GOING BROKE: Malaysia: Cameron Highlands and Melaka

After a long day of travel on boats, in vans, and across borders, we finally made it into Malaysia. Our first stop was Penang (because that is the furthest we could get in one day). Unfortunately, we only had one evening there because of issues with buses, so we didn't get to explore it during the day as we would have liked. The next morning we made our way to Tanah Rata in the beautiful Cameron Highlands of Central Malaysia - another LONG day of travelling and crappy buses made better only by the next Twilight novel (#3, the one i had lost)...I bought a counterfeit copy of it in Vietnam.

The main draw of this tiny town is the tea plantations that cover the hillsides. One of our books said that it looks like velvety green corduroy covering the hillsides, and it does. It is stunning. One of the days we were there, we bussed and hiked up into the hillside to go to one of the tea plantations for a tour. It was a beautiful hike and we drank (and bought) some yummy tea. The town is also known for its fresh fruit and vegetables, so we visited a strawberry farm and bought fresh strawberries and homemade strawberry ice cream.

Other than that we just mulled around town, and ate lots of local food (there is an infusion in Malaysia of Indian, Chinese, and South East Asian cuisine). We watched as our hostel owner turned up the tunes and danced to an entire song - like really got down - next to his tiny radio near the computer we were using. At one point, we thought we were going to die when out of nowhere, a fighter jet came screaming over the tiny town...truly thought this was one of my last moments. Don't know what they were doing but it was crazy loud and super close to the ground and we both cowered in the corner of the store we were in, waiting to die. When the jet had passed and we realized we were still alive, we went out and watched it circle around the town a few times, then fly away. We asked the locals if this was normal and they just shrugged like they had no idea what was going on. Hmm...

After the Cameron Highlands, we headed down to Melaka. A relic of European colonialism, Melaka was a primary trade center between the East and West. First settled by the Portuguese, then taken by the Dutch (and then the British), Melaka is now known for its active pirate community and for being a UNESCO World Heritage City. [can you tell this part was written by nathan? love his historical facts] We stayed in a great hostel where the owner cooked us yummy homemade breakfasts each morning. We toured around the town and checked out the beautiful, colorful, old buildings and pagodas, walked through the night markets, and my favorite...went to a huge, modern theater and saw....New Moon (Twilight movie #2). Amazing. And my wonderful husband went with me...love him. :)