Georgetown & Cameron Highlands

An aerial view of Georgetown

Our first taste of Malaysia was Georgetown - an odd town-like city full of old buildings that reminded us more of Portugal than Southern Asia. We spent our time wandering around this unusual place that looks as if it is from a different era, making the most of the little cafes along the way as we battled with the heat!

On our second afternoon, we discovered a row of shopping malls and were lured by the prospect of some air-con shopping (well, I was anyway, I won James over with the promise of a milkshake!) We stumbled across a cinema and, for just £1, we watched The Switch - a bit of a chick flick, as James discovered a little too late! Jennifer Aniston was in it though, so he didn't complain too much.

An amazing view!

Moving on from Georgetown, we took what will probably be the most scenic bus trip of our lives to the Cameron Highlands. The difference in temperature was instantly noticeable and we were both quite excited by the thought of digging out our jumpers and jeans!

We checked in at Father's Guesthouse in Tanah Rata - a pretty little hostel on the top of a hill overlooking the sleepy town - and were delighted when we were taken to our room in the newly opened Gerard's: an extension building which had been open for only three months. It was luxury accommodation at a bargain price, so with destination and accommodation getting the thumbs up, we set off to explore the town and booked to go on a tour to a local tea plantation (this is big business in the Cameron Highlands) and the Mossy Rainforest.

The tour of the Mossy Rainforest

The tour was really good fun. There were about 15 of us in two Land Rovers and driving up the extremely narrow roads till we were at the top of a mountain 2,000 metres above sea level was an experience in itself! We made it to the top of the viewing tower (well, technically I made it about half way up) before we watched the clouds roll up the mountain - I have never been at cloud level before, so watching that was pretty cool! James managed to coax me down the bottom half of the tower and off we went into the Mossy Rainforest.

James by the tea plantation

Our guide described the Mossy Rainforest as being like something from a fairy tale, and you can understand why - it was totally covered in (you guessed it) moss and was completely unspoiled.

We ended the tour with a stop at the Boh Tea Factory and, being the only guests on the tour who didn't like tea, we thought it was about time we gave it a go! We liked the ice tea, but we struggled to finish our cups of hot tea - oh well!

Strawberry picking

We loved the Scottish feel to this place and decided to stay an extra couple of nights before leaving for the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur.

On Friday, we went strawberry picking and tasted the best strawberry shake and strawberry pancake ever - James is still talking about it days later - and we have been enjoying the movie nights at the hostel. Cameron Highlands has definitely made its mark on us!

Pam