Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

We came to the cameron highlands 2 days ago but didn't do much because Karsten was a little bit sick. So we put in an organisational day.

But today we finally did what we came here for. Trekking! We went on a four hour hike into the rainforest. This time we didn't see any animals though, except for leeches. Since it being the raining season those little worms are everywhere in the jungle and are quite funny. Once they smell sweat they lift their heads and rotate towards the source like a periscope in a submarine. And then they can move quite fast once they locked in on you. But we didn't go to find leeches but set out to see the giant Rafflesia. Advertised as a huge flower it is basically a giant, red, flowery mushroom. Banana for scale. Very interesting to see was the red soil which is typical for the tropics. Ask the next geographer you can find what this is about.

The cameron highlands as such are basically a hilly version of the netherlands. Greenhouses everywhere in which they grow strawberries, lettuce, flowers, cactusses and all kinds of vegetables. Without greenhouses they grow mostly tea. You can visit strawberry farms, butterfly farms and tea plantations. We made it to a strawberry farm today where the main attraction is definitely the attached cafe. There you can find beauties like the strawberry sundae, strawberry milkshake, fried ice cream or a hot chocolate with fries (wtf?).Read more