Highland Haunts

Selamat Tengahari!

Just a quick note today, as I haven't been up to that much in the last couple of days. I'm now up in the Cameron Highlands (at least for a few more hours, before I head on to Penang), which means I've had to accustom myself to the idea that Malaysia can actually be cold. It was also exceedingly damp yesterday, but luckily today has been much more pleasant. The trip up here was somewhat eventful, though, taking in an unscheduled stop at the coach company's depot where the driver and a couple of friends proceeded to get out various tools (most notably an angle-grinder) and forcibly remove one of the panels from the side of the bus - from what I could gather, something had gone wrong with the hinging on it, and they were worried it might fall off, so they decided to rip it off themselves. Whilst this was going on, we were "entertained" by what appeared to be a Chinese youth choir - in truth, they weren't that bad, but the combination of their singing, the whine of the angle-grinder and the rumbles of the thunderstorm going on in the background were rather disconcerting.

Last night I then had the pleasure of some rather nice Indian food at dinner (complete with Naan bread cooked right in front of us), and then the fun of finding somewhere in a Malaysian highland town that would show the England game. Astonishingly, one self-proclaimed "sports cafe" was doing so, allowing me my first look at post-Sven England (I missed the Greece friendly) as they cruised past Andorra. However, by 2am (when it finished) I was well and truly knackered, so glad to retire to my bed in one of the converted Nissen huts (WWII corrugated iron shelters). And very glad of the blankets, which was something I wasn't expecting to need for a while (apart, of course, from on the coach/refrigerator-on-wheels trips).

Today, I've been wandering around on a trip up to the tallest peak in the Highlands (Mt Brinchang), yomping about in the rainforest on its slopes, and looking around a tea plantation and factory. Dav, you'd have been in hog heaven.

And that's it for the mo - just a few days left in Malaysia, and then the madness that is Thailand awaits me.

Take care and have fun,

Pat