Father's Guesthouse in Tamah Rata (http://fathers.cameronHighlands.com). You find there a very kind stuff and a lot of Backpackers. Especially if you are travelling by yourself, this is a good place for staying at the Cameron Highlands.

Some impressions:

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

Father's Guesthouse, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

written by  Voyager on February 6, 2009 from Tanah Rata, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Asia 2008 / 2009
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Normally I avoid to use packaged tours, because they are focussed on general tourist points. I was really thrilled from this tour (made by Cameron Secrets, http://www.cameronsecrets.com/).

The way went through the tea plantages of the Cameron Highlands:

Tea plantations

Tea plantations

Tea plantations

The tea trees here are very short (shorter than the original plant): They have grown accordingly by the farmers for better reaping the tea.

Tea Plant

Tea plant

The first stop was at the Gunung Brinchang, the highest mountain in the Cameron Highlands (2.032 m). Unfortunately it is currently very cloudy here and so we haven't seen anything (except fog everywhere).

Near this point we entered the Mossy Forrest, a rainforest totally based on a bed of moss. The moss is the place for the roots of the plants as well as a reservoir for the water.

Mossy Forest

Mossy Forest

Mossy Forest

Mossy Forest

Mossy Forest

Mossy Forest

My conclusion after two days staying here: The Cameron Highlands are one more absolute amazing place in Malaysia.

written by  Voyager on February 6, 2009 from Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Asia 2008 / 2009
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Bus stop somewhere between the Highlands and Kuala Lumpur:

And the first photo from KL with the Patronas Twin Towers:

More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam
http://www.rbenninghaus.de/thaipusam.htm (German)

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

Thaipusam 2009 at the Batu Caves

written by  Voyager on February 8, 2009 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Asia 2008 / 2009
tagged Thaipusam and BatuCaves
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

Dragon Dance

Dragon Dance

Dragon Dance

After taking breakfast (tasty Croissant with butter and jam and coffee latte at Starbucks), I started to Putrajaya using a local bus. The buses in KL have bus announcer, which stand in front of the bus and shout permanently the destintion of the bus ... mostly just with the voice, sometimes with a megaphon:

Bus announcer

Bus announcer

After 45 Min. and for 3.50 RM I reached Putrajaya, which is located south of KL between KL and the airport. Putrajaya is the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. It is named after the first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra. It is a planned city, founded in 1995. The idea was to move to and concentrate the federal administration offices in one new city. From the Perdana Putra, the office of the prime minister, starts the main road. The several administration offices are located along this main road. Each building is designed in a different style with several architectural influences.

More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrajaya

Putrajaya

Perdana Putra

Putrajaya

Putra Mosque

Putra Mosque

Putra Mosque

Bus to Melaka

There I stayed in the Jalan Jalan Guesthouse

Jalan Jalan Guesthouse

Jalan Jalan Guesthouse

I tested the first time for me to stay in the dorm:

Jalan Jalan Guesthouse

It's like a youth hostel in my school time. But it works and it's very cheap (Euro 2,60 per night). And it's the best way to get in contact with other travelers. But the Jalan Jalan is located near a mosque and a hindu temple. The muezzin called at 5:30 am (!) to prayer. After him the hindu people started their mass with loud music. With the help of Ohropax it was possible to sleep anyway.

Melaka itself has a high historical relevance and was place of several historic events.
It was founded as trading place by Chinese people due to the strategic position at the straits of malacca. Later on Melaka was occupied by the Portuguese (1511-1641), the Dutch (1641-1824) and the British (1824-1957). Melaka was also place of the independence declaration of Malaysia in 1957.

In Melaka you can find archaeology from the several epoches. Furthermore is the old Chinatown completed preserved. Reasons why Melaka has became World Heritage Site of UNESCO last year.

More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melaka

In Melaka you find churches of all confessions side by side:

Kampung Kling Mosque, Melaka

Kampung Kling Mosque, Melaka

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Melaka

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Melaka

Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple, Melaka (?)

Christ Church Melaka

Tamil Methodist Church, Melaka

St. Francis Xavier's Church, Melaka

Some more impressions:

Canals in Melaka at night

Maritime Museum, Melaka

In the meantime it is everytime a special feeling of freedom travelling only with my backpack:

From Melaka to KL

Today I bought a netbook (small notebook) in KL. At the tourist places in Asia you have everywhere wireless internet access and it'' s really convenient to communicate in this way:

Modern Backpacker Travelling

I use the Locosys Genie GT-31 GPS logger, which records every 15 seconds my current geo position (http://www.gogps.ch)

GT-31 Data Logger

This information enables to trace my tours on Google Earth.
Example: The tour of one day on Pulau Langkawi:

Route in Google Earth

And it's possible to link the photos with the geo information to show the locations in Google Earth:

locr GPS Photo Software

It is a great technology and you can look forward to the final website of my journey.

18/Sep/2010:
Actually I use GeoSetter (http://www.geosetter.de/) for tagging the photos.

written by  Voyager on February 20, 2009 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
from the travel blog: Asia 2008 / 2009
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...

First of all many thanks to all for the great feed-back for the blog. It is a great pleasure for me to hear this.

Two days ago I've reached Kuta on Bali, Indonedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuta). I named it the hell of Bali. But fortunately I heard, that Bali has nice places as well.

In Bali lives a special species called "land crocodiles" (the Indonesian people call them so). And most of them are living in Kuta. It began already at the airport, where the taxi drivers want a multiple of the regular price for the transfer to Kuta town. Fortunately I'm currently travelling with a friend, who know to speak Indonesian and this makes it easier.

At the first evening I walked through the town and every meter a taxi driver asked me, whether I want a taxi, a woman or something else. They are very importunate. It was absolutely nerving.

The town is very crowded (and it is low-season now!). The party mile is red light district at the same time. The beach is direct at a main road. There is no cozy place or a nice bar for sitting at the evening at the beach.

It is just a terrible tourist place and you see nothing aboriginal vom Indonesia except the souvenirs in the shops.

It is maybe a good place for them, who want just to surf and make party at the evening. But it is only a dream world and not Indonesia.

Yesterday i've started to explore the island by motorbike (it is really an adventure driving motorbike here). I was in Nusa Dua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusa_Dua) in the south of Bali. It is area with many high class ressorts along the beaches and a big pleasing shopping mall in the middle. A nicer place, but a dream world as well.

I will explore Bali in the next days further on. I'm still hopefull to find nicer places here. I'll keep you informed.

written by  Voyager on February 24, 2009 from Denpasar, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Asia 2008 / 2009
Send a Compliment

---

comment on this...