DOWN EAST AND UP WEST - MALAYSIA

And so I entered NE Malaysia, about 30 km from Kota Bharu city (with a broken arm and uncomfortable dog bite). Surprisingly, my first night in Malaysia was spent, not at a mosque as I had expected, but at a Budhist temple!

This was the time of the Malaysian political elections, and party paraphenalia was everywhere. Depending on the wind direction, I was sometimes slapped in the face by rows of party flags (I had to keep my line of cycling in the traffic).

I was cycling down the E coast of Malaysia, which is home to more Malays and therefore more strictly Islamic than the West (which has a larger proportion of ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians in the population). The elections were hardly concluded before the start of Ramadan, an important time for Moslems involving a month of prayer and daytime fasting. While in Malaysia I often camped under shelter at mosques, and I would usually be invited to share the evening meal after sunset. Usually the mosques would also have showers (cold, but the climate is hot and humid, so OK).

I bypassed Singapore while crossing Southern Malaysia from East to West coast. The weather was extremely wet, and besides, foreigners are not allowed to camp in Singapore (you have to pay for rooms). The exception is Ubin Island, but I would have had to pay Singapore Dollars for the ferry to get to the island and back. Also, the camping there seems rather basic with no rain protection (and it was pouring).

Due to the rain I had to protect the moving parts on my bike from the "road muck" which gets thrown up together with the rain water. I was fortunate to find a part of a car fender at the roadside, with which I could extend the rear mudguard on the bike. That, combined with some other innovations, serves to keep that "muck" off the bike - and even the bags are not as messy in the tent at night.

One night I was camping in a convenient mosque close to the town of Mersing, SE Malaysia. I hit the showers but forgot one of my phones (luckily I had 2 phones) in the bracket on the bike handlebar. I could not believe that there would be theft at a mosque on the conservative Islamic East coast of Malaysia (but when I returned from my brief wash, the bracket had been opened and the phone was gone). I expect that someone had been watching my movements from the shadows beyond the premises (there are plenty of migrant workers in the country). And NO, I am not crazy about telephone conversations - I use phones only for Wi-Fi and GPS navigation (hence the handlebar bracket).

The first town I reached on the SW coast of Malaysia was Pontian. It was raining and I intended to reach the next town on my way N in daylight. But instead I was stopped by 2 Chinese Malaysian men (Michael Ho and Jackie Lua) who vaguely asked if I needed help. It turns out they are members of the Pontian Cycling Club, and they escorted me back into town where I camped for 3 nights on the floor of their upstairs "club house". They admit that the club is more of a "party club" than an actual "cycling club", as only about 5 of their 30-odd "members" ever do any cycling. I was welcome to try and empty their fridge of beer, but Jackie kept coming back to re-stock the fridge. They also took me out to restaurants for all meals during the time that I was there, and treated me as though I was some kind of a celebrity. Thanks all of you people, it is unlikely that I will ever be able to repay you for your generosity and kindness. I was also offered stacks of cycling clothes, and I chose to keep a number of outfits (the first time I have ever owned a cycling shirt in my life). Apparently "club members" have grown out of their fancy cycling gear (perhaps the beer has something to do with this phenomenon). I could also dump 2 more of my original perished panniers, as Jackie gave me 2 of his old front panniers (now I only have one of my original panniers left). One morning 2 of these guys carried my bike downstairs, dumped it on their pickup truck and regardless of my protests the bike was soon receiving attention at their local bike shop. The shop did not have my size tyres (27.5 - otherwise I would have had new tyres there and then), but there were a lot of gear etc adjustments made, new tubes, and a new saddle (the saddle made a huge difference to my battered ass, and subsequently, after a number of in-transit adjustments the healing could begin).

On my second day with the Pontian Cycling Club, I was taken on an excursion to the Southern Tip of Mainland Asia. There I bumped into an odd-looking tourist, who turned out to be a touring cyclist who has been on the road for more than 5 years (his bike was hidden close to the park entrance, and he was planning to camp in the vicinity for the night). Well, Allan Cascante, from Costa Rica, was dragged back to Pontian and I had some company that night on the floor of the Pontian Cycling Club. True to their custom, Allan was also invited out that evening, and treated to the hospitality of these wonderful people.

Up the Malaysian West coast, and the next major stop would be Penang Island, where I would apply for a new 2-month Thai visa at their consulate in Georgetown. I arrived at the start of a weekend, so I went to camp at my usual spot on the derelict fishing platform at Batu Ferringhi on the N coast of the island. This is the 3rd time in 8 years that I have camped here, and certainly one of my favourite sites.

And so, by Monday I had visa photos, dummy air ticket out of Thai, etc etc. But, surprise, those "wonderful" officials at the consulate refused to give me another 2-month visa for Thailand. Apparently I have to be going back to my own country on a regular basis, instead of hanging around in SE Asia and spending this much regular time in Thailand.

I still had plenty of time to hang around in Malaysia, but I was keen to know if I could somehow enter Thailand again. So I headed for the Pedang Besar border into Thailand in the NW of Malaysia. To cut a long story short, I was given a free 30 day stamp into Thailand (the notices read that I should have THB 10 000 in cash with me, but nobody asked). Thirty days was enough for me to cruise directly North through South and Western Thailand, until I ran smack-bang into the Mekong and splashed over to Laos.

Daily distances cycled in Malaysia are as follows:- Pengkalam Kubur 84 km; Selising 50 km; Bandar Permaisuri 69 km; Marang 81 km; Dungun 72 km; Kemaman 71 km; Kampung Ubai 93 km; Leband Chondong 94 km; Mersing 79 km; Mawai Baharu 79 km; Desaru 67 km; Bandar Penawar 88 km; Johor Bharu 59 km; Senai 80 km; Pontian 56 km; Peserai 88 km; Pekan Pasir 67 km; Pasir Panjang 82 km; Sepang 59 km; Banting 61 km; Bukit Jeram 60 km; Simpang Empat 108 km; Terung 123 km; Butterworth 111 km; Batu Ferringi 52 km; Georgetown 61 km; In Penang 35 km; Gurun 81 km; and Kangar 105. Total distance to the end of Malaysia is 159 167 km. (The distance through Malaysia amounted to 2 180 km of cycling).