81 Days - Cameron Highlands

The Cameron Highlands

After I left you on the 16th June I went to visit Sarah for the afternoon and evening. Sitting and watching the TV and every hour the nurse would turn up to give the eye-drops. I always tried to exit before nightfall. This was largely as the walk back to Asia Jaya LTR station means a walk under a roadway which during the day was full of lively restaurants, but a muggers paradise when those restaurants were closed. As normal I made my way back and had dinner alone in Chinatown. Each night varying the restaurant while the food seemed uniform. I ordered a beef curry noodle soup which was filling and satisfying in taste. I retired back to my room, played on the computer and read for a bit then drifted off to sleep. I woke up at 3:30am with the most crippling stomach pains. I couldn't ignore it and ran to the bathroom and threw up the curry soup, and what was left went out the other end. This was followed by frequent return visits to the toilet throughout the night and into the morning. Absolutely bloody marvellous. I'd managed to dodge food poisoning or tummy bugs for so long but get it now when I can't spend a day in bed as I had to visit Sarah. I got rid of as much as I could, and was pleased to see some yellow bile come up as that usually is the poison causing the pain. Still at 10am I left in the smoggy KL heat to the station to make the journey to Sarah's hospital. I was conscious that if I looked ill and sweating they may not let me into the hospital so I tried to keep my pain together and look normal. Although while walking up the hill approaching the hospital I doubled over in pain a couple of times, as my tummy twitched trying to get rid of whatever was pissing it off.


I stayed with Sarah until after lunch. I couldn't stay much longer, so made my way back. Besides a good proportion of my time was spent hugging the toilet in her hospital room. I said I'd be back the next day but maybe a little later. That night I was out of the room and into a shared dorm of 6 bunks. Once inside it was gloriously cool. My bunk was a top one in the corner. I sorted out my stuff and jumped on top. Sharing my dorm was a German traveller who had also fallen victim to something hastily and unhygienic cooked in Chinatown and was also suffering. I fell asleep at 3pm I think and woke in a bit of a sweat about 9pm. My pain spasms in my stomach were less frequent and severe. I restricted myself to water and nothing else to fight the dehydration of the diarrhoea. The next morning I was much better but not wanting to eat, which was just as well. I visited Sarah for the whole day. She was getting much better. The eye was clearing up and she was eventually discharged around noon on 20th June. She came back to the hostel and found a bed in our mixed dorm. Not a great place to recuperate. That said it was cool. The dorm had no windows which can be annoying in some ways but easy to find sleep when you need it and not when the sun dictates.

Dancing Fountains, Petronas Towers

We at last got to see more of KL than chinatown and the hospital. We made our way to the Petronas Towers and due to my tummy pains I was not eating anything risky. Therefore a mall of Subway's and other stodge was exactly the food I, not so much desired, but could trust to stay down and not hurt me further.  Our last day in KL, the 21st we returned to the KLCC Mall where the Petronas Towers are and decided to have a nice meal for once. Ignoring how out of place I felt as this Irish Bar Restaurant is surely the place of ex-pat businessmen, and not for the flip-flop bearded brigade, we had a great meal. A very nice pint of guinness, fish and chips and bread and butter pudding to finish. The bill when it came looked extravagant in the extreme in MYR, but actually only £35. I think we deserved a date night. We finished by watching the dancing fountains in the park directly outside the mall and that nicely ended our last night in KL.

Friday 22nd June Sarah had a morning appointment with the Dr. We obviously wanted to have some facts to back up what we both thought was rapid improvement. Also we wanted permission to travel up into the Cameron Highlands north of KL.  We were happy on both counts on seeing the doctor. He confirmed the progress of Sarah's eye. He also mentioned the unlikelihood of it returning. He booked Sarah in for another appointment the following Friday leaving us a week to leave the city. Further to this, we both felt The Cameron Highlands would be good for Sarah or at least better than smoggy KL where dust seemed everywhere and even irritated my ulcer free eyes, let alone Sarah's.

The Cameron Highlands are where the tea plantations are in northern Malaysia. High in the hills the air is obviously much purer than KL. Also the temperature is perfect and a reprieve from the heat we have experienced almost non-stop since Dubai on 10th May.  After leaving the doctors we retrieved our bags from the hostel and caught the 2pm train to Ipoh from KL Sentral. The train was first class, with films and waitress service and the price was £7 each for the 2.5 hour journey. Pulling into Ipoh we had a short walk to the bus station but a 1.5 hour wait for the next bus to Tanah Rata, the main town of the highlands. Already we could see that most the faces were of Indian origin and less oriental. The bus took about 3 hours to reach Tanah Rata climbing steadily through the green mountains, with layered grey hills in the background. Darkness fell as we arrived and a gentleman met us at the bus station offering his services of a ride to a hostel. After 3 stops where we weren't interested we found Twin Pines Guesthouse where we are now. The temperature I was promised was delivered. Last night with crisp sheets and the temperature much lower I had my first complete sleep in a long time, without once leaving one leg out of the covers. Also the first thing I hankered for and really hit a spot, a cold beer? No not a cold beer actually, a nice cup of tea with milk. I haven't had a cuppa in a long time and it was orgasmic.

Malaysiashire

Today we lay in until 10 I think. On rising I showered but also I got rid of my beard. After a month with a beard I feel clean but look in the mirror and see a weird baby-face. Also I actually shaved, not just clippered or trimmed. Yes I had my first razor shave
this year. We tried a walk towards a tea plantation but Sarah being tired and fed up with the large portion of walking alongside the road wanted to return so we did. On the way back we had tea and scones. What's happened to me? Since when have I been so British that I got so excited about tea and scones? I even looked disappointed when the cream on offer was squirty. Absolute barbarians, although was I really expecting Roddha's Cornish Clotted Cream to travel this distance to me? Still the tea in a mug with milk was perfect. Looking out from the cafe the houses, some of which built in mock-tudor architecture overlooking a perfectly cut lawn. The weather fresh, I was back in Southern England for a moment. We can sneer at Empire and colonialism, or harp on about the atrocities, inhumanities, slavery and genocides it caused. Yet if the British Empire succeeded in planting the whole world with teas, perfect lawns and mock-tudor houses, would that have been such a bad thing?