foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be interesting to read through articles from other authors and practice a little something from other web sites.
Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually realize what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Please additionally visit my website =). We will have a hyperlink trade agreement among us
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about %meta_keyword%. Regards
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.
Excellent, what a webpage it is! This blog gives helpful information to us, keep it up.
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for %keyword%
Hi, all is going fine here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s truly excellent, keep up writing.
Right here is the right web site for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a subject that’s been written about for many years. Wonderful stuff, just wonderful!
Good day very nice blog!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds also? I am glad to search out numerous useful info right here in the post, we want work out extra strategies on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
Yesterday, while I was at work, my sister stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a 30 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
My partner and I stumbled over here by a different website and thought I should check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to looking at your web page for a second time.
Howdy! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects? Many thanks!
Howdy I am so happy I found your site, I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a fantastic post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the great work.
Its such as you learn my mind! You seem to understand a lot about this, such as you wrote the guide in it or something. I believe that you simply could do with a few percent to force the message home a bit, however other than that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about %meta_keyword%. Regards