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From Penang we made our way by coach to the Cameron Highlands. After Johann's room party the night before we were all feeling a little worse for wear and so were grateful for the chance to catch up on some much needed rest (I managed to sleep for 6 out of the 8 hour bus journey!!!). When we got to the ascent up the mountains, which would take us to roughly 1,520m above sea level, our public bus slowed down to a snail's pace and was struggling so much that at one point I though that we would never make it. The Cameron Highlands are a beautiful set of mountains and valleys about 240 km from Kuala Lumpur, of which the highest mountain, Mount Brinchang, stands at 2,032m. We were staying in a place called Tanah Rata, the main town, which to our delight contained a Starbucks amongst other well-known shopping brands. The weather was definitely a lot cooler up here and although it was still probably only about 16C, similar to a normal British summer, it sort of felt like we had arrived in the Arctic. After a walk around the town, much excitement over having tea and scones and some dinner at a small Chinese restaurant, we headed back for our DVD night. This made a really nice break from the normal routine and it was fairly amusing to watch DVDs with subtitles that made absolutely no sense. The following day some of us took a tour to the nearby tea plantation, bee farm and strawberry farm. First of all we visited the Boh Tea Plantation, the largest within the Highlands, which manages to produce, if I remember correctly, over 200,000 cups of tea per day. The owners originated from Scotland but established their plantation in the Highlands, providing their staff with every amenity imaginable. The farm was similar to a mini town, with schools, a local store and religious shrines for every different religion. We had a tour around the factory to learn about how the tea was produced and then went to taste the tea in the cafe. Unfortunately though my dislike for tea still remains. After a short side-trip to the bee farm, we ended up at a strawberry farm for which the Highlands are also famous. The cafe there sold every kind of strawberry dish imaginable from strawberries and cream to strawberry muffins to strawberry milkshakes. It also contained a gigantic orange pumpkin, much larger than I have ever seen before! Our stay in the Highlands was soon to come to an end though as we had to catch our bus to Kuala Lumpur that afternoon. Our stay there was definitely a welcome break from the heat and dirt of the cities.
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