Roaming Brood

Penang is a world-renowned travel stop, so we decided to check it out while we were in the neighborhood! Street art - very professional! Penang is an Island off the west coast of Malaysia. About 4hrs north of KL The drive is beautiful but leaves you wondering why there are so many palm trees in Malaysia.   our wondering lead us to asking folks about it... and discovering a major contributor to global warming. You see, Malaysia's jungle is part of our planet's lungs - apparently accounting for 4% of all greenhouse gas reduction capacity on the planet... and 8% of gaseous pollution reduction capacity on the planet. Jungle stripped in favour of palm trees Did you know south-east asians cook mainly with palm oil?  Did you know they fry almost everything?  Well... that creates a load of demand for palm oil... and Malaysia is a major producer of that crop and its derivatives.  So - the jungle is being deforested just when we need it most!  So...

Malaysia is hot.  Very hot.  The Cameron Highlands, however, offer a wonderful reprieve from the intense heat.  We needed light sweaters in the evening and the day time highs were mid-20s.  Sitting at >1400 metres above sea level, these lush lands are home to rainforests, jungles, strawberry farms and tea plantations.  The roads were incredibly winding- the most extreme so far...beating out Hawaii, Japan and Thailand. Misty arrival to the Cameron Highlands.. the land of tea plantations Vivid colours and mind-bogglingly artistic shapes dot the scenery Playing in the tea fields - some plantations let you get right into it Gorgeous hibiscus flowers growing everywhere The darker patches indicate recent harvesting and the lighter patches are waiting to be harvested All of the tea leaves are harvested by hand! Exploring the fields We had hoped to walk the tea fields in Sri Lanka... the famed land of tea (and other nice things).....