Cameron Again

Recently, I was able to visit Cameron Highlands again - this time to actually enjoy it with an overnight stay. It was wonderful and a perfect break to the over 100F weather we've been having on the island. It gets a little unbearable at times. I actually wore jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a light jacket at night! Wow, I almost forgot what it was like to wear long sleeves. The only time I've even thought about long sleeves is in preparation to go to a movie here. They make it so cold in the movie theaters that your ice doesn't melt through the whole movie! That is cold to me - and to just about anyone.

In this neck of the woods, you can't go to the Highlands without getting strawberries. It is too hot in the low lands of the country to grow strawberries but they are everywhere in Cameron Highlands!!! The Highlands are known mostly for their tea plantations however. In fact, many of the Indians in the country came here to work on the tea plantations. Some of those very families still live and work on the plantations. On my last visit here I met a BOH girl (BOH is the name for the largest tea plantations here). We were also able to drive my good 'ole Proton up to the highest point in the peninsula. For those of you who have driven a normal car up Mount Currahee, near Toccoa, Georgia, this climb was much much worse!! You have to honk before rounding any of the curves of the narrow one-way road so that anyone coming down can hear (not that they could stop but they could hear!! :) . Well, I had to get my off-roading in somewhere!

I am getting a more proficient in the language and it actually helped us (Julia and I) out in the Highlands! You get a better deal when they know that you are "local" and not the typical tourist! So, there is the proof that the language classes are not wasted!