Tag Archives: Malaysia

Day 158

Cher: What would you do if you become a wolverine tomorrow? Would you still finish this trip?

Chopper: F**k the trike! Who cares about cycling around the world when you are indestructible and immortal? I would take on some war lords, either that or saddle a whale and ride him on a world tour. What about you?

Cher: Definitely f**k the trike. Maybe I will become a chef, those claws would be great for cutting vegetables.

Since we didn’t turn into wolverines this morning, we carried on our ordinary mortal life. Chopper spent the day doing trike maintenance and I catching up on the blog. A swim in the ocean in the afternoon made everything better. That is something we can’t enjoy if we ever turn into the Wolverine one day, not with that solid adamantium skeleton.

Day 157

We were asleep by 6pm and slept an incredibly deep 12 hours of sleep. I could have slept more when the alarm woke us up at 6am.

Learning from the experience yesterday, I did some research on accommodations in Malaysia. A homestay turned out to be something completely different from we thought. It is a fully furnished house, with a kitchen, living room and bed rooms that can be rented out on a daily basis. It is not a budget choice for cyclists, as we always come in pack of 2 or less. Also, cheap sex motels that are abundant in Thailand simply do not exist in Malaysia, as the culture here is heavily influenced by Islamic laws. Traveling for Malaysian people is more of a family event than a personal odyssey, so fancy resorts survived the market while budget hotels only exist in big towns.

With that in mind, plan ahead is going to be the rule of the game. I found a resort that offers a “backpacker’s suite” for 50 RM on the beach 66km away, and a couple of other cheap places further away for the next few days. Hopefully we won’t be blindly searching for hotels under the hot afternoon sun.

The ride was hot and humid as usual, and due to our proximity to the ocean we got strong headwinds all the way through. But we were rewarded by the stunning view – white sandy beaches which stretch on uninterrupted by rocks or large resorts, with absolutely no one on it except us.

When we got to the beach front resort, we were the only guests and as advertised they had a cute little A-frame house for backpackers on a budget. After a tiring swirl of ferries, buses and trikes transfer, this was the perfect spot for a rest day.

Day 156

Even with our luxurious bus, I barely slept. While watching Malaysian t.v. on the bus, we were surprised to see an advertisement for shampoo directed at Muslim women. Of course you never saw her hair in the advertisement, as it was covered in hijab, but it promised to keep her cool all day long. I never thought about how to advertise shampoo to someone who keeps their head covered. I was now too excited to sleep, as I began trying to see the world through this new revelation. Even when I was tired enough to sleep, the freezing cold air conditioning and the bus driver’s racing through narrow winding mountainous roads, kept me up either shivering or rocking. Between curling myself up to keep warm and safe, and listening to Chopper’s snoring, I slept for 2 hours of the six before we were dropped off at the Kota Bharu bus terminal at 4am. Despite the early hour, we still drew a crowd when we were assembled our trikes in the dark.

As we crossed the empty city of Kota Bharu, our pilgrimage to the east coast in the dark was accompanied by the early morning adhan from minarets along the road. We moved quietly in the dark through forests and small towns before cycling down someones driveway past their cows to reach the beach just before sunrise. The view was supposed to be splendorous, but I passed out cold while we were waiting for the sun to come up.

After a short nap, we were back on the road, looking for a hearty breakfast to jump-start the day. We stopped at a road side stall where locals helped us to order our first breakfast in Malaysia – delicious roti with curry, and 2 cups of black coffee, all for only 7 RM. Most Malaysians speak English, so it took very little time to make friends.

We set off again, now searching for a room. I had seen a lot of signs for homestays and guesthouses when we were riding through Bachok. But with a good breakfast in my belly and a cool morning breeze, we decided to press on a bit further.

However, when we finally decided to seriously look for a room, we could find none. We followed numerous roadside signs for homestays, guesthouses, or travel lodges, but we found either deserted houses overtaken by the jungle, or nothing – we guessed that many went out of business and didn’t take down the signs. On the plus side we discovered drinking water machines which charge 10 cents per liter, so we could carry on our hotel search in the afternoon heat.

When we eventually found a few resorts that were actually in business, they were incredibly expensive. The first one was fully booked, the second one started from 68RM for a very basic moldy room with a cold shower. Whoever decided carpeting a room in the jungle next to the ocean would be a good idea? A fancy resort down the road asked for 288 RM for the cheapest chalet. Determined to find a good deal we continued searching.

We came across yet another sign for a homestay, and at the end of a dirt road we found a shed with 6 single beds in it, and the price for 1 nights stay at this wonderful human stable, 120 RM. We were directed to another homestay which was supposed to cost only 40 RM, but the owner was nowhere to be found. Chopper suggested wild camping, but I was in no mood to entertain the thought. We had little food, no fuel, and not enough water, and although we would have survived, I desperately desired a shower, climate control and a ready-made bed to lay down my weary body.

Forward we went, and after almost 48 hours of non-stop traveling we came across a hotel that cost 100 RM for a room in Tok Bali, we didn’t hesitate to take it. It was modern, cold, clean, and we didn’t even flinch despite the fact that it was 1.5 times our daily budget for food and lodging.

Day 155

Yep, it was a long day. We started our travel marathon with a pleasant 10km morning ride along the mangrove forest, and got to Tamalang Port with just enough time to hop on the 9:30am ferry to Langkawi, a small island off the coast of Malaysia. From Langkawi we needed to catch another ferry to the mainland of Malaysia. Even though the direct trip from Satun to Kuala Perlis only takes an hour on a longtail boat, there is no public ferry service. We could have chartered a longtail boat for 1800 baht to go directly to Kuala Perlis, but we would have had to backtrack to a town 60 km away to catch it. The ferry ride was economical, efficient, and air-conditioned. A one way ticket cost 300 Baht for 1 passenger and 100 baht for each bike. Once we arrived in Langkawi we got our visa stamps within 2 minutes, and were able to ride our trikes through Malaysian immigration without being searched, x-rayed or delayed. Langkawi was the easiest border crossing so far. From Langkawi to Kuala Perlis, the ferry costs 18 MR per person and 15 MR per bike. From other cyclists’ blogs, we learned that the east coast of Malaysia is better for cycling. There is less congestion, cheaper accommodation and much of the road follows undeveloped beaches. However, we arrived on the west coast as planned in order to avoid travelling through southeast Thailand, where separatist groups have recently bombed military checkpoints and shot teachers. You can find where and why not to travel in this region here. We would also have had to cut across the Malaysian peninsula on mountainous roads to reach the other side. Steep climbs, coupled with a lack of cheap accommodations along the way and tropical heat made the decision to take a bus from Alor Setar on the west to Kota Bharu on the east easy. We got off the ferry in Kuala Perlis at 2pm and planned to take the night bus from Alor Setar to Kota Bharu. Since we have our own human-powered vehicles we decided to peddle the 46km to the bus terminal in Alor Setar. On our first ride in Malaysia we were treated to typical tropical weather with stifling heat and humidity followed by short hard showers followed by more heat and humidity. We made it to the Alor Setar bus terminal at 6pm, with plenty of time to book an overnight bus to Kota Bharu. Unexpectedly, none of the several bus companies there would take our bikes as luggage. Fully aware of my unwillingness to change the original plan at this point, Chopper tried his best to persuade a bus company called Pancaran Matahari to take our trikes, including inviting their sales person to observe a demonstration on how small our trikes fold. After watching the demonstration he was satisfied and at the price of 25 RM for each trike, and 45 RM per person, we were allowed on the 10pm overnight bus to Kota Bharu. In the end we still had to remove the 2 front wheels from one of the trikes to fit it in the compartment, thankfully we have quick release tires and didn’t hold up the bus taking them off. We had a leisurely dinner at a nearby restaurant and quickly assessed our situation. First of all, we were covered with muddy road grit from the earlier shower and several layers of sweat which left salt rings on our clothes, and Chopper wreaking. We both agreed that a shower was necessary for me to survive an overnight bus ride. We quickly resolved this problem by taking a cold shower in the bus terminal’s public bathroom, which cost us only 50 cents each. A shower was also a necessity since we would arrive in Kota Bharu at 4am and we could not immediately check into a hotel without paying extra, thereby defeating the purpose of taking an overnight bus. So once we arrived we would cycle until mid day to before finding a place to stay. If the bus terminal hobo shower put us in a good enough mood to tolerate an overnight bus ride, the bus itself put us in a heavenly good mood for the upcoming journey. It was brand spanking new, fully air-conditioned, with gigantic reclining seats and plenty of leg room. Without exaggeration. these were the kind of seats you would find in first class on a plane. Earlier, we were complaining about the expensive bus tickets, but now we felt like they were a steal. It was like traveling on a Euro express train, but only better. Who could ever expect such a luxury at a reasonable price after going through all the ordeals?