What on earth are the icicles doing on my nose???

From Melaka, we drove to the Cameron Highlands on Sunday. Originally, we wanted to spend a few days in Taman Negara National Park beforehand, but it would have taken us 1-2 days just to get there. So, we changed our plans and headed straight to the Cameron Highlands!

We took a bus for two and a half hours to Kuala Lumpur, and from there, another four and a half hours to Tanah Rata, the largest town in the highlands. The last three hours were quite challenging as we drove up the mountain on winding and steep roads. The bus driver honked the horn before every curve to signal oncoming vehicles that something big was coming around the next bend. We were relieved when we finally arrived in Tanah Rata after being shaken for hours.

It was completely different from the rest of Malaysia here. The town had a more "western" look, with "half-timbered houses" everywhere, likely due to the abundance of tourists. The climate at around 1,600 meters was also very different from the days before. We were wearing all our thick clothing that we had been carrying in our backpacks. And at night, we slept in fleece jackets, long leggings, and thick socks! ;-)

On the first day, we slept in and then enjoyed a wonderful (European!) breakfast with delicious scrambled eggs and cheese toast! Oh, how I missed that in the past few days! :-)

In the afternoon, we drove around the area a bit and visited a tea plantation. We had some good cake accompanied by the appropriate tea, of course. And it rained, just like most of the time!

For the next day, we had booked a jungle trekking tour. We were picked up on time at 8:45 am by an old off-road vehicle (sounded more like an old tractor) and driven towards the jungle. Along the way, we saw many large plantations. Most of the fruits, vegetables, and flowers available in Malaysia and Singapore are grown here. However, more and more forests are being destroyed for this purpose. The guide told us that in the next few years, there will hardly be anything left of the large forested area...

When we arrived at the jungle, our tour guide drove us up a steep and muddy road that the vehicle barely managed to conquer. There was a steep drop beside us...

Initially, there were only four of us + the tour guide. Then we encountered another group with whom we navigated through the wilderness. Our goal was to see two Rafflesia, which have the largest flowers in the plant kingdom. We had to climb steep slopes, balance on tree trunks, and cross the river several times. And then it started to rain, so we were soaking wet from head to toe. Along the way, we encountered stray dogs, like everywhere in Malaysia, but fortunately, they were all peaceful!

After 10 km through the Malay jungle, we looked like pigs! The thick, red muddy soil stuck to us everywhere.

After the jungle trekking, we visited an original Malay mountain village, where an old man showed us blowpipe hunting. Afterwards, we were allowed to try it ourselves!

From the village, we drove to the Boh Tea Plantations, visited the factory, had a taste of the tea (with cake, of course), and explored the Mossy Forest.

We spent the evening scrubbing our shoes! :-) (And looking forward to the wonderfully warm Penang, which we would visit the next day.)