With our blisters healed we left the steamy jungle for the cooler climes of the Cameron Highlands, apparently one of the highlights of Malaysia according to both the tourist board and our guidebook. Promising rolling fields of vegetables, strawberries, and tea, the Highlands are in fact nothing more than a large garden centre complete with big plastic greenhouses as far as the eye can see. Still, we had arrived on the promise of tea and scones and were determined not to be disappointed. All that separated us from the tea plantations was yet another jungle trek! After several hours of walking the jungle finally gave way to the rolling hills of tea we were hoping to see. Soon enough we reached the BOH Tea Plantation and, after a quick introduction to tea (like we needed that!), we sat down for a well deserved brew topped off with scones, jam and the added bonus of shortbread! Colonialism wasn't all that bad after all!

With that particular food itch scratched we left for our final beach jaunt in Peninsula Malaysia, Pulau Pangkor. A favourite with the locals at weekends but not featuring highly on the backpackers trail the place was pretty much empty when we arrived and before long we found ourselves relaxing in a deserted cove. The peace and quiet didn't last long though. The arrival of the weekend brought with it the crowds from the mainland and soon enough we were sharing the beach with jet skis, banana boats and more luminous orange lifejackets than you have ever seen. Rather strangely the majority of Malaysians (as in many Asian countries) cannot swim and so spend their time floating in the shallows, fully clothed and strapped tightly into their lifejackets! Its a rather odd sight! Looking for some peace and quiet we decided to take advantage of the lifejacket clans apparent water phobia and swum out to the rather misleadingly named and uninhabited 'Coral Island' where we spent the day sunning ourselves on our own private island. Perfect!

All too soon it was time to leave and we set out to Kuala Lumpur, a city we will be flying in and out of a fair few times over the next few months.