There are a ton of things to do in Cameron Highlands....though like most tourist spots, you really need to pick and choose. In addition to the treks and things we've already done (strawberry "farm", butterfly garden, tea plantation), you can also visit...
Bee farm! Watch as bees slowly, I mean really slowly, make honey
The Time Tunnel! A nostalgic collection of eclectic junk fantastic memorabilia
Smurf village! A replica of a house the smurfs live in
Agro Center garden! A garden.... With Mickey and Minnie Mouse bizarrely walking around
Cactus City! See the few many varieties of pretty boring I would imagine exciting cacti
And... The Giant Vegetable Patch! Come see giant vegetables...
Actually that last one is just one of many roadside free "attractions" in the area.
Of course, with all the "attractions" above, and the jungle walks and three tea plantations, there is a need for many tour operators offering mixes and matches of all of the above. Although you see these kind of tour operator setups everywhere in the world (go down to Queens Quay and check them out), it seems particular to Asia that there is such a huge concentration of tour operators in one area offering dozens of combinations of tours - there are perhaps thirty different tour companies in this small area offering a wide range of "tours". I imagine this focus on having everything packed into a tour gives birth to some of the more eclectic tourist spots mentioned above. They are used to "fill out" a tour.... Stretching a two hour visit to a tea plantation into a full day, multi stop tour. In that light, the kids and I were brainstorming and we've come up with a package tour we will be running in our neighbourhood for tourists.... We call it a "Touch of Canadiana"...
Tour includes....
- Meet at Islington Subway Station 9:00am*
- Genuine Canadian English speaking guide, eh!
- Tradtional Canadian breakfast with local delicacy coffee**
- Squirrel nest spotting trek - stroll the local area, trying to spot the elusive brown and grey squirrel nests that are occasionally hidden in the dense treetop undergrowth
- Four leaf clover - use your best searching skills to sort through fields of grass and clover to find a lucky four leaf clover... This part of the tour will be unguided ***
- Tradtional Canadian Games - learn the playground games of "tag" and "grounders" and see how Canadian kids used to play ****
- Maple leaf souvenir - find a perfect Maple Leaf, the symbol of Canada, and learn how to preserve it - a perfect souvenir for years to come *****
- Tradtional Canadian lunch with local delicacy coffee ******
*For hotel pickup, add $75/PAX
** Tim Hortons - breakfast includes one stale bagel, butter, one small double double, you want more you pay!
*** No guarantees
**** They play video games now
***** Cost of book to put leaf in not included. Add $25 should you wish to have a book to preserve the leaf
****** Tim Hortons - lunch includes one day old donut and one small double double, you want more you pay!
So sign up now if you want a Touch of Canadiana, we are pretty sure that if we're on Trip Advisor, we are a 4.5/5!
Back to our trip, the ladies enjoyed high tea for lunch, while I hunkered down at Kumar's and Starbucks and attempted to coax some data out of their respective internet connections.... It's brutal how far behind Malaysia is on Internet speeds.... Have I said that before!
After we reunited, the girls shut their hotel room door and were heard furiously preparing their room for another edition of the bickerson's Spa. I really had to check out what all the fuss was about. I signed Beth and I up for a Couples Foot Massage. Not twenty minutes later, Beth and I were both sitting on the edge of their bathtub, her with a glass of wine, me with a specially procured Hoegarden in hand, and we each had an attendant scrubbing our feet clean. I looked at Beth and she started laughing so hard she started crying. The kids were looking at each other like "what's going on?". It would have been quite the sight.
I have to admit, the foot massage was great, and I guess Beth had a great time after, as she was in their spa for another hour! Ahh.. That's what this week has been about - chilling out in the Highlands.
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