Tanah Rata

Today we took a bus journey to a town called Tanah Rata. It was a four hour ride two of which were navigating unfriendly mountain roads. It was well paved but narrow with many twists and turns. Vomit bags were provided by the company and utilized by the patrons; I will say no more.

The cameron highlands is famed in Malaysia for its tea production. Other attractions are its strawberry and honey farms as well as its beauty and proximity to Taman Negara national park. Many Malays come this way as an escape from the lowland heat. It is temperate here, though still warm, and at night  it can even get chilly. Maybe I'll have an excuse to wear my sweatshirt that hasn't seen action since Scotland.

We are excited to have a few relaxed days here. There are pros and cons about our hostel. It is inexpensive and has a book exchange with books I actually want to read but the rooms are quite bare and the city parks garbage trucks in a lot close by. The hostel owners told me that there is no garbage smell at the hostel so I suppose that I am conditioned to smell garbage when I see garbage trucks. Oh Pavlov, if it weren't for you it wouldn't smell bad around here. 

Another con is that, within an hour of our arrival, we have been mumbled at by an inebriate who stopped at our table and then became instantly confused at why he had stopped. "I'm just trying to figure out which one..." he said as he stumbled away. It isn't actually an issue except that it is the third awkward event in three days for me and I'm hoping it stops there.

Tomorrow we will explore the town and surrounding areas. Maybe we will even have some tea and strawberries with honey!