TRAVEL UPDATE FROM CAMERON HIGHLANDS MALAYSIA

I was on Pangkor Island and took a nice walk in the jungle there with a white girl from Zimbabway. We were off in search of a waterfall and were told it ws an easy to follow trail that would only take us about 30 minutes to walk. We got lost 4 times and finally found it after 2 hours. it was a crummy little falls because it is the dry season. I should say the drier season because it it never really dry here. but anyway the walking was nice. Quite a bit cooler under the canopy than on the beach. Saw a lot of monkeys and lots of cool birds lizards and butterflies. We found the trail that we had lost at the waterfall the one with the three red dots on the trees and decided to follow it out.
Big mistake!! After about 25 minutes the trail just ended in dense jungle growth and Michele noticed a bloodspot on her sock. Peel the sock down to find 6 leeches happily making a lunch of her blood. more on her other ankle and I too had about 10 all toghether. These are the grossest creatures on this green earth. I dont know what the goddess was thinking the day she make leeches. Bloody hell. As we backtracked we found the spot on the trail where the leeches hung out. They were in the leafmeal on the trail. There were hundreds of them standing on their tails waiting for something warm to pass so they could leech on and suck yer blood. We moved quickly ourt of there but sill got attached by a few and had to stop later to get them off. Before they leech on they are as thin as a sewing needle, so thin they move in between the threads of your clothing, but in a moment they swell up like a 10 pennie nail from being bloated on your blood.
When they bite you they secrete some chemical that is like novocaine and you dont feel them on you. they secrete another chemical which is an anti co-agulant so you keep bleeding for like an hour after they are finelly removed. Shit! I threw my bloody socks way(they had a couple of holes in them anyhow...).
So now a week later in the Cameron Highlands I have been trecking some more. Much nicer more dense virgin rainforest Jungle here. From an altitude of about 1100meters (3,500 feet) I set out early on path number one alone.Very well marked trail. You cant get lost because you cant mover more than 5 or 10 feet off the trail without a machete the jungle is that dense!! I hiked to 1900 meters over 4 km it took 2.5 hours. It was so steep in places that I had to climb on all fours! The trees here have lots of above ground roots so you have to watch your step not to trip. in the steepest parts it is cool because they act like a ladder. Jolly good fun!! Hot and muddy. here it rains everyday. It is cooler in the canopy, of course, but when I got to the top of the hill, I was muddy all over and my tee shirt was drenched in sweat as was the bandanna on my head.
A couple of days later I go off again into the rainforest in CAmeron Highlands this time with an English guy called Roland, whom I had met at Daniesls lodge where I have been staying in Tana Ratah for the last 5 days. We hiked along a path called 9a to Robinsons waterfalls. Very nice hike. The jungle here was a lot less dense. good falls but the trail goes past them and you only get to look at them from a steep ridge. The falls are about 30 meters below and no obvious way to get down to them and try swimming, too bad as the pool beneath the falls looked inviting. So another 4 km along the same trail till it ended out in a large vegetable farm near a paved road.
We followed the road to another road junction and walked a half kilometer and found a honey bee farm with a tasting room! What luck! Jaahh I love honey!! I had already bought some Malaysian honey to put in my tea so I didnt want to be bogged down with more. We did the cheap-ass-backpacker thing and tasted everything he had and didnt buy anything. It was a fun experience.the guy didnt seem to mind as we were the only ones in the tasting room anyway.
Walked out to the road and saw a sign for our town of Tana Ratah and it was 9km up hill on a paved road with rain clouds overhead. This didnt seem promising so We hitch hiked and got a lift into town just as the afternoon rains began.
I am really enjoying Malaysia. The people here are super friendly. i have had good luck in my lodgings too. The place here in the Highlands is very laid back and the staff are truly exceptional. They make a bonfire everynight and there are loaner guitars and everyone who knows how to play picks a few tunes and we all sit around and play pool and tell traveller stories. They have a beer bar too and they sell some soft drinks so even a light-weight like me can have a few laughs and not feel out of place, drinking my pineapple or mango juice... They also have a DVD lounge with about 900 free DVD movies and a nicely stocked book exchange. A good place to lay low for a few days, i am glad i came.
Tomorrow morning I will go to the east coast to an island group called Perhentians. There are a couple of nice islands there in the group and I will stay on Kecil which is one of the smallest of the populated islands. here, I am said to find the best snorkelling and scuba diving in Malaysia. I will soon let you know. As always I will leave you all with a couple of thoughts from some pretty smart people. No more political shit for a while I promise!!( some of you are sooooo sensitive!)
"The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed"- J.Krishnamurti
"When preparing to travel lay out all your clothes and all your money.
Then take half the clothes and twice the money."- Susan Heller
Peace out.
Rambling Robert