Having bitched about the limited vocabulary of the GPS, it wreaked revenge by directing us through a particularly jammed section of KL, before spitting us out on the toll road heading north. After a couple of hours we were in the foothills of the Cameron Highlands and climbing out of the heat and into cooler air.
It was in 1885 that James Cameron, leading a colonial government survey, discovered the plateau at 5,000 feet which became known as the Cameron Highlands. Having discovered it, he felt the overwhelming urge for a celebratory cup of tea. Failing to find a tea shop, vasts tracts of the highlands were immediately requisitioned for tea plantations. And they are still there today.
Having found cool air and an endless supply of tea, it was only a matter of time before the colonialists started building weekend houses in the highlands. Over time, the area has become a popular tourist destination and many hotels and guest houses have been erected, all in the old English country house tradition.
Our hotel was called The Lake View, although it really should have been called the Sultan Abu Bakar Reservoir View. Anyway, a very pleasant view out of my bedroom window.
And a very pleasant bedroom. Four poster bed with English country hotel trimmings including a black bakelite dial phone just like grandma used to have before she went insane and tried to eat it. Downstairs there was a lounge with a log fire, very welcome in the cool evenings. The place even had the smell of a slightly used English hotel, I think it was the damp carpets. Part of me enjoyed it, part of me felt like I was back in England and I wanted to escape.
The only downside was the restaurant which offered food exactly like you used to get in an English hotel: bland, badly cooked and over-priced. Fortunately, we found a restaurant in a nearby town serving roti chanai, so we did not starve.
After a night in little England, we drove over the mountains and back towards KL. Nobody could have predicted the hardships and disappointments that lay ahead.
To be continued…….