Drive to Cameron Highlands

We checked out of our apartment earlier than usual because we were told that Ipoh has great Dim Sum, so we wanted to eat some for breakfast before leaving town.  The best one is close to the apartment, but we were concerned that they will have long lines since today is a national holiday...May Day.  So, I found one that was a couple of kilometers outside of town.

When we arrived, all the tables were full (good sign), but a family was just getting up, so it was good timing.  We sat down, ordered a bunch of stuff, and a few minutes later the delivery started.

Check out this spread of dim sum...yum!  And the total cost?  90.30 MYR  => $20.24.  In the US, the total would have probably been at least $70 USD.

No dim sum meal is complete without finishing off with a sesame ball...one of Tim and my favorites.

Overall, I give this place a big thumbs up.

After dim sum we headed east up the mountain toward Cameron Highlands.  This 2 hour drive was littered with tourist since it is a holiday weekend.  There were many roadside attractions like strawberry fields and produce markets that we passed, but when I saw a sign for a chocolate and ice cream place...we had to stop.  

We didn't get any ice cream, but we did buy some chocolate candy and a boiled ear of corn.  Tim just can't resist the urge to try to find sweet corn like he grew up with in Ohio.  Unfortunately, this ear did not live up to expectations...although he did say it was OK.

In the back of the store there was a vey large green house growing strawberries, flowers, and tropical plants.  It also had a petting zoo and some fun sculptures.  It was definitely worth the stop.

The next stop is one of the reasons we drove up this mountain...to visit Boh Tea Plantation.  The drive to the plantation was definitely not for the faint of heart. It was a twisty 1 lane road that was 2 ways.  Equipped with pullovers and mirrors to see if anyone is coming around a turn, we somehow made it.

The scenery of the plantation alone made the drive up here worthwhile.  The "lines" in the hills are all tea plants. Oh..and these next three photos were taken in the parking lot!  Imagine what the views will look like when we climb up to the teahouse.

Taking a little break on the way up.  You can see the tasting room of the teahouse jotting out of the hillside in the center of the photo.

We made it.  I had to buy myself something.  Since I don't really do caffeine, I bought some ginger herbal tea defined on the label as "A minty lemon fragrance is blended into this organic fusion of subtle ginger flavors, leaving a warm afterglow."  This tea will not make it home...I will definitely be drinking this while traveling.

While I waited on line to buy some tea to sample, Tim took the iPhone and started snapping photos.  I told you that the view from the top will be spectacular!

I made it back to the table with 4 different teas to drink.  The 4 teas were: Cameronian Gold Blend (Loose tea leaves); Palas Supreme (Loose tea leaves); 3 in 1 Caramel (Instant packet); and Strawberry/Raspberry (herbal).  Yes this is all for me...no I wasn't able to drink all that water, but I put a pretty good dent in it.

The total cost for this fun tea tasting was 21.75 MYR => $4.88 USD.

Full of caffeine (which I am not used to) and water (which will probably need to be released soon), we returned on that crazy, twisty, narrow road we came on.  After a fallen tree was cleared up, we were able to finish the drive and make it to our rental apartment of which the view is not too bad...if you ignore the construction going on right below us.

Peter and Susan decided to eat in, so Tim and I headed down the hill to see what we could find.  As soon as Tim saw the Dominos, I knew I was in trouble.  There were 3 other restaurants...a western foods one, a middle eastern one, and a asian one, but Tim was set on Dominos.  We noticed that they were offering 50% off for takeaway, so we each ordered a pie (Tim - BBQ Chicken; Me - Prawn Sensation)...total price for 2 large takeaway pizzas was 59 MYR => $13 USD.

This was my Prawn Sensation...it was actually pretty good.  And the good news is that Tim and I had leftovers for breakfast in the morning.

Tomorrow we were supposed to drive to the Mossy Forest, but I found out that you need a 4-wheel drive to get there.  Since it is the last minute, I could not find a tour company to take us tomorrow, so we booked one for Wednesday morning.  Now we don't know what we are going to do tomorrow.  I guess you (and us) will have to wait and see.