Swindles In Malaysia (Part Four)

After Ipoh, it was time to begin our beautiful journey north (and uphill) into the Cameron Highlands. We kept driving up and up and up, feeling the air get cooler and cooler and watching the scenery getting greener and greener. After winding uphill for a few hours, we arrived at the Highlands and began to see the interesting and unique shape of tea leaves growing on bushes. The Cameron Highlands are very different from the rest of the country, and they are known for tea and strawberry-growing. The land is lovely, cool, and fertile -- ideal for these endeavors.















Our first stop was a strawberry farm, where we saw the berries growing in a greenhouse-style way, in elevated rows and such. We sampled some dried berries (not so good, it turns out) and then started out for the BOH tea plantation.



















Getting to the plantation was quite the adventure. The roads were windy and narrow, which meant you couldn't really see around the bend until you were actually turning, and there was no room for anyone to turn with you. Dad did great driving (and he had the unsolicited help of three anxious backseat drivers) and we made it there intact and only a little shaky.















BOH, which stands for "Best Of Highlands," was started in the 1929 by a British man named J.A. Russell, and the company is still owned by the same family. It was wonderful to walk through the plant and see how leave are processed into the tea we drink.















Influenced, I'm sure, by the deliciously cool climate, we bought way too much stuff at the gift shop, and then we enjoyed mugs of hot tea on a beautiful terrace overlooking the tea bushes and rolling hills.

































After our tea adventure, we stopped by a produce farm where Dad was a huge hit, earning the nickname "Boss" from a Bangladeshi farmer. As in, "Boss, boss, here's carrots." Believe me, the rest of us aren't going to let him forget that name...



















The day was starting to come to an end, so we transferred to our hotel, The Lakehouse, a gorgeous old place with an amazingly attentive staff. We chose our dinner menu hours in advance (think lamb, steak, etc.) and after lounging in our room for a while came downstairs to sit by the fire (yes, this place was cool enough that a fire was comfortable...in Malaysia...this was incredible).