Our Asia Trip Diary – Part Twenty Three
On Monday we were in Cameron Highlands,
Malaysia. It lies 1500m high and it was quite different in temperature and
climate for us. We went from 35 °C in harsh sunlight to 20°C in the wind and
rain. I like it! On this day we wanted to explore the nearby tea plantation, so
we hiked down (next to the mountain “highway”) for about 30 minutes to see this.
It was beautiful! The tea plantation stretches out over the hills everywhere
you look.
On Tuesday our original plan was to go to another, bigger, tea plantation but we couldn’t find the means to get us there. So, we opted for a hike instead! Hiking through the hills of Cameron Highlands is truly something else. We looked up a hike online and off we went!
We searched for hike #11, but we reached a dead end where the start was supposed to be. We asked a local villager and he said that trail 11 had ceased to exist and we should better go for hike #10. He then offered us a ride to the start of that hike, how nice! The hike itself was fantastic. It was mostly a climb uphill, where the entire hill was full of vegetation and trees making it almost forest-like. We reached a beautiful viewpoint where you could see the entire tea plantation from afar. It was great!
After climbing all the way back down again, we were glad that it hadn’t rained that day (not much at least) because then, the climb would be extremely muddy and slippery. We went back to our hotel and relaxed in the lobby because we had to wait for our bus. In the afternoon we are going to Ipoh!
One bus trip later and we reached the village of Ipoh. The limestone rocks surrounding Ipoh are immediately noticeable when we drove into the city. The next day we took a day to relax and recharge. Kobie also wrote THIS amazing blog about our Laos itinerary!
Thursday, we wanted to explore the beautiful surrounding nature so we took a Grab (Uber / Taxi) to “Paradise Valley”. Here we walked through the limestone rock formations in the middle of nowhere! It was quiet and peaceful, just what we wanted.
Afterwards, we also went to “Kek Long Cave”. This cave goes through the limestone rocks and has a big park behind it where we have a little boat trip.
We ended our journey by going to the “Mirror Lake”. A tourist attraction where you walk 20 meters through a tunnel that leads to a small jetty, which has a view of a lake in between the huge rock formations.
The next day, Friday, Kobie found a
heritage walk through the old town of Ipoh so we decided we should walk it. The
stops are mostly old buildings, build in the colonial time of Ipoh and are
quite interesting. There isn’t much information but enough to keep us occupied for
the entire afternoon. Oh and yeah, a pigeon pooped on my head which Kobie found
hilarious but I can tell you, it wasn’t. We do think the city of Ipoh can be
quite… bleak. Shops open up very late, and everything is closed after 7pm. We
had trouble finding any restaurants because of this and it gives a bad
impression of the city itself. Even though it is a school holiday here in
Malaysia and there are lots of local tourists everywhere, it still felt
desolated.
Saturday, we travelled further westwards. We went to the island of Penang! This huge island houses the city of George Town. A well-known city for its colonial heritage in Malaysia and its foods. We went to the harbour by bus and once we arrived at the bus station, we bought our tickets for the ferry. This ferry only takes about ten minutes but when we arrived at the ticket office, we just missed the ferry. We waited for an hour and people were getting in line very early. When the queue started to gradually move, we joined in and just as we wanted to cross to the boat, an employee told us that the boat is full and we have to wait for the next one. Okay great… We arrived here as one of the first and still didn’t even get into the boat. So, we waited for another hour and once we saw one person getting in line we both stood up to get in line as well. And IMMEDIATELY EVERYONE stood up after us and tried to push themselves forward to get first in line. It is crazy how rude people get. Luckily this time we do make the cut and get on board.
We found our hostel in George Town and relaxed for the night. Today is Sunday, as we are writing this blog and we are excited to explore this old town! The town is well known for its great diversity and quality of food so we are definitely hoping to taste some of that.
But we will tell you about that, next week!
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