Tea Time in the Cameron Highlands

Days 418-420, January 17-19, 2011

On the suggestion of numerous people, including Lucy and Dumindor, I made the Cameron Highlands a must see stop on my little trip through Malaysia. In reality, I wasn’t sure what to expect but as the mini bus made it from the coast in Penang up into the interior, the landscape blew me away. Once again, the limestone karsts that are so numerous in Ha Long Bay once again showed up.

The Highlands of Malaysia are famous for their tea plantations. Because of the height of the highlands, the weather there is perfect for growing tea trees and other vegetables. And, like much of Malaysia, the British influence is strong here. This area only became a major tea growing area after the Britains showed up with their own love of tea. That love has now spread throughout Malaysia. So much so that, even though they produce tons upon tons of tea here in the highlands, they still have to import tea to keep up with the demand. As such, none of the tea made in Malaysia is actually available outside of the country.

Hiking the Carpathians around Magura

Days 278-282, September 1-5, 2011

It had never really occurred to me to go hiking in the mountains of Romania for some reason. I think I just assumed that it would be difficult to reach the solitude that I was so craving. My assumption was so wrong! I did some quick checking up on Hostel World for hostels near the town of Brasov where it’s just a short bus ride to Bran and Dracula’s Castle. The first hostel that popped up was a farm villa near Bran, in the tiny village of Magura. It didn’t take me too long to make a decision on that.

For five days, I was going to be staying in the Carpathian mountains. No cities. No internet. No crowds.

Forests and Baths

Days 266-270, August 20-25, 2011

After Prague, my next stop on my way south was Budapest, Hungary. Whether by good luck or bad luck(all depending on how you look at it), I arrived on the 1011th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian State. Good luck – fireworks!! Bad luck – nothing open. I wasn’t even aware of the celebrations that would be going on that evening until I got to my hostel and the person at reception let me know.

The Scars of War

Days 231-235, July 16-20, 2011.

There was something strangely enticing about going to Bosnia and Herzegovina(hereby I will refer to the country as BiH). I didn’t really know much about the place beyond knowing that a war had been fought there not too long ago in the 1990s. What I did know was what I heard from others that had gone there: it was breathtaking and an experience in itself. And knowing that, in this summer, most travelers tend to stick to the coasts, heading inland into BiH would take me away from the hordes of tourists.

Before leaving Dubrovnik by bus for Mostar, the first city on my little trip into BiH, I did a little research on what I would be seeing. What little I did read convinced me that I was making the right choice as to where to go. And as a student of Political Studies where the Cold War and the fall of communism is usually a fairly large component of Canada’s history in the 80s, this was going to be an interesting view into a part of the former Yugoslavia.