Posts filed under 'Cameron Highlands'
‘Unhappiness is natural. I’m not one of those bubbleheads that spend all their time trying to avoid the normal misery of life.’
-Priscilla Partida
‘The universe does not have laws.
‘It has habits.
‘And habits were meant to be broken.’
-Dr. Wiggs Dannyboy
‘Wiggs,’ she said,’all those strange drugs you took, junble berries, and Amazon sap and stuff, not to mention regular old LSD, do you think they might have, you know, physically, uh, barbecued your brain?’
‘Oh, no, darlin’, none o’ that. Sure that they destroyed some cells, no doubt about it, but’twas for the good. If you want your tree to produce plenty o’ fruit, you’ve got to cut it back from time to time. Same thing with your neural cells. Some people might call it brain damage. I call it prunin’.’
(from Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins)
Definitely saved the best mountain for last, and thankfully the rain broke this morning and the sun came out today. Really good hike to the summit of Gunung Brinchang at 2031 meters (6702 feet). Guidebook says’this trail is a steep, muddy, overgrown trail and should only be tackled by experienced hikers.’ It was actually fine, really. The views from the top were amazing!
I wound up meeting 2 Canadians at the lookout tower on the summit, Jordan and Emily, and we all decided to take the road down together (which by the way, is the highest paved road in Peninsular Malaysia). There was a tea plantation on the road going down which I wanted to visit, because, after all, the Cameron Highlands is famous for it’s tea. Emily and I stopped for a tour while Jordan continued down (he’d been there already).
The tour of the factory was interesting I guess but a bit disconcerting when I saw how dirty it was. There were workers casually sitting on the piles of tea leaves! It might make me think twice before drinking Cameron Highlands Tea again. Although admittedly I did drink some tea at the tea shop there before leaving.
Onward we walked another 45 minutes or so down to the main road where we stopped at the strawberry farm to buy some fresh (yet out of season and too bitter if you must know) strawberries. We then hitch-hiked back to town. All in all a great day.
Tomorrow I am heading out of the Highlands, taking the 12:30pm bus to Kuala Lumpur. From there I hope to be able to arrange a trek in Taman Negara National Park.
Enjoying the views on the way up
Jen on the summit of Gunung Brinchang, 2031 meters
Tea plantations of the Cameron Highlands
June 15th, 2002
She climbed another mountain today folks, in the rain! What a glorious feeling to be happy again…Loved every minute of it. Reminded me so much of all those rainy days on the AT, except I didn’t have to ration food or water and I didn’t have to set up my tent in a puddle and try to sleep in a damp sleeping bag. Much more civilized here - a nice day hike followed by a hot shower, good food, and even an afternoon nap!
Name of the mountain today was Gunung Jasar, at 1704 m (5623 feet) it was not as high as yesterday’s and overall was a much easier hike. The trail was beautiful…it followed around the bottom of the mountain and then went straight up a nicely graded ridge with massive trees, ferns and greenery everywhere.
It was misting on the way up and then changed to a steady rain near the top. On the way up I met a Malay guy coming down, dressed in jogging shorts and a t-shirt. He said he lives here in the Highlands and he climbs this mountain every single day. And I thought you know, if I lived here I think I’d climb this mountain every day too. He told me to be careful of the roots because they’re’slipe.’ I said’Yes, very slippery.’ He said’Yes, slipe-ery.’ Very nice man.
Didn’t spend any time at the top today because of the rain, just bagged the peak and headed down. About halfway down I met a Singaporean family who had been right behind me when I started to head up. In the same time that I went up and half-way down they were only half-way up. So I guess those 3-hour hiking times are not all that off for some. Still, I give props to a whole family of tourists who are willing to brave the rain and go hiking, with smiles on their faces too. Singaporean tourists definitely moved up several notches on my personal good tourists/bad tourists list because of that encounter today.
So this afternoon I am just resting and reading a book, perfect thing to do in this rainy weather. Tomorrow I may go hiking again. There’s one more mountain I’d like to climb in these parts before I close the Cameron Highlands Chapter. After that I hope to head to Taman Negara National Park for more hiking and’adventure trekking’ as the guidebook calls it. However, there is apparently no direct transport from here to there so I have to take a bus south to Kuala Lumpur and then north again to Taman Negara. I’ve learned to accept and not question these types of illogical transport scenarios. But I may take advantage of passing through KL first and spend a few days there checking out the place anyway.
Ahhh, smell that fresh mountain air…
Doesnt this look like fun?
June 14th, 2002
I climbed a mountain today! Feeling really good… Name of the mountain is Gunung Beremban, elevation 1840 meters (just over 6,000 feet). It was a great climb! The trail guide says it takes 3 hours to get to the summit, so I decided to head out early and give myself all day. There are many different trails running through the highlands; I opted to take Trail No. 5 up and try Trail No. 3 down. Going up No. 5 I saw one group of tourists doing a lowland loop.
‘Are you hiking ALONE? Wow, you are very brave.’
Some things are universal (more memories of my AT days…).
They were the only people I saw all day. It was a steady climb to the summit, but the trail was in good condition and graded well. From the trailhead to the summit it took me 1 hour 21 minutes, not that I was counting or anything. So much for 3 hours.
No one else at the top except for me and a few bugs. I spent about 45 minutes reading my book and enjoying the view. Headed down on the different trail to get a change of scenery. Still saw no one - I couldn’t believe it! Guess all the tourists opted for tea plantation and strawberry field tours. Just as well, I was quite happy to have it all to myself.
An hour and a half later and I was at the road. I started to eat the roti I had left over from breakfast and headed back to town via the 2.5-3 mile road walk. It was just starting to drizzle and I was considering whether or not to hitch-hike when a taxi pulled over and the guy said’Free ride, no problem.’ Great! I jumped in and 5 minutes later I was back in town. What a good day. More hiking in store for tomorrow.
Yes, this is the trail, a bit steep in spots
Jungle of the Cameron Highlands
View from the summit of Gunung Beremban, 1840 meters
June 13th, 2002
Very happy to be here, much more my style than Penang. The highlands are stunning - rolling hills, green forest, huge palms, massive bamboo trees, durian trees, banana trees, and vines and greenery everywhere. Nature all around. The temps are cooler here too, being about 1000 meters above sea level. I arrived here this afternoon to a misty rain, but the air is so clean here that the rain is quite refreshing. I decided to spend the afternoon resting in my room and reading my book while listening to the raindrops on the tin roof of the guesthouse. The weather here reminds me so much of the mainy rainy days I had on the Appalachian Trail…I can easily remember my feelings of wanting to get out of the chilly rain and get into my warm sleeping bag for the night.
I’m looking forward to doing some trekking tomorrow.
Funny, when I arrived at the bus station earlier there was a guy from the guesthouse picking up people to drive up the hill. I was the only one he picked up today. He gave me the’deluxe tour’ of the town, telling me there is only one road or main strip with exactly 53 shops and restaurants, and that it is impossible to get lost. I wanted to say, well what about Jim Thompson then? but decided to keep quiet.
The Americans are coming. In the past few weeks I’ve noticed more and more American backpackers and travellers around for the first time since I left last October. I’m sure there are a lot of college students out and about now for the summer holiday. My friend Maurissa in Bangkok said you can tell there are more Americans around from the increased number of Bill Bryson books in all the used bookshops. She’s so right!
Fathers Guesthouse, accomodation in old bunkers from the British Army
Picking is ok, only plucking not allowed
June 12th, 2002
