A cup of tea in the mountains of Malaysia

Time flies – I can’t believe I've already been in Malaysia for a whole month! My first trip to South East Asia has so far certainly lived up to, and surpassed, my expectations. Malaysia, with its diverse culture and geography, is truly a wonderful country. As was the case when I was in Mexico, I appreciate the fact that being based in Kuala Lumpur increases my awareness and understanding of events in the region when sending out alerts during the news watch – be it the severe floods in parts of Malaysia, the massive anti-government protests in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand or the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda/Hayian in the Philippines. And despite being quite busy with many shifts, I have also had the chance to explore a bit of Malaysia, including the amazing Cameron Highlands in the Titiwangsa Mountains!

I had barely been in Malaysia for 24 hours (after a very, very long journey from Colombia’s Cartagena) before I was on the bus from Kuala Lumpur to the Cameron Highlands with AidCom colleague Sara-Linn. No time for jet-lag! Despite the huge time difference, I was feeling surprisingly fine - a little sleepy, but very excited to already be out exploring a new part of the world. We decided to spend our first day on a tour in order to see as much as possible. Despite falling flat on my face, ripping my tights and getting completely covered in mud within the first five minutes, it turned out to be a great day. I loved the fresh mountain air and magnificent views of the tea plantations, as well as having a taste of the tea and later trekking through the mossy (and muddy!) forests. On our second day, we decided to go on our own adventure and explore the “jungle trails”. Although the waterfall we were aiming for was slightly underwhelming, it was great to spend a few hours walking through the forest, even if we ended up getting a little lost among the vast fields of one of the many vegetable farms! Enough words, here are some photos from our short, but fantastic trip:

Lots and lots of tea!

Tea tastes extra delicious with a view of actual tea plantations!

... and even better with a strawberry tart on the side :)

Enjoying the view of the mountains at the top of a tower

Walking through the mossy forest!

A funny little dude at one of the many butterfly gardens in the area

Start of our walk on Day 2

Sometimes getting lost brings you to great places! Walking through vegetable gardens..

A quick break after a long walk before heading back to Tanah Rata and eventually Kuala Lumpur :)

Only a few hours from the busy capital, Cameron Highlands is definitely worth the visit and was a great place to start my Malaysian adventure!