MALAYSIA REVISITED

As you would have seen from my previous post, I had comfortably made it on 18 Nmovember 2017 from Thailand into Malaysia, the day before my Thai visa expired. I was done with all the immigration formalities by mid-day, so I didn't bother hanging around there. A huge culture difference here is that Malaysia is a Moslem country (Thai is Buddhist), and early AM in my tent at the Watt in Thai, I could hear the Imam from the Mosque across the border calling the faithful to prayer.

From the border town of Padang Besar (2 towns with the same name on either side of the border line), I carried on South into Malaysia. The first 2 nights I camped at roadside restaurants, one closed for the night, and the other closed down. These places are handy for camping as there is water for washing and cooking, as well as a toilet somewhere close by. The people were also very friendly, and even offered me food (although I had my own). Within 3 days I was at Butterworth city, which is across the channel from Penang Island. I wanted to go to the Thai Consulate in Georgetown on Penang to apply for a new Thai visa.

I did not want to cross to Penang that night, because I still had some way to go on the island to the place where I intended to camp. So I found an R&R at the Butterworth higway toll gate, conveniently right at the beach. (These "Rest and Recovery" areas came in handy when I was on highways all around Malaysia - bicycles are allowed on most of the highways, just follow the motorcyle channels around toll gates, etc.). There are shops, food courts, toilets and showers, and security at the R&R.

While I was looking around the R&R I came across another scruffy-looking cyclist sitting at one of the beach-side gazebos, enjoying an early dinner. Constantin (yes, also from Russia) is a previous "Rock Star" - in his own words. He suffered a serious stroke, willed himself to recovery, and has spent the past 4 years cycling from Moscow to SE Asia. A couple of hours later, after I had set up camp and he had packed his bike, he was on his way again. He was going to cycle through the night to Alor Setar city, about 100 km. Some cyclists prefer to cycle at night in order to avoid the heat and the traffic (I avoid cycling at night after the accident I had Sept 2016).

The following morning I took the ferry from mainland Butterworth to Georgetown on Penang island. There are 2 highway bridges to the island, but even the closest bridge is a long way around. The ferry is convenient, takes 20 minutes, is very cheap (and free return). After the ferry it was about 30 km around to Batu Ferringhi, on the North side of the island where I had camped 8 years ago. On arrival I was very pleased to discover that the old fishing platform high above the rocks was still there, and I set up camp.

On my previous stay there I had injured myself by falling through the rotting wooden walkway. Now that wood had been removed, so entry to the platform involved balancing on a concrete beam (tricky at night when you need to go out for a pee!). The municipal office 20 m away was now open, with toilets and showers. The road workers there were done by mid-day and spent the rest of the time fishing around my camp (so I had "security" because I was mostly away during the day).

Even at night I was not alone at my high camp. Prawn fisherman Zac had to wait until the tide was low enough for him to wade amongst the far rocks and cast his net. In the few days I spent camping there, Zac's starting time ranged from about 9PM to 2AM. A few hours chest-deep in the water for a Kg of prawn, and the rest of the day sleeping in his car (with his wife Anna).

My main reason for coming to Penang had been to obtain a new Thailand visa. My sister Olga as usual offered to fund the cost, which turned out to be more than what I had anticipated. Since previously I now had to have an air ticket out of Thailand (pay agent for dummy ticket). This meant a few times from my camp to Georgetown and back. Luckily I had a good free place to stay.

Probably the mainstay of agriculture in Malaysia is Palm Oil (I may be wrong, because there is also rice and fish and PETRONAS). This product is used instead of dairy and other fats in many foods. I took this pic just to show what a palm oil cluster looks like. At times, especially in the interior of the country, the road can become rather tedious because your view is limited to the oil palm groves lining the road for miles and miles and .....

I had not been in Malaysia on the bike for any extent of time for 8 years. At that time I often stayed in rooms or hostels (with Leana). Nowadays I seek free camping and I did not know about that thing in this country (No Watts like in Thailand). But, thankfully, I did find it easy to camp in Malaysia. In this tropical region I always seek to camp under cover, with toilet and water close by (cook, drink, wash). I also prefer to camp close to people, for security and also all the reasons I just mentioned. And so I did find good camping, mostly at highway R&R, petrol stations, and the larger mosques. Other places I sometimes camped was at cemeteries, once at a Sikh crematorium, and again at small restaurants which had closed for the night (close to petrol stations, or bus station - for water and toilet).

In the majority of Thailand it is now the DRY season (at least they have 2 seasons). It seems that in the South of Thailand and Malaysia they have not yet received the news about this being the DRY season. So I have had a lot of rain here in Malaysia, but it is not really cold. An exception was just after I had passed Kuala Lumpur going East up the big hills to Genting Highlands. I was exhausted, soaking wet from sweat, and there was a breeze. Not surprisingly, I have bacome acclimatized to the Thai conditions, so when the "mercury" drops to the low 20's C then I feel cold.

Distances cycled since crossing the border from Thailand into Malaysia have been:- Kangar (Malaysia) 69 km; Guar Chempesak 68 km; Butterworth 74 km; Batu Ferringhi (Penang Island) 28 km; NW Penang 16 km; Tonjung Tolong 35 km; Georgetown 57 km; Visa Org. 51 km; Gurney 35 km; Bagan Ayam 30 km; Simphan Ampat 25 km; Simpang Lima 41 km; Simpang 48 km; Pantai Remis 64 km; Lekir 51 km; Teluk Intam Rd 48 km; Sekinchan (West Coast) 64 km; Kundang (Kuala Lumpur) 72 km; Genting 59 km; Temerloh 102 km; Gambang 72 km; Kuantan (East Coast) 69 km; Sungai Ular 47 km; Paka 79 km; Kampung Kelulut 76 km; Sungai Tong 71 km; Pasir Puteh 89 km; and Rantau Panjang (Malaysia side of border) 84 km. Total cycled thus far is 150 438 km.

Exactly one month (on 18 December2017) after entering Malaysia, I exited. This is a border which I had not crossed previously, from Rantau Panjang (Malaysia) to Sungai Kolok (Thailand). This is in the NE of Malaysia, and I had entered into Malaysia at Pedang Besar in the NW. - - - - - OH! The picture above you ask? Yes, rubber trees. Out of season the cups are turned down, and later there will be a new shaving off the bark and the cups will face up.