Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

On very rare occasion I find a place that proves god’s existence in whatever inconscionable form he takes. And if he doesn’t exist, he damned well should. The inexplicable beauty of the Cameron Highlands is one such place. Imagine sprawling mountains covered in the most fecund, verdant green and sporadically obscured by gentle mist. And you will have no idea what I’m talking about, but it’s a start. I had been reading when I looked out the window and discovered this awful (read awe-full) site. I gazed out the window the remainder of my ride.

One of the great benefits of the Cameron Highlands (in my opinion) is the temperature. I arrived at night, and many people were wearing jackets! It was down right comfortable. Arriving late, I grabbed some food and retired to bed.

The next day, being uncertain of my activities, I decided to wander to a local waterfall 45 minutes away, according to the map. Just as I was about to leave some other backpackers were leaving, and I ended up joining them. The waterfall, it turns out, was probably 10 minutes away. It was lovely, but lacked a swimming hole.

One of the backpackers was going on a longer hike, and I spontaneously decided to join him. After a 10 or 15 minutes, I realized it was a real hike. With solid vertical climbs and rough barely blazed trails. I admit, I was not prepared. I soon discovered the hike was marked for five hours on the map. Me being me, I decided to tough it out in my bare feet.

Most Americans, I think, are at least familiar with the concept of bare feet – everything, and Vibrams. This is not the case with the rest of the world. The fact that I was hiking without shoes was astounding to my companion from England. When we later encountered another group coming the other way, they stared at my feet and me as if I were some incredibly rare jungle species. I was terribly amused.

Our five-hour hike ended up taking about two hours (the maps are poorly marked), but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. As it turns out, it rains during the rainy season and it poured on us. For a good bit of the hike, we were walking down a continuous and ever changing waterfall. I’ve never quite been in anything like it. And, blessedly, the end of our hike led us through a strawberry patch (delicious) and tea plantation (fascinating).

The next morning I intended to go on another hike to the summit of another peak. It started pouring around 10:30 am, didn’t let up, and I changed my plans. My day turned into movies and whisky clubs at the hostel – a distinct change of pace, but not a bad one.

Alas, the following morning I had to leave my Eden – I was off to Kuala Lumpur.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Something about university towns and cities has an undeniable draw for me. I couldn’t tell you what about them it is, but it exists nonetheless. Chiang Mai is one such city. Nestled in the mountains of Northern Thailand, the old district is a maze of hostels, shops, restaurants, massage parlors, and houses. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

Arriving on a night bus from Bangkok, my first day was spent wandering and recovering. I continue to find it very difficult to sleep anywhere that isn’t fully reclined (though the surface matters little). I enjoyed some delicious, massive, fried spring roles for a healthy 20 Baht (30 Baht = 1 USD).  I gathered in the scents and sights of the city.

The following day I would go on a two-day trek – what most of us in the United States would call a hike – through the mountains. Before starting out hike we visited a local market (really no different from the market across the street from my guesthouse) and the orchid farm/butterfly sanctuary. The flowers were beautiful in a very tourist oriented manner.

That afternoon we began our hike, which included a trip to the bat cave (sorry, Batman wasn’t there). In reality it was a very small cave with a few bats roosting near the top (is roosting the proper word?). We then continued our hike through rural, mountainous Thailand. The scenery was perpetually beautiful, the trails persistently perilous. All the rocks were slick with wet from the rain; everything else was mud. I slipped only a few times in my handy rainbows.

Several hours later, a strenuous not overwhelming hike, we arrived at our camp for the night, a, supposedly, small hill tribe village. In reality I think it was just someone’s personal home done up for the sake of tourists. We enjoyed a meal of rice, chicken, and potatoes. Afterwards we sat around a poor excuse for a campfire in the rain. I’m afraid the logs were wet. That night I slept soundly on a raised bamboo platform listening to the rain and the sounds of the jungle. It reminded me very much of Michigan.

The following day was filled with different activities, though no hiking. Our first stop was to play with the elephants. First we bathed them in the river, or really just splashed water on them and petted their heads and trunks. Elephants are expectedly wrinkly, but unexpectedly hairy. Most were covered in short course black hair, each strand distant from its cousins. It almost appeared as an ugly black comb covering their body.

After washing the elephants it was time to ride them on a short track through the jungle. Two to an elephant plus guide. I don’t know this, but I was slightly concerned at the handlers’ treatment of the elephants. They use a crop similar to a pickaxe in design. The stem is a hard piece of wood on one end of which is a piece of hooked metal. They routinely smack the elephants on their heads with both the wooden and metal ends. They gouge the elephants behind the ears with the hooks to direct them in one direction or another (admittedly, the skin was only broken in one minor place on the elephant I was riding). When the elephants are not in use they are chained to a tree, unable to move about extensively.

Following our elephant ride we took a bamboo raft down the river. It was not terribly exciting, but it was very relaxing. We watched the scenery of the river pass by in pleasant calm. An amusing, brief, ride over the river on a zip line followed. It was fun, but not nearly as intense as some of the other zip lines I’ve been on, say Costa Rica for example.

The afternoon was filled with two events: swimming at a waterfall and white water rafting. The waterfall was fun and even had a place you could jump from about eight feet up into a pit. The white water rafting was short, but fun. Our guide was absolutely hilarious, too. I’ll have a separate post about the characters you meet while travelling.

And now I’m on a bus headed back to Bangkok, a stopping off point en route to Koh Samet, an island beach town.