Welcome to KL

Kuala Lumpur, the city of ... of what exactly? I'm not quite sure. Prior to arriving in KL I'd read or heard very little about it. The most anyone could tell me was a) it's great for shopping and b) it's got the Petronas Towers, the second tallest building in the world. And after 4 days in Malaysian this still pretty much all I know about KL.

This is largely due to the fact that I abandoned KL almost as soon as I landed. After landing, I was looking at spending a lot longer in KL then I had intended to (due to some unexpected circumstances). What was originally meant to be a 2 day stopover had quickly turned into 4 days while I waited for Wooky to arrive. 

After discussing KL with a few people at my hostel, I came to the conclusion that whilst it seems like a fairly cool city, nothing was really drawing me in. I decided to get up first thing the next morning make my way to the bus station and head... somewhere.

In the end I opted for the Cameron Highlands, an area about 200km North of KL, and I'm glad I made the choice. The area is hilly and covered in tea / strawberry plantations interspersed with thick jungle. It's a nice change from the heat, humidity of KL. I also hit upon a an excellent hostel - Father's Guest house. Great place with friendly staff in an awesome location.

One of the many tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands

Interesting (read basic) accomodation in Cameron Highlands. Despite the look of the doorms it was a great pace to stay though.

The surrounding is pretty spectacular and is excellent for trekking. The thick jungle and unending hills, coupled with a lack of signs and the overgrown nature of the paths makes it a far more adventurous experience than first thought. Sadly, the views from the top of the mountains are somewhat spoiled by the fact that the development in this area has happened in a sprawling and haphazard way. As a result pristine jungle is often cut away by large tower block style apartment buildings or cuttings made to prevent mud slides onto roads. 

Thick forest of the Highlands

Friendly creatures too...

Having said that, in places the jungle is so thick and the terrain so impassable that, once we made it over the ridgeline and Tanah Rata was hid from view, we were presented with a massive expanse of apparently untouched jungle. We also had a nice suprised when we got slightly lost and stumbled across and Orang Asli village. The Orang Asli are the original inhabitants of the Malay peninsular and it was intersting to happen across one of the villages huddled in the hills.

Orang Alsi Village.

All in all, it was definitely a good choice to come up here for a few days. It was a great relaxing ay to start the trip, nevertheless, tomorrow I have to get moving again. I will be heading off to meet Wooky in KL before we fly to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) on Wednesday morning – and that’s where the fun really begins.