World Malaysia Kedah Langkawi

Gem of the World

Ipoh & The Cameron Highlands Dec 17, 2010

I left Langkawi around 11 and it took me 3 hours to get to Alor Star where I had to get a bus to Ipoh.The rain started in the cab on the way to the ferry and didn't stop for hours. The man at the bus ripped me off 10 ringgit, we squabbled for a while and he have me back 5 ringgit but after a couple of minutes of him claiming not to understand and the whole bus waiting for me I reluctantly took my seat. At the end of the day we were arguing over $2. it just annoyed me a lot that he would not just charge me the price clearly printed on the ticket! My plan was to get a bus from Ipoh to Cameron Highlands that day but by the time we got to Ipoh, it was 730pm and there was no more buses that night. The Cabs wanted $60AUS to take me there- and as I was not willing to pay I was stuck in Ipoh for the night. I got of the bus, soon to realise I left my purse on the bus. Returning there the bus was locked and there was no one at the bus stand. I was penniless and stranded! I spoke to the police at the bus station and he informed me that I just had to wait until the bus people got back to the stand. I waited and hour and when they returned they let me into the bus, and as I suspected, my purse was under the seat I was sitting in. Relieved and tired I just wanted to book into some near by accommodation as it was already close to 10pm! Ipoh is a seedy town, ugly buildings and I didn't find the people overly friendly. I booked into a very seedy hotel which was really quite expensive and smelt bad. It was the type of room that you would image they hire out by the hour. It had no windows, no mirrors, no WiFi and a colourful bed sheet- good for hiding stains but I was glad to be in a space with a door that locked. It was my first lonely night- I watched a movie on my laptop and had a restless sleep. I woke early in the morning- and caught a local bus to a different station to get the bus to Tanah Rata-Cameron Highlands. At the bus stop I met two really lovely girls Helena from Spain and Angela from Switzerland. We traveled to Tanah Rata together and booked into the same hostel (Daniel's Lodge). The people are nice and the rooms, though small, are clean. We arrived a 3pm and it was raining heavily. This however, did not leave me anytime to see any of the tea plantations or do any of the bush walks so i have resigned myself to the fact that i will come back here after Christmas as I am heading back to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to meet with Jess, a best mate from Armidale, to see the city with her. I am very excited! Cameron Highlands are beautiful! It is a lot cooler here. The bus ride up to the highlands, past all the tea plantations just indicated how much I have to see here, and there are many extensive bush walking trails to explore with some amazing native flowers- apparently the biggest in the world. Tanah Rata is a quaint little village with quite heavy traffic. All around it are hills where the clouds get stuck in the trees. The rain subsided long enough for Helena, Angela and I to have a walk around, with the sky still gray, the colours of the surroundings were so vibrant- unfortunately my pictures don't do its beauty justice so I will only post a few, and will post more when I return. "The thing I miss most"- my purse- for about 1 hour! "my favourite thing of the day"- getting out of Ipoh!

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