Malaysia Part Two: Cooling off in the Highlands

Sawasdee (hello) from Chiang Mai!

We are loving this city and its gorgeous old temples and cute cafes.  

Tomorrow is the King's birthday in Thailand and we feel so lucky that we're here to partake in the festivities.

We are putting the finishing touches on our plans in Thailand for the next few weeks before we arrive home on the second of January!

It is certain we are spending Christmas here and we could not be more excited to get back to the beach :)

For now back to our time in Malaysia:

*****

As soon as I read about the Cameron Highlands last spring I was convinced we couldn't miss it.  Mystic mountains, cozy guesthouses, and tea farms with homemade pastries and fresh brewed tea?  I was sold.

 We booked a hotel in the small town of Tanah Rata and made the five hour bus ride from busy Kuala Lumpur into the peaceful Highlands.

The first thing we noticed upon arrival: 1) it was cold 2) it was rainy.  

Freezing in my shorts, I later realized it was above 60 degrees. 

 {Don't ask me how I'm going to handle going back to a cold and wet Portland because I don't know.}

We strolled from the bus station to our guesthouse, admiring the old hotels, quaint tea shops and pretty natural scenery. 

When we got to the road our guesthouse was on however, we noticed a slight problem. The recent rain had completely flooded the street leading to the place we'd booked.  

Luckily another guesthouse with the same owner offered us their nearby place to drop our things as we explored the city (and waited for the flood water to be pumped out of the way).  

When the road still wasn't cleared later that night we ended up bargaining for a (better) room at the second guesthouse.  

We dried out around a bonfire and traded travel stories with other guests.

*****

Over the next two days we stuffed ourselves with delicious Indian food.  

We couldn't get enough!  

Tandoori chicken, cheese naan (how have I never had that before?) and our new favorites: sweet roti canai and savory tosai.

We also tried Chinese "Steamboat," a selection of veggies, seafood and noodles cooked in fiery tom yum and chicken broths on our tabletop.  Like all the local food we ate in Malaysia, it was amazing!

But we did more than just eat.

One day we took a scenic hike to the nearest tea plantation where we had fresh mint tea and scones with strawberry and cream.

We also tried the cutest dessert place for fresh mango sorbet with fruit, ice, jelly and cornflakes.  Sounds strange, tasted delicious.

Ok, so maybe all we did was eat....

It was hard to say goodbye to the sweet little mountain town, but we adored Penang, our last stop in Malaysia.  More on that trip later this week!