Tea and more tea

Day 57 – Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

I’m in Kuala Lumpur as I’m writing this, but I spent my day still in the Cameron Highlands, in particular in visit of the Cameron Valley Tea Plantation.

This plantation is more easily accessible to the tourist, being right off the main road and not after a few more kilometres of winding small roads. Following advices from my hostel and the lady at the bus counter, I took a taxi to the plantation (15 ringgits), then paid my entry fee (2 ringgits). I was then free to wander the roads of the plantation.

I took quite a few pictures, which wan be resumed as “hills covered with tea bushes”, with various angles, but still, you may see repeating features.

At the bottom of the valley, there is a man-made (ugly) waterfall, and a small park around with benches and pavilions. I took a wrong fork first, but that ended in a pleasant small walk before I got back up then down to the right path.

The air smelled of plants freshly cut, which I didn’t remember smelling in the BOH Tea Plantation.

I took advantage of a bench in the shade to rest a good bit, then made my way back up the (steep) hill to the café and shop.

I tried two teas, orange and blackcurrant, with a late lunch. The café is placed of course with the best view of the valley.

Then I asked the shop to call me a taxi (I realised later that I could probably have caught one going back to the town after dropping other visitors). There had been an accident, so there was a traffic jam; fortunately I had planned two hours for the 15min ride, the 10min at the hostel to get my backpack and say my goodbyes, and the 10min walk to the bus station. So I arrived 45min early.

As to my later adventures in the day… read on “When life gives you lemons”!