Cameron back to KL for the finale

After I walked into town and got stuck in a bit of a downpour, Tyson and I spent the day fixing my dreads, reading and playing trivia games. The kitchen staff even brought me an extra tray for dinner but unfortunately it was fish. I was able to eat my way around the fish and I was happy to get a hot meal instead of all the junk food and honey sandwhiches. At night, one of the nurses even brought me an extra blanket so we are really starting to feel at home here. The prior statement does not however waiver the fact that we are anxiously awaiting a discharge order. Also some of the nursing practices are questionable compared to what I know but I kept my mouth shut (for once).

The next morning I was up and packed and encouraging Tyson to change out of his hospital clothes long before the doctor had even arrived. Unfortunately the doctor who came at 10:30 am every other morning showed up at 12pm and by the time the discharge went through it was closer to 3pm. At that point they kindly presented our bill and we had even got a free ambulance ride to the bank to get the cash. Once this process was completed and the money was safely in the posession of the hospital it was nearly 6pm. It was a stressful process because they also did not give us the medical report or any of the other papers we needed to file an insurance claim. They did however charg us a healthy fee for a "medical report". Finally we had to leave with a promise that they would "email" it to us. We will see, nothing yet.

So finally we were free to leave the hospital and look for a place to stay for a couple of nights. Unbenounced to us it was a national holiday for the next two days and the rate for the exact same room we had stayed in before the dengue incident was now six times the original price. With a stolen wallet and the medical bill, this sucked even worse than it normally may have. Not only was it more costly, but there was also NOTHING available. Everywhere was booked solid as of months ago. So we wandered around town with all of our bags until we finally found a place to share a single bed in a dorm room in a crappy hotel with no internet or extras. The cost for this was significantly more than we had paid five days ago in a lovely hotel with many ammenities.

We decided to let it go and we went out for Indian food and splurged on chocolate filled buns (famous here) and Pringles (American food is not cheap) and a deck of cards. This is how we spent the night.

After a cozy night's sleep we got up early to enjoy at least one out of the seven days we had in Cameron Highlands. We walked to the next town after Tannah Rata called Brinchang. Here we walked through several strawberry farms made into tourist attractions. They have big strawberry statues and sell strawberry merchandise like keychains, scarves, tuques, ear muffs and mugs. I know that we have many strawberry fields in Pitt Meadows but somehow it had never been such a big deal. Busses and cars were rolling up by the dozens and people were buying up everything in sight. We were amazed and confused. There were also mushroom farms and other vegetables but nothing quite as exciting as strawberries.

We walked past many markets and farms until we reached Brinchang 6 kilometers away. Then we continued to hike another 17 kilometers up to the high altitude tea plantation that is very famous in this community. It was very beautiful! It was high up in the mountains and it looked like a green blanket of tea plants. It was breathtaking scenery and the weather was perfect like a sunny fall day in Vancouver (but a bit warmer). When we finally got to the factory, we were able to walk through where the tea is prepared and even try samples (well 6-7 samples if your Tyson). In fact Tyson took so many samples that I felt inclined to buy some tea which we did. It was a neat experience and the best part was the scenery that was unreal. In the pictures I was having a bad hair day so please excuse that and focus on the beauty of the fields behind me.

After that experience we walked about 5 kilometers to the base of Ganung Brinchang which is the highest mountain in the region. Then we climbed up it and back down (6 km) through the mossy jungles and rainforest. It was a bit hairy at parts and very steep but it was a good time. That hike took about four hours and then we walked back to the hotel (which raised their prices on us once again for the second night) for 10 kilometers. I am not sure if you have been keeping track of the km travelled but it was a lot, and by the time we got back we rushed into the first restaurant we could find and ate almost double what we normally eat. Back at our hotel we met a lovely German couple and chatted about travelling with them. They kindly informed us that it will be the summer olympics during the time we are in London (an already expensive country) so I think I will start buying lottery tickets now. Then we showered off the mud and sweat and squeezed into our cozy bed for a nice sleep.

This morning we were up early to catch our bus back to KL. It was a four hour ride but we are here now and tying up loose ends before we travel to the Batu Caves for a huge Indian celebration that we keep hearing about. Good times:)

"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"