Some pictures from the Cameron Highlands

Tuesday was our trip day into the Cameron Highlands. It's a slightly cooler region of Malaysia, high up in the mountains, and we travelled there (by a very long road, which took hours longer than it should have done) to visit the Boh tea plantation and do a jungle walk, although in the end we only had time for the Plantation.



It was a joy to return to Boh. Last year we walked up on an overcast day, but on Tuesday the sun was shining brightly and that made the perpetual breeze at the top even more welcome. I sat in the cafe and enjoyed a cup of Palas Supreme, which brews to a bright orange colour.



I am not a tea drinker, I'll admit: I like white tea, fruit tea and the occasional green tea, but I almost never drink it as a preference. It's a bit different up there, though. The tea is as fresh as you can get and it tastes even better for drinking it surrounded by miles and miles of tea bushes on hills so steep it is difficult to imagine how they harvest them.



C commented, when I said I did drink tea, that neither did he, but that the feeling of the British Raj was so strong that he felt he ought to kick back with a cuppa while some peasants worked in the fields below and he waited for his elephant to come and transport him back down to the town. He actually said this in a far wittier and more humourous way than I can remember, but that was the gist of it. So we sat with our teapot (and I with a big slab of serious chocolate cake) and enjoyed the fragrant greeness of the place until it was time to wander down to Brinchang and shop for strawberry swag. I managed to get strawberry shaped key rings for my entire tutor group for under £4, but decided on this occasion to forego the strawberry slippers, doormats and ear muffs, amongst other things.



Another great thing about the Plantation is the flowers. They seem to go hand in hand with the tea; perhaps they are planted on purpose to encourage bees. From tall yellow irises to these beautiful hibiscus, painted across the fields in every conceivable colour, they added a bright splash to the sea of verdant green we were surrounded by.

It's been sunny here all week. Here are a couple of pictures from the college to finish up. I've taken a lot less pictures so far this year, but I'll put the whole lot up on Flickr when I get back.