We made it to the bus station by 10:10 to catch our 10:30 bus to Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. Having checked in and confirmed the registration number of the bus we joined lots of European backpackers at the Shell garage to await the arrival of the bus. Two other buses arrived at the garage prior to our bus and parked in a manner such that no-one could access the garage for fuel. Our bus then arrived and blocked the road. The first two buses weren't collecting passengers but remained stationary. The lady who checked us in then appeared and urged everyone to move their luggage and themselves to the other side of the garage. Then our bus driver moved the bus along the road and parked alongside the garage where we were all previously waiting, so we all moved ourselves and our gear back to where we started. In usual fashion everyone rushed and pushed and forced their backpacks into the luggage store under the bus. It was a small space and there wasn't any room for our luggage so it was hoisted inside the bus. My backpack was placed next to the driver but Ian's had to go on the floor beneath our feet. Luckily for us we had been allocated the front two seats yesterday so we could comfortably stretch our legs out despite having to accommodate three bags between us!
The bus journey was probably as expected. It struggled up hills, pushing maybe 20 kph and barely reached 75 kph in other situations. Quite early on we dived into our reading material to avoid witnessing any unfavourable events on the road, mainly involving ourselves. Once we reached the Cameron Highlands the roads became very windy and we enjoyed a few near misses with oncoming trucks descending from the highlands. We completed the journey in 4 hours 30 minutes and arrived in Tanah Rata at 15:15. As we exited the bus we were bombarded with people offering us accommodation and transport. Surprisingly one of the chaps was incredibly helpful and not only did he telephone our chosen accommodation to check availability he also passed the phone to Ian who managed to acquire a collection from the bus stop. I had begun to believe that this world no longer homed helpful people who don't talk to you just to get money from you! It was wonderful to find one so helpful.
Once we had settled into Cinnamon Cottage at Bala's Holiday Chalets we took tea and scones in the garden, which was colourful with fuschias, and enjoyed the beginnings of a light rain shower, thinking to ourselves: how English...
Before dinner we took a brief stroll to a lookout behind the cottages and then played several games of bao.
Dinner was a relatively expensive curry accompanied by some beers. We retired fairly early after reading magazines in the cottages communal lounge where a big green insect had taken to frightening us on numerous occasions!
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.