Cameron Highlands

I stocked up on chips and cola for the two-hour bus ride, as it was going up the mountain on winding roads.

When we arrived at the top, we were greeted with a sight we did not expect. Asian mass tourism had already arrived here, with huge concrete bunkers everywhere, countless stands selling the ugliest souvenirs we had ever seen, and the plantations covered in ugly plastic sheets. Where the hell were the beautiful strawberry fields and lush green tea plantations we had seen in the pictures?!?

But they did exist =) We had the choice between a guided tour or simply renting a taxi to drive us around. Since the price was the same, we decided to take the taxi tour and negotiated the exact route and price beforehand. We were happy with our bargain until the driver ruined it. Driving up one of the mountains would cost an additional €12... What? Thankfully, we had discussed this beforehand-.- We weren't sure if the driver hadn't understood us or simply didn't want to. Jonas got so angry that we just got out of the car and canceled the ride. These stupid taxi drivers trying to rip off tourists... Not with us!!

Unfortunately, we couldn't find a scooter rental nearby, so we decided to do something really crazy: WALK!!!!

Yes, you read that right, I prefer to voluntarily walk 10 km rather than give my money to a stupid taxi driver. We probably wouldn't make it all the way up the mountain, but at least we could make it to the tea plantation.

What I haven't mentioned yet are the cool temperatures here in the mountains, which made walking really pleasant. The exercise did us good, and we could appreciate and enjoy the landscape much better than in that stupid taxi.

As luck would have it, a car with a nice Muslim couple suddenly stopped next to us and asked if they should give us a ride up the mountain. We gratefully accepted the offer and were delighted with such kindness. On the way down, we happened to pass by a strawberry farm where there was simply no one. A worker waved us over and gave us a small private tour, and we got to try everything. That's exactly how we like it=)

The worker was a very nice man from Bangladesh who told us about the working conditions and the poor pay here. He also talked about his country and his family back home. It was fascinating to hear something like this not from the media, but from a local. Suddenly, he asked me for my phone, picked two strawberries from the bush, and gave us instructions on how to pose. He had an incredible amount of fun taking pictures with us, and we also enjoyed the great result and the ideas he had. A fresh strawberry shake was also a must for a perfect day=)

Our original destination, the BOA tea plantation, didn't impress us anymore, as there were again hordes of Asian tourists walking around and not much to see.

I think it was lucky that we had such bad luck with the taxi driver; otherwise, we probably wouldn't have had such a beautiful day=)