We caught the local ferry from Penang and headed to the bus station to catch a local bus to the Cameron Highlands. The journey provided us with a glimpse of the Malaysian landscape which was most spectacular.

We stayed at a lovely inn at a place called Tanah Rata. Tanah Rata is the main town in the highlands which was a great place for us to base ourselves for the next few days. The afternoon was spent exploring the town which mainly consisted of a few bars, restaurants and shops.

The following day we went on a trip with a local lady who was very insightful and provided us with lots of information. Firstly we went to an insect an butterfly farm. The snakes were hideous but the butterflies were lovely. Then we went to the Boh Tea estate where we learnt how tea was made and was able to sample the local tea. The tea fields were amazing and even Lucy enjoyed the tea. Afterwards we went an a trek with a local tribe through the rainforest. The trek was more tiring than we thought. The guide did not speak any english and carried a large knife with him! Despite this the trek was excellent and were were able to see the worlds biggest flower! Afterwards our guide taught us how to fire blow darts which were very successful at! In the afternoon we visited a strawberry plantation where we ate ice cream, jam tarts and drank strawberry milk shake...yummy!!! The evening was spent eating more indian cuisine which was once again delicious!

On our second day we went off on our own and trekked through the forest. The trek was really fun (if not tiring), ben was an excellent map reader and we realised that further training was needed to climb Macchu Pichu! Despite our fitness concerns we spent the afternoon eating apple pie, tea and scones!

That evening we decided that we could not eat curry for the 23rd night running so we decided to look for a pizza restaurant. all we good find was a german cafe. The walls were painted in the colours of the german flag and had one candle to share between the ten empty tables. The only other people in the restaurant were a young Malaysian couple. The guy in the couple was acting rather strangely and decided to follow me (Ben) to the toilet...i was scared! The guy locked the door and proceeded to introduce himself to me, informing me that he was going to propose to his girlfriend and that he might need my help. I went back to the table and began to eat my Pizza. The guy then proposed to his girlfriend who looked horrified!!! Her silence was deadly and it did not look good for the poor guy! He then asked me and Lucy if she should marry her and basically wanted us to convince her!!! Anyways after more silence she decided to accept!! We think she ran away the following morning. Despite a somewhat strange evening, we loved the simplicity and tranquillity of the highlands. Next stop KL.