Ahh, that's better....

bed count: 10

Backpackers Travellers Lodge in KL to Father's guest house in the Cameron Highlands. It's a bit like the middle of Charing Cross, Glasgow to the outskirts of Aviemore (but in a nice way)...

At last this is feeling a bit more like a holiday. The CH are cooler and more chilled than KL and very, very green.

It was a bit of a trip getting here though. By now we're kind of used to Malay driving (straddling the hard sholder and various lanes heading up the motorway, not paying any attention to traffic lights, etc). However, our bus driver to Tana Rata was a fearless man.

The last hour or so fo the journey from KL involved driving up a road quite a bit more steep and twisty than the Rest and Be Thankful. And our driver gave it everything he had, confident that two sharp toots of the horn would see him right on every corner, no matter what side of the road he was on, whether there was anything coming, or how steep the drop down the valley was on the one side.

We must stop sitting at the front of buses so we can avoid seeing the near scrapes...

Anyhow. We're here now and it really is beautiful. We have a large, airy room at the guest house for 60RM per night (c. 9 GBP) with patio doors which open directly onto the garden with stunning views of the forested hills. The bed is a little hard, but the breakfast is great - a massive bowl of fresh fruit salad for about 60p.

The people are really friendly too, the town is much more laid back and there is some really good indian food to be had. It feels much more 'us' than the busy city life.

Went on a short jungle walk yesterday and was warned about the 'tigers' by a wizened old chinese man with a cheeky grin at the start of the trail. Also took a trek with local guides this morning who took us to the highest peak in the CH at 6666ft and then through the 'mossy forest' telling us all about the different types of plants and animals.

Ended up with a tour off a tea plantation and factory and drinking tea and eating scones.

We'll be looking at our plans later on today as I think we're not going to fit everything we want to do in. Still, I think we always knew our plans were a bit fluid. We just needed some stock answers for you guys when you asked us where we were planning to go. ;)

I'll keep you posted.