o'er the misty mountains far

Thanks for tuning in again!
On wednesday evening i set my alarm for 8am, as i had a 9:20 pick-up from the guesthouse. Stuck my earplugs as far into my head as possible and tried to get some sleep. Went though the nightly ritual of tossing and turning, dozing off and jolting awake for no apparent reason, and was quite awake when the alarm went off. As i had decided i'd pack that morning, i was just contemplating where to start, when there was a knock on the door. "are you ready mister?" - i answered that i would be ready shortly, thinking it was the reception's idea of a wake-up call. Jumped under the shower, emerged 10 minutes later, feeling definitely awake, got dressed and got interrupted by more knocking on the door. Banging, now, actually.

I open the door and the receptionist anxiously bleats "you ready now?" at this, i wave at the room in general and shoot back "does it look like i'm ready? it's 8:20. i'll be out at 9."
Now the little guy is getting really nervous. He jabs at his watch - "no, no, this no thailand. this malaysia. is 9:20!"

My grim smile faded. i slammed the door in his face, saying "give me 5 minutes1". packed in 2, was in the bus in 3. what an absolutely excellent start to the day.

my bus ticket; on the road to Ipoh

Four hours later, the bus passed through the outskirts of Ipoh, turned left and started grinding its way slowly up the road to Tanah Rata. Taking us effectively from sea level to 4,500 ft. As it twisted and turned in very low gear, the landscape slowly started to change. From the red earth and limestone cliffs, overgrown with dense, tropical vegetation, the colours started to change ever so slowly, as the temperature dropped. At 3,000 ft, we entered the realm of the clouds. Cotton candy whisps clung to the hillsides and the road gleamed black with the thin film of moisture that covered everything.

My nose was stuck to the window of the bus as we passed glistening rock faces and tiny waterfalls. Bright green ferns clustered where ever there was room and the sky above was a deep, slate grey.

At 3,500 ft, a fine drizzle started to fall, which was not to stop until late that night. We rounded a few final bends and twists in the shiny black serpent we were using for a road, and suddenly the landscape opened up. We were surrounded by gently rolling hills. Some densely forested, others carefully cultivated. Strawberry farms and tea plantations were glimpsed as the bus picked up some speed now. And before long, we had reached our destination: Tanah Rata, main village in Malaysia's biggest hill station: the Cameron Highlands.

The village has an almost Twin Peaks-esque quality to it, being so isolated, cloud bound and hemmed in by dense, cool forests. Daniel's Lodge, where I'm staying, lights up a campfire every evening where travellers sit and chat, play the guitar and sip Tiger beer. As I ripped my right foot to shreds on a bit of glass on Koh Samui, I'm not exactly Sebastian Coe at the moment, so I'm taking it very easy and hoping it will heal in a few days. It's cramping my style slightly, as i was hoping to do some hiking while i'm up here, but will have to be content will the 1 mile strolls around the village.

not so bad, with the campfire and all...