Hitchhiking in Malaysia

After leaving the Perhentian Islands I went back south towards central Malaysia.  Again it was another random place that someone told us to check out.  The Cameron Highlands are 5,000 ft above sea level and coming from the beach, which was hot and humid, it was like night and day.  We took a bus ride that cost 60RM ($17 USD) and about 5hrs to get there.  Since being in Asia I have not used a sweater, let alone a jacket but after being here for 5min I knew I was going to need to pick something up to wear as it was cool.  Felt great and there would be no need to ask if the room had a fan… felt like a Missouri fall day.  I woke up about 30min before we got to the hostel and my first thought was “Are we in Germany?”  All the buildings have a European design to it, the hills are steep and heavily covered with forest and it was as far from Asia as one could imagine.  

We got to the hostel (again we just showed up without any planning) that the driver was dropping some guest off at.  We went in and asked if they had rooms for us as well and after a short mini-tour of the place we decided it was as good as any.  For a bed in the dorm rooms it was 10RM ($2.85 USD) and couldn’t pass that up.  I just can’t say enough how great it is to travel in Asia.  Rooms are so cheap and when you find a place that wants more then $10 USD you start to freak out thinking they are scamming you or something but in reality in America you couldn’t get a room for less then $50 anymore hardly.  

Paul (aka "Frenchy" from France), Alice (Holland) and Aleksei (Estonia)

The hostel we stayed at was called Father’s Guest House.  It had military style looking sea-huts and were located on a hill just to the edge of town.  The people seemed friendly enough and there was a ton of backpackers there.  There isn’t much to do in Cameron Highlands other then see the sites.  Almost no night life there but its famous for its tea plantation’s and cool weather.  A bunch of us from the hostel decided to to visit the famous tea plantation the next day and caught a bus to the main road there for about 2.50 RM ($0.70 USD).  The buses can’t take you all the way to the BOH Tea farm so you have to walk it from there, which was about 2 miles.  Wasn’t a bad walk going deep into the valley and it had great views.

We finally made it, after stopping several times to get pictures of the valley, and took a small mini tour of the factory.  I’m no tea buff but it was nice to see how they actually grow it, pick it, process it and the final product.  We decided at the end to all have a cup of tea (sounds so British I know) on the terrace overlooking the valley.  I can’t remember what everyone had but I think it was this:

• Me: Strawberry Raspberry Tea (I loved it!)
• Alice (from Holland): Some green tea
• Paul (aka Frenchy from France): He got the gold standard tea and have to admit it was super good
• Aleksei (from Estonia): something weird but had a good taste to it that wasn’t over bearing 

After the tour we all knew there wasn’t going to be a bus to take us out of the valley and the thought of having to walk up hill for 2 miles just didn’t seem that appealing.  Aleksei said we should hitchhike and that he does it all the time in Malaysia.  Sounded like fun to me but everyone’s first question is “Is it safe and will they actually pick you up?”  Aleksei said he had done it all the time since traveling in Malaysia and what was the worse thing that could have happened…no one picked us up.  So we started walking and when we would see an empty truck or car we’d throw out our happy little Western thumbs, big smiles and put Alice at the front of the line showing some leg!  Well she didn’t really work the leg that much but after about 15-20min of trying I got a car to stop for us.  Come to find out it was a Malaysian cop, off-duty for the day, with his wife doing a little tour of the tea plantation.  They were real friendly and we talked the whole way out of the valley, as we passed sharp curves and beautiful views once again.

At the end of the ride I gave him my travel card and told him to check out my blog on it.  I wish I would have been able to take a picture of these fine Malaysian people but if your reading this “Thank you so MUCH for the ride!”  Once we made it out of the valley we were all hungry, so had lunch at a little cafe outside.  The guys all got fried noodles and Alice got some fruit and veggies.  Aleksei wanted to see the Butterfly Museum but to be honest I really didn’t want to walk another 2 miles just to look at bugs.  Then Alice said it wasn’t far and that it was just around the corner, so we all went and checked it out.  Nothing over the top but the best thing was seeing grasshoppers that were 6″ long, insects that looked like 7″ leafs and the famous mouth from the movie Siclince of the Lambs.  

After that we knew we would have to get a ride back to town to the hostel but found out the buses only run every hour or so.  So not wanting to just sit around we tried our luck again at hitchhiking.  Took a little longer and while we waited Aleksei kept us entertained about his travels in India, floating down a river there for a month in a make shift raft with two buddies.  It was some of the best travel stories I have ever heard and the tales of him staying at temples in India along the way smoking hash with priests had us all rolling with laughter and envy.  Now I must go to India and try my luck!  Finally someone with a truck empty in the back pulled over at the bus stop and let us jump in. 

We got to town and I tired to offer the guy some money but he refused and said “No Thank you.” and drove off.  I can honestly say that people in Malaysia are as warm and welcoming as any I have met while traveling.  When people of less extend a hand out to Western’s who more then likely have more (ie; we could afford a taxi but we were to cheap to do it! lol) really sums up a culture.  Nothing but good things I have to say about Malaysian people and look foward to going again some day.

Forget Obligation Go Global…it’s my odyssey!

T-roy

6" inch grasshopper at the Butterfly Museum