The Cameron Highlands

In 1885 William Cameron was working as a British surveyor when he stumbled across the Cameron Highlands. It is an area of jungle 1800 - 2040 meters above sea level and surrounded by mountains. The patch of jungle soon became popular because the temperature is cool all year round. It was this drop in temperature that I noticed first when stepping off the bus, I could not believe that four hours earlier I was sweating through the crowded streets of Kuala Lumpur and now I was cold and reaching for my jumper. It felt like I was back home in England.


Our first evening in the highlands was quite relaxed. We went for some tasty local curry which was very cheap and just spent time talking and taking a look at the area.

The next day though the relaxing nature of the trip was shattered when I took part in the most difficult hike I have ever experienced. It started off quite relaxed and easy but we soon found ourselves looking at a wall of jungle, then doing a 360 degree turn and not being able to spot anything that remotely looks like a trail. I could see the newspaper reports now "backpackers found 5 years after being lost in the jungles", or "Jen eats Ben out of necessity to survive".







When we finally found the trail it would go from slippery mud to steep mountains. At one point it was so steep that I was on hands and feet and clambering at vines. "This is rock climbing not hiking"! I recall shouting/panting at one stage. I fell over about three times, but finally after two mountains and some amazing views we reached flat land and the Orang Asli Village, this village contains the descendants of the native people of the highlands who were here far before William Cameron stumbled across it with his maps and colonial ways.


I'm having trouble uploading pictures so i'm going to try and put the photos in a slide show. It will either be below or click here to view it.

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