Day 133 Kota Bharu to Gua Musang and on to Tanah Rata

 

The girls say goodbye to the beautiful and lovely Nik, who works at the hotel. She has looked after us while we have been in Kota Bharu, especially while David has been ill, and the girls are totally taken with her. But now we are leaving to move inland to the backbone of Malaysia - the Cameron Highlands and start our journey at the station of Wakaf Bahru - 5km north of the city. An early start again we catch the 7.23am which will take us on the "Jungle Railway" to Gua Musang.

The Jungle Railway is the railway line serving the East Coast states of Kelantan and Pahang in Malaysia. Officially the East Coast Railway line, it branches of the West Coast Trunk line  and goes through the forested heart (hence the nickname "Jungle Railway") of Peninsular Malaysia. The route is 526 km but there are no large cities along its route. Most stations are in remote, jungle-surrounded villages and many stops are nothing more than a platform in the middle of the jungle.While the name evokes a journey through thick rainforest, the reality is that the forest in many parts of Peninsular Malaysia is disappearing.

We pass stretches of thick jungle and the railway track goes over several impressive rivers, but also there are many oil palm and rubber plantations along the way. The entire line is a single line, and key tokens are still used and are passed to drivers by station masters without the train stopping by using pouches. Stations are also not interlocked.  At Kusial, the railway crosses the wide Kelantan River. The Guillemard Bridge is the longest railway bridge in Malaysia, built by the British in 1925, destroyed during World War II to hold back the invading Japanese Imperial Army, and rebuilt in 1948.

 

Gua Musang station itself is located at the base of a steep limestone cliff and was totally unreachable except via the Jungle Railway. Here we must catch a bus to get further inland and up to the Cameron Highlands to Tanah Rata,

 

It is only on arrival in Gua Musang that we discover that the buses are not running between the two towns as it is now monsoon season. We, once again, have no choice but to commandeer a taxi to take us the rest of the way. Possibly one of the scariest journeys we have had so far!

 

Only when the driver stops briefly to buy cigarettes does David notice that he has a large knife tucked down the side of his seat! He also drives a break neck speed and from the rear view mirror Nicole can see his eyes closing as he struggles to stay awake for the two hour journey. David forces conversation in an effort to keep him alert as we twist and turn up to the plateau of Tanah Rata. The roads are fortunately very quiet which lessens the dangers of the journey!

 At the edge of the Cameron Highlands the driver stops to point out the "Big Strawberry" - doesnt quite match the "big" things we have seen in Australia but the Malaysians have given it a go! Being a primarily agricultural domain, there are an abundance of vegetables and fruits farms here and we see many terraces cut into the hillsides and row upon row of polytunnel and domed plastic rooves covering plantations of strawberries, tomatoes etc. Cameron Highlands is also the leading producer of flowers and tea in Malaysia.

At last, after almost 2 hours of edge of the seat journey, we arrive in Tanah Rata. It is raining heavily as we pull into the guesthouse "8mentigi" and the temperature is degrees cooler than Kota Bharu.

The girls are thrilled to once again have their own bed and negotiations over who has which bunk begin in earnest!