Tea Break, with Jam

Pic: Traffic jam in the highlands


Last Saturday night, my pal, Sal suggested that we go out of town; all expenses on her. I liked the free part, and since I didn’t have other plans, I agreed. We knew it was a crazy undertaking, without bus tickets nor hotel reservations, but we are adventurous enough to brave the challenges! So we promised to meet at Puduraya at 10 am the next day.

Needless to say we were both late because apparently on Sunday, the LRT is not as available and town cabs are not as plentiful as other times. Little surprise the tickets to Cameron were sold out. Sal, still determined to negotiate the higlands, decided to take her Citroen and test her driving skills.

Four hours later, we reached a wet Brinchang, and immediately set forth our quest for a room. We started with the decent-looking lodges, but soon reconsidered the sleazy- looking ones as everywhere was full house. But the prices were ridiculous. One "hotel" situated in a two-storey shop owner asked for RM170 for a windowless box the size of a double bed.

We then moved to the next town, Tanah Rata. The situation there is none better. The night was setting in, it was wet and we were tired. Sal was already resigned to paying RM408++ for a room at the Equatorial. On the way, we spotted a sign “Cameronian Inn, Tea and Homemade Scones”. We hastened to the place and were able to procure a comfortable and clean room for RM150. There were people scrambling around us for the last available room. What a relief! We proceeded to dinner soon afterwards, and then, bed.

The next morning, I rose refreshed by eight hours of peaceful sleep. In daylight, we discovered the guest house was quite lovely and homely. I love the rare orchids in the garden that I have to touch to see they are not made of rubber. We checked out of the place as a big family was sitting down for their English Chinese New Year breakfast.

We traced our way out of Cameron, stopping by for souvenirs and pictures along the way. I almost forgot about the signature of Cameron that is their tea plantations. It was a pleasant surprise the Bharat Tea House, where we had our brunch sits next to one. We sat down to some scones, a curry puff, tuna sandwich and masala chai (spiced tea). The scones were scrumptious just as what my friend Cuta told me. Apparently, I really enjoyed my scones, as Sal later related that she saw a boy observing my handling the scones and as I was swallowing them, he too swallowed his saliva. Despite the slight misadventure, it was a fun outing. I will definitely visit Cameron again.

Lessons learned:

1. Plan your travel.
2. If not, prepare to pay.
3. Pray. He is Ever-listening.