26 Sept 2016
23. Malaysia
My next tour starts mid-November 'Argentina to Alaska', just finishing the blog's new template.
Entering into Malaysia via the central mountain route proved an excellent choice as there was such little traffic, cycling along a great condition road toward the first big town of Gerik to obtain some currency - this being the Ringitt (MYR - Malaysian Ringgit), being about 5RM to the £1.
Since becoming addicted to Thailand's 7-Eleven food and drinks selection it was [in a way?] pleasing to find I wouldn't suffer withdrawal symptoms and need to sign up to a rehabilitation program as thankfully the stores continued much-the-same within Malaysia - albeit with slightly different offerings – so I slightly amended my shopping list.
From Gerik I back-tracked a few kilometres to the road number-4 intersection that would take me east, from my map it showed it as a twisty, windy mountain route, heading no where of any significance but meant I would receive visual overload of the wonderfully green mountainous rain-forest terrain that Malaysia is renowned for.
Halfway along the route are two long bridges spanning an island within 'Temenggor Lake', a man-made lake that supplies Temenggor hydroelectric dam. Did I mention the rain forest? About half way across the first long bridge the sky's opened with a deluge, with limited areas for shelter I cycle on. At the end of the second bridge just off the shore I noticed what looked like a floating village, accessible from the edge via a long board-walk. It turned out to be a fishing village, with a small cafe' that I made use of for dinner.
Where there's fish you'll find...
Initially asking about camping on it a phone call was made and I'm told it would be $20..to set my tent? Moving back to the road I find a plot of land with some strange buildings on, one of them looked perfect for my tent, with shelter [should it start again] from the ominous rain.
The following morning the mountain climb started in a two metres up, one metre down style but eventually the summit was reached along with a rather big cafe. Many of the vehicle that passed were logging trucks, piled high with hardwood tree trunks - hopefully their tree felling was managed ecologically by replanting new trees and not simply cleared for palm-oil plantations.
Roadside flowers;
Typical scenery (notice the bird).
During the long descent I made use of several fresh-water mountain-springs - showering my head and face with the refreshingly cold water.
Later I take lunch at another roadside cafe and was befriended by a couple of men who managed the floating village I'd previously asked about camping at, they even even paid for my food and drink. The day's ending gave another epic downpour, fortunately (as in Thailand) there were regular roadside shelters.
That evening I camped at a mosque in the town of Jeli, quite a stable place..nothing wobbly about it, wandering around I stop to talk to some locals at a park.
Having recently heard about Malaysia's horrendous floods that had literally swept bridges away I was warned by the family that my chosen route (66) would be difficult, if not impossible and to use alternative [main] roads. This clashed with my desire to keep off the main roads, along with my stubbornness of last-minute plan-changing, so I press forward.
After edging by the town of Dabong, by mid-day I arrive at the Nenggiri River a tributary river to the main river at Dabong. Surreal to think the water could have reached so high! A small village [once] sat at the crossing, a few temporary aid shelters had been erected, I felt so sorry for the people who lived there.
With greenery in abundance banana tree's were common sight. These stubby little fella's were commonly seen in markets and shops, the 'Pisang Musa' banana. A lesser known fact: Technically bananas are herbs - not fruit - as they grow on herbaceous plants (~ 'herb'), not a tree, because the stem does not contain true woody tissue.
Stopping for dinner at another trucker's cafe I decide to camp behind it, a guaranteed spot for a big breakfast! Many logging trucks had past by most afternoon and a small gravel road next to the cafe' was from where most had been emerging.
The following morning I ride away in a cool humid air, a hazy mist hovering above the mountain canopy tree-tops. At another small village a few locals call me over to a cafe for a drink and inform me about the following bridge being down but [also] with boats to ferry people across.
Even a kilometre or-so before the crossing there was signs of flooding. A few puddles and mounds of silt on the kerbside, presumably cleared by road-scrappers and such.
The next big town was Gua Musang, where the quieter road I'd been following merges with the main road from the eastern side. From here the next big town signed was Kuala Lipis and signs lead me up onto a new dual carriage way, with little to see on these roads I manage to blast out a good afternoon's session. By late afternoon the road comes to an end as traffic is conned-off down a slip onto the old road., my pace again readjusting to that of the meandering twists. Soon [as if by luck] another roadside cafe appears so I stop for dinner, after a while a few road construction men appear and when I inform them of my plans to camp there the night one of them points down a gravel road where some of the construction vehicles had been going. A few minutes later I'm following him into their compound. JCB, Caterpillar, Doosan, Hyundai, Volvo – a yard full of earth-overs and associated road-building vehicles, sleeping cabins, a small shop cabin, a dinning area with cooks, mounds of sand, an open-shower. After waiting a while I'm told to leave my bike in one of the sleeping cabins and my new friend 'See All' and I zip off down the old road on a moped for about 20 kilometres.
Firstly we stop at a roadside restaurant for a big dinner. See All is from Pakistan and had come to Malaysia for the work, whilst his family remained at home. Preferring not to stay within the work's compound he rents a room at another quieter compound on the edge of the village we were at.
In the morning we're zipping back along the twisty up and downs of the road, [now] in the daylight I'm able to appreciate the roadside greenery, being quite a busy little road with many tight corners See All suggested I take the new road, albeit closed to vehicles would prove no problem on my bike, so at the main compound I bade farewell to him and his colleagues and take the new road.
Over the next two days I pass some wonderfully colourful and vibrant scenery with gentle hills and people as friendly as ever. Trying my best to keep off the main road I'm led along quiet back-roads that cut through banana plantations.
Terej, whom I met whilst in Thailand suggested that to reach the capital (Kuala Lumpur) I firstly head to Bentong, and from there join the old [and now quiet] Route 68. This proved a great tip! Firstly at Bentong I stop at a big collection of roadside eateries, a long row of kitchens with menus above them and tables galore.
A few km's out of Bentong all the traffic departed the old route 68 for the newer east-west E8 motorway...the road became mine!! With the capital now only 70km away all the stood between me and it was a medium-size mountain pass. As I snaked through lush greenery I started climbing, ebbing continually up, this proved by far the best road I'd seen in Malaysia, a real gem! Stopping at a hotel to fill my bottles the friendly Harley-Davidson owner informed me there was a suitable lay-by a few kilometres along that would prove suitable to camp at due to the waterfall behind it.
A perfect place to camp! During my time there maybe three or four cars came by, one stopping to see the cascading waterfall. In the morning I met a road-cyclist - Zari Nutaraman - from K.L., stopping for a chat informing me he'd also done a few bike tours and was just out testing his new bike.
Climbing further up many cyclist's came speeding down - it turns out this was a popular Sunday-cycle route due to it's beauty... and total lack of traffic. Reaching the summit it then became my turn to zip down, passing other's crawling up.
Soon I'm in the suburbs of K.L., reaching the centre proved easy (and just as scenic) as I managed purely by luck to enter a huge park area complete with a cycle lane, families out with their children, joggers, walkers, ice cream sellers. Asking directions to the city-centre was not necessary as the famous Petronas Towers (the worlds tallest building from 1998 – 2004) was difficult not to see.
Booked in at a hostel for a few nights I decide my next move. Firstly, I had to get my rear wheel looked at as spokes had been breaking regularly since Thailand - something I'd never experienced before as unusual for this problem to occur using a Rohloff hub., and secondly, arrange to meet up with the people I'd met back in Laos – two of them lived in K.L., and one was an English back-packer who was now in the city.
The first morning I locate the bicycle shop. It's proprietor Amed Akhmal tells me he's midway through moving premises so I offer my help on installing a large metal-frame sun shelter that had been fabricated. In the afternoon we look at my wheel, removing the tyre, tube and rim tape we see the problem, the crack was on the rim's internal face between every spoke eyelit along with with several pieces of missing metal around the rim, to think I'd cycled down that last descent into K.L. at 35-40 km/h!
With most certainly no options on fixing it, a new rim was pulled from his stock and the following day laced into place.
Having heard that Batu caves [perched on city's the edge] was a worthwhile visit I use the monorail + train system to get there, which in itself proves an interesting way to see the city.
The caves are within a limestone rock at the top of steep steps housing Hindu temples & shrines, plus a huge deity statue.
That evening I meet the friends from Laos Nalini, Alicia and Patrick and we have dinner within the busy back-packers area, the streets lined with restaurants, bars and street-traders walking up and down. It was great to meet them all again, telling stories of what we'd been doing since we'd first met ~ three months ago.
Being a member on several FaceBook bicycle touring groups I post a few photos on them and shortly another member comments on them.... no other than Zari Nutaraman - the cyclist I'd previously met on the mountain pass - little did we know we were both members of the same group! Informing me his good friend was a keen cyclist and loved to host other cyclists he connects us.
Several messages later Peter Yoong and I arrange to meet in the centre. Also a member of the excellent Warmshowers.org cyclist hospitality group I'm invited to stay at his house for as long as I like to fully 'recharge my batteries'. His house was several kilometres from the centre but with the benefits of a local 'tour guide' proved a relatively pleasant route.
Having recently bought himself a Surly touring bicycle, Peter was eager to start his first big tour so had many questions about my tour. Keen to ensure my stay was enjoyable he took me to several good eateries and introduced to some of his friends, also a friend of Amed Akhmal we call in to see him.
While at Peter's house I took the opportunity to catch up on some blog writing. Here he is with his wife, Alice;
Having found out the Manchester 'England to Oz' lads were also in K.L. messaging them proved a stroke of luck. They were staying in an apartment also in the south of the city about five kilometres from Peter's house, he was also keen to meet them, so on my final night at Peter's house we meet up for food. Considering the last time I'd seen them was in China when [somehow!] we lost each-other [on a straight road!] and never managed to re-join due to Chinese communications problems (Google and FaceBook being blocked). We sat in the restaurant reminiscing about the awesome times we'd had from when we first met through to the amazement of China, with Peter enjoying our stories. Planning to ride out of K.L. the following morning I was soon convinced to stay for a night in their apartment.
The following morning I completed a page on Peter's 'cyclists guest book', a brief write-up about myself and the experience along with my email / blog address and a photo - the book was really interesting as it showed many other cyclist's that he'd hosted on multi-continental tours. Signed and dated we both jump on our bikes as he escorts me along a scenic route halfway to the lads apartment.
150km further south, Peter had a had a good friend - Howard - in the historic coastal town of Malacca (or Melaka) who ran a hostel, and was also a member of Warmshowers.org so cyclist stayed for free. With my parents flying out to meet me in Singapore on a specific date gave ample time remaining so I plotted an indirect scenic route into the mountains, also benefiting from avoiding the [typically] busy coastal route.
Situated on the former Asian trade-route, Malacca became a very busy town, as a consequence fought over and conquered many times by different nations. Now steeped with a rich history, as of 2008 the city centre's former administrative buildings were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Received well by Howard whom is a keen cyclist himself with many bikes out-front for rent along with several fixed to the stair rail and walls leading to the hostel. My room was an unused roof-top storage area with a sun-trap communal terrace - a perfect to socialise and while-away my excess time.
Howard invites all his guests on a guided bicycle tour, proving a great way to see the place – so did I ride my own bike, or be a traitor and go rental?...as Yellow-7 was content resting I chose the latter.
Another evening Howard organises a visit to a locals restaurant he frequents, a perfect way to taste some off-the-beaten-track cuisine.
Like an alcoholic in a bar drinking his final pint, sipping as slowly as possible in order to delay the inevitable bottom of the glass from appearing. With Singapore only 240 kilometres away, my glass was now almost empty, so likewise, slowly sipping I plan a meandering route once again inland.
My first night out from Melaka I find a quiet sheltered spot next to a football field..
..although not quiet for too long as the local youth football team turn up for a game, intrigued with me being there they gladly pose for a photo.
Still passing through excellent greenery
and greenery of other sorts.
This roadside eatery was awesome!! Ranging from spicy fried snacks through to sugary foods I was one happy customer!
That night I camp under a shelter in the town of Kota Tinggi, the shelter being important as although mid-way between Malaysia's two monsoon seasons had narrowly escaped a few brief torrential downpours during the days.
From there, my meandering continues as I firstly head to the eastern-coastal town of Benut before [admitting to myself the trip was finished!! ] heading to the final Malaysian city of Johur Bahru. Upon finding a budget room for the night I then - to ensure no delay on meeting my parents - ride the exact route I'd take in the morning to the border's check-point Causeway, that crosses the Straits of Johur to Singapore.
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