The journey from KL to the Cameron Highlands reminded us of the road to Hana trip we had taken in Maui (March 3, 2004). The road was complete with hair pin turns, tropical jungle scenery, and even waterfalls and one way bridges. It was certainly not a bus ride on which we were able to sit back and read. (Well, at least not without getting sick!) Our destination was the town of Tanah Rata - a base for exploring the regions jungle walks, tea plantations and mountain scenery.

We've spent 4 nights here and could quite easily spend a few more. This is such a relaxing place with plenty of entertainment and the living is cheap. It makes a nice change from the cities we've been visiting recently... our last "non-city" stop was Bromo in Java, Indonesia on May 12, 2004. As an added bonus, the humidity and temperature is low due to the elevation... we're at over 1500 meters in the middle of an ancient tropical rainforest and we've even been able to wear long sleeved shirts at night. (Little things excite us... we're simple folk!)

Getting out to see the jungle was our first priority. The area has a wonderful set of "jungle walks" and trails that are nicely maintained.... well, most of them, that is. Our first attempt was jungle walk #7... we got about a kilometer up the trail... ducking overgrown bushes, fallen tree limbs and numerous spider webs only to discover that the trail didn't seem to continue much further. Instead, we back tracked and hiked (or should I say we "scrabbled" -- at times it was almost a hands and feet on the trail climb) trail #8 to the top of a lookout with "limited" mountain views. (Read: No view whatsoever) Still, it was a good way to spend an afternoon and we managed to avoid the daily downpour by about 2 minutes!

We also completed a jungle walk to the Boh Tea Plantation. It's approximately 16 kilometers round trip with quite a bit of uphill climbing, but the views and the "creatures" we saw (Goats, several millipedes and numerous colorful butterflies and birds) made the walk worth it. After a refreshing cup of tea, (Mark had classic hot Boh tea and Heide opted for the iced variety) we toured the tea factory where we learned several informative facts. First off, the average worker in the field can pluck 200 kilograms of tea per day. This is apparently enough tea to make over 5000 cups... way to go tea field workers!! Secondly, tea is the most popular beverage in the world. It makes sense if you think about it... but we wondered... is water a beverage? You'd think that would be consumed more than tea!?! The tea fields themselves are beautiful - kinda like a big Bonsai garden... all perfectly pruned into beautiful shaped bushes. Who would've guessed?

Tanah Rata isn't much of a town. There is just one pub here, but we're not complaining. The food and dining options of this little place have provided unlimited nightly entertainment. Malaysia is a multicultural country with Malays living side by side with large Chinese and Indian communities. (Of course there are other nationalities as well, but these are the "big three.") As such, there is a wonderful variety of cuisines on offer and, as an added bonus, English is often the language of communication between groups so most menus are in English.

We've gorged on Indian food... sampling several different types and flavors... ordering things we wouldn't necessarily order at home. We've enjoyed pretty much everything we've tried. However, the big winner on the cuisine front was our experience with "Steamboat." They call it the Asian version of fondue and it is amazing. You're given a pot of boiling soup of your choice (We chose spicy Tom Yam - yum! yum!) and a huge plate of cooking items. It was massive and included pretty much anything and everything from chicken eggs to noodles, shrimp, fish balls, beef and chicken... not to mention the vegetables. There was no way that we could have eaten it all, but we gave it a good go and it was fun cooking at our table even if we did make a huge mess!

From here we will head north to the Island of Penang which will be our last stop in Malaysia before heading to Thailand.

Happy 31st Birthday to Mark's brother, Chris! We've chosen a *perfect* card for you... hope it arrives soon!