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NIGHT MARKET
Just a mile down the road from the hotel is the night market (Pasar Malam). It takes place every Friday and Saturday, from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Street vendors set up little stalls with a wide variety of souvenirs (I bought a fridge magnet for under $1). They also sell plenty of tea, honey, honeycomb, vegetables, fruits (especially strawberries), flowers and street food. While table hopping I ran into the girls from the hotel spa, who insisted I try the sweet corn on the cob. It was delicious and inexpensive – and so were the peanut pancakes.

STRAWBERRY PICKING
Near the night market are strawberry farms, where visitors can pick their own strawberries. It cost only 5RM ($1.40) per person, which I think included the one kilo of strawberries that I took back to the hotel. Is that ridiculous or what?! Thousands of ripe strawberries just waited to be picked, in the huge warm greenhouse. At first I thought it was kind of a bummer that the strawberry picking I had heard so much about did not take place out in the fields. However, there were no snakes, and the workers are very friendly.

BUDDHIST TEMPLE
A short distance away in Brinchang is the beautiful Sam Poh Chinese Buddhist temple. It’s free to visit – including going inside. The attendant watching the door was very friendly, although he did not speak a lick of English. He gave each of my friends a little book about Buddhism, and showed us around – including where and how to place and light the incense sticks (a batch of 12 cost 3RM [84 cents]). Don’t quote me on this, but I believe you light three sticks at a time for each prayer stand. Then you are supposed to bow three times, toward each corner. It was hard to understand, because I don’t speak Chinese. All I know is, I’m glad I visited this colorful, peaceful temple.

VISIT TO A TEA FACTORY
No trip to Cameron Highlands -- Malaysia's largest tea-producing region -- would be complete without visiting at least one tea plantation. We drove 45 minutes to the Boh Tea Plantation. It was founded in 1929 by John Archibald Russell, the son of a British officer. Boh Tea, the first to be founded here, is supposedly the biggest tea plantation in Southeast Asia. The highlight is actually the drive. You climb higher and higher, up the narrow, windy mountain roads. With every turn the scenery became more spectacular. The lush green hills, neatly lined with row after row of tea bushes, was unforgettable. At the Boh Tea estate, guests get a free tour of the working factory. The owners realize once you’ve traveled that far, there is a slim chance you won’t buy anything from their large gift shop. I brought home 20 boxes of a wide variety of their teas. It was all inexpensive, including Gold Label -- their finest. TIP: Don’t go on a weekend –the traffic is insane.

HIRING A LOCAL GUIDE
The hotel hired us a guide for half a day. His name was Ahmad Zamri, but he goes by Bob. If you deal directly through him (tel.: 013-460-5631) he charges only 70RM ($20) -- much cheaper than what the hotel charges. The rate is not based on per person, but even if it were it would be well worth the price. Practically anywhere else the price of a guide would be 10 times that. He even picks you up in his own van. Bob was a fun, knowledgeable guy (and he’s the one who took us to the Boh Tea Factory).

GUNUNG BRINCHANG TRAILS
From there he drove us to the Gunung Brinchang Trails to see what normally is a spectacular panoramic view from the highest peak in the Highlands (6,666 feet above sea level). It was cloudy, but that didn’t stop me from climbing five flights of the steep, rusty lookout tower to get the absolute highest vantage point.

THE MOSSY FOREST
We then went on a short (20 minute) trek through part of a 200,000-year-old mossy forest. That was something! Part of the time we were walking on huge, thick tree braches. If we ventured too close to the edge, it would have been bye-bye. The forest was damp, dark and exotic, with deep jade green colors and the soothing sounds of cicadas and birds. I didn’t see any wild animals, because not many live this high up. Fortunately I did not run into the ones that do live there: cobras and pit vipers.

BUTTERFLY FARMS
The last place my friends and I visited was one of the two butterfly farms. It cost only 5 RM ($1.40) for adults, and visitors see a whole lot more than just the hundreds of butterflies flittering around the greenhouse. They were so beautiful, but they live for only four to five days. However, the highlight of our visit was not the butterflies. It came when one of the workers showed us around the other part of the farm, where there are cages of other unusual insects and reptiles. I stayed far away from the poisonous snakes, but in the cages next to them the worker kept taking out crazy creatures like scorpions and walking leaves (Phyllium bioculatum). He put them in our hands before we could even say "no thank you." The funniest part -- which you have to see in the video (below) -- was when he put the funkiest looking frog on my friend’s arm. I just happened to have the camera rolling. Click here to see the 30-second clip of our special trip to the butterfly farm. (There is another 2-minute video below of this week’s trip.)

VIDEO
Here’s a 3-minute Johnny Jet Video of my trip to Cameron Highlands. It's also on YouTube, so it takes only a few seconds to load (though the quality is not as crisp). We also have all the JohnnyJet Videos ever made on their servers.

NEXT WEEK
Next week we fly (via an Asian country) back to the states in style. Wait until you see the seat I chilled in for 16 hours!

Happy Travels,
Johnny Jet

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