7-12
The past two days we have enjoyed cloudy skies. Thank goodness, since the temperatures are over 95 degrees. The southwest trade winds prevelent during this time of year are pleasantly at our backs. We sweat so much that our drenched clothing actually help to keep us cool. The riding has been through some rural country, past more traditional Malay Houses, logging operations, miles of rubber plantations and palm oil crops. Judee got off the bike and to talk to the lady scratching the ring into the tree that let the rubber seep into the attached pot. We learned later that Malaysia is importing workers from Thailand and Indonesia to work the plantations because there are few Malays that want the work. Many plantations sit unproductive. We have been dazzled by a few brilliantly colored birds including the magnificent kingfisher with its irridescent blue-green wings. The birds sing to us as we ride. Art saw another monkey and we can hear their big bodies moving through the trees after the ripening fruit.
The smells are almost unbearable at times. Open drainage ditches, rotting fruit, hidden trash in the jungle foilage and probably a few dead animals made me try to cover the smells with perfumed oil on my upper lip under my nose. It helped very little and gave me a rash!
Last night in Kuala Pilah, our hotel, the Desa Inn, was a clean well-accomodated place plus the lady manager helped us arrange a taxi to take us to see the all wooden state palace built entirely without nails in 1905 and used until 1957. She also recommended a terrific place for dinner and in the morning her husband, George, a Portuguese gentleman who moved to Malaysia in 1952, took us to breakfast. We also were treated like stars as we came upon an interesting festival and stopped to take photos. But the families turned the tables on us and we had to stand in front of each structure and have our photo taken with the gathered clans!! We were dragged from one clan compound “tent” to the next. Everyone wanted to touch us, to be near us in the photographs, to talk English and ask about our journey. The men were enthusiastic and the women, animated. We are flagged down by people sitting at outdoor easteries, waved at by women and children waiting for buses! It is fun to be noticed and included in conversations. If we had wanted to stay at the festival today, we were invited by each family, even given water and drinks for the road. We just had too far to ride (116km) to get to a hotel for the night.
Festival we were invited to join |
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We are not ready to do a home stay. Many of the foods are still strange, many we find unusual enough to be unpalitable to our western tastes. Bathrooms are often holes in the floor; no TP, but water is used to clean ones’self and water is all over the floor, even in public bathrooms. We look for western style accomodations and those are infrequent in non-tourist areas where we are often riding. Tourist locations can be very far apart, accessible by car, bus or train, but not by bike. Local accomodations do not have a/c and we have a tough time sleeping in the 80 degree heat and then trying to ride all the next day.
7-13
We made lots of kilometers by taxi with Ashim, the most delightful driver and tour guide originally from India. Driving by hundreds of square kilometers of palm oil trees, we learned of the replacement of rubber trees into palm plantations. Also about palm platations: as palm trees age they are injected with poison and younger trees planted.
1. rubber trees
2. rubber collected for the factory
3. Art with a ball off raw rubber
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We saw more rubber trees and learned that the trees must be scored each day to keep the rubber/latex flowing. The workers bring their rubber harvest to a weigh station and are paid for their labors, which they split 50/50 with the plantation owners. The rubber “balls” are trucked to the processing plant which heats and rolls the rubber into flat mats for export. As we got out of the taxi to view the processing plant, Art and I were hit with the stench!! What we had thought was sewage or durians along the road was actually the rubber being processed! UGH!
Our actual destination was Gunung Senyum or ‘smiling mountain’ where we saw huge limestone caves populated by 21 species of bats. There were many lofty caves, but we entered only two: the Moon Cave where a sunlit opening, hundreds of meters above us, created sun beams and light spots inside the cave. These caves had apparently been covered in water 40 million years ago, but how they grew like pinacles above the surrounding forests is a mystery to us.
Our second destination was an elephant sanctuary. This popular attraction had mini buses filled with tourists from Kuala Lampur waiting in line. We fed the elephants, rode the elephants, and for those who brought bathing suits or extra clothes, bathed the elephants. The park is an attempt by Malaysia to protect, not only the forests, but the native animals that populate their jungles. The elephants kept in the sanctuary are orphaned or trained for use in a translocation program. The program relocates elephants whose territory has become too small to sustain their herd: palm plantations vs jungle. An estimated 800-1000 elephants are left in Peninsular Malaysia. Ashim told us that governments: US Bristish, French, Italian, will not buy their products unless Malaysia replants burnt and slashed forests. He explained that to mean replant with rubber or palm oil trees. I’m not so sure that is what the environmentally pro-active governments mean.
Mayalsia is a vital and growing ecomony, with plans to become a developed country (not developing) by 2020. It also has its ‘original people’: the Orang Asli, the people of the forest. The government gives them money, builds them cement houses with sanitary bathrooms, but the people prefer to live in their stick and straw houses, shooting wild boar, squirrels and monkeys with blow guns to suppliment the food the government provides them. It seems every culture has its ‘original people’.
7-14
Two days ago, heading north towards Temerloh, the road was fairly straight but up and over many hills, some marked 10% grade. It reminded us of ABC’s Alpine Alpa ride through Ohio’s Amish countryside: up, down. Art worked hard shifitng through all 27 gears hill after hill. Today our terrain is curvy through jungle hills, the terrain marked by long and gentle ups and downs. We are seeing troops of monkeys in this area of natural vegetation, less palm and no rubber plantations, so far today. I want to photograph the monkeys, but they are wild and leery of humans who may still hunt them.
The sun is out and it gets so hot. We stop several times a day to refuel. An electrolight beverage called Plus 100 is keeping Art from having the usual leg cramps. We drink about one liter of replacement drink, a liter or two of ice tea or Pepsi and the same for water while riding during each day. Food stalls are all along the road so we find rice, noodles and curry dishes easily.
We are riding the Karaka Highway (#2). From Kuala Lampur to Kauntan there is also a new super highway privately owned with steep tolls that keep the trucks on the state highway #2 with us. Dogs aren’t an issue as in so many places we ride. The few dogs we’ve seen are pets. Malaysians have cats, bent in so many different ways, almost all with stumped or crooked tails. It seems they must get into places they shouldn’t when young. Everywhere are chickens. Several joined us at our picnic table today for snacks.
1&2. Durians for sale
3.man and monkey at roadside
4. making our lunch - roti and egg
5.floating mosque
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7-16
We are now on the “gringo trail” and have seen other cyclists: a couple and a family of four. As we follow the recommendations and read the glowing descriptions in the Lonely Planet Guide, we wonder which planet they are talking about. Cherating was written up to be such a lovely laid-back place where one may choose to extend their stay for weeks. In reality, it appeared to be a bombed out refugee camp! Dirty, with streetside eating places over-charging for the same unimaginative foods. No wonder the residents were so sullen. It was too hot for the liter-strewn beach and the accomodations were either in tear-down condition or new and characterless, all over priced. This is not the Malaysia we have been loving. As tourists around the world, we have pulled into a number of these beautifully described beach sites to be greeted with similar conditions.
Cherating |
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I have loads of time to write and read. We had a spoke break; fixed it; rode 400 meters and had a flat. Another rim just split! Art is running all over the small town of Cukai while I babysit the bike and gear. Hopefully, some shop will have something to replace it. Art came back with a new wheel, we put on the tire and patched tube and off we rode: 500 meters and another flat. Obviously, I had not repaired the tube completely! Every time we had to take all the bags off to remove the back wheel, adjust brakes, etc. The new wheel has NO bump! Ever since the bike was damaged in the airplane to Bali, the rear wheel had a flat spot and I believe the split wheel was the result of that.
Across the street is a nice retaurant, so we eat lunch. It is now after 2pm and we have only traveled 15km. We decide to push on. There are suppoosed to be several resort style accomodations along this road. Miles and miles of terrible traffic and ugly road. Who ever suggested the east side of the Malaysian Peninsula as a good cycle? It is getting late, the sun is sooo hot and we are finding no accomodations to our liking (too expensive, too old, etc.) and the one we really counted on was full. At 5:30 we find a new hotel: simple but clean in Dungun, 85 km for the day.
After a shower to clean up and cool down, we raced to the nearest US chain eatery: Pizza Hut. Never in the US do we indulge so often in these fast food places, but we get tired of guessing what we are eating in the Malaysian street stalls. Spices are knowledgably and liberally used to create great taste treats. Most choices incude fish: fish heads, tiny dried fish, chunks of boney fish. Art doesn’t care for fish and I find I don’t particularyly care for most of the fish dishes either. A seafood curry was served in a hot pot with a small crab hacked in two pieces, a fish head, several whole, unpealed prawns, and squid. I relish KFC or a Big Mac or an American omlete for breakfast!
Batiking process |
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We are staying in fairly good shape considering the heat. Judee has heat rash on her thighs (could be laundry detergent residue) and she is suffering from an eye infection, probably caused by the particulates in the air. Art has to take special care of his bottom: boils threaten to erupt on the longer days. We sometimes have rub spots on our feet. All in all we heal pretty quickly and use salves liberally.
7-20
Over the river and through the woods…Oh no just over the bridge and on to the island we go in search of builders of local sailing and fishing boats. In Kuala Torrengganu yesterday, we had read about these wood craftsmen building boats without plans, just work of mouth passed from father to son. As we criss-crossed the narrow lanes, we came across a ship building yard which looked like it had what we were looking for. We packed Bici out front and went in to poke around. WOW. We found a treasure trove: beautiful wood boats, both sail and fishing, being built. While admiring a dream of a seventy foot with two masts, a voice from above invited us to come aboard and have a look around. The voice turned out to be that of Christoph Swoboda (German) project manager and skipper of the Nago Pelan II. Chris took us on a tour of the Malaysian classic pelangi style sail boat he has been building for the last three years. He told us the story of how the local craftsmen are dying out and their traditional boat building skills will soon be gone. Their construction techniques are unique. They use special barks to seal the cracks between the pegged together planks. Another unusual feature is that the frame work of ribs are added into the hull after the planking has created the form. Chris had a boat built here many years ago and came back to live in Malaysia with the idea of developing a charter boat service. What he found was a dying local industry, so he approached the Malaysian government telling them about the imminent loss of their cultural heritage and convinced them to fund his project, the Rainbow Dragon, to train the local young men in the tradtional boat building skills. Presently, the locals have lost their knowledge of sailing: they build but have no idea of how to rig a boat or why something should be done a particular way. This is to say the least a labor of love by one man to save for future generations the skills and knowledge of building these magnificent sailing vessels. For further information on the project visit the web www.naga-pelongi.de. Next year you can catch a ride on a very special ship.
7-21
It is raining and has been for hours. I can barely hold the pen to write, my hands are so wrinkled and shriveled up from our long time in the water this morning snorkeling. For the past three days we have been marooned on this deserted tropical island off the mainland of Malaysia. Well not exactly deserted. There are fifteen cabin/chalets stacked up the jungle mountainside over-looking the most pristine bay. We are a 30 minute walk from the local fishing village. We are rather isolated but easily accessible by water taxi. The electricity is off from around 9:30 am to 5:30 pm so most of the guests sit along the beach or as today on the covered porch where we receive our meals, reading, playing cards or boards games. It is warm as we sit in our swim suits listening to the patter of the drops hitting the tin roof. I guess that is to be expected during the southwest monsoon season.
Christoph Swoboda and his boat project |
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The snorkeling here has been outstanding. Water is warm and relatively clear as we swim through forests of coral formations both soft and hard. Huge boulders of gold, dotted with purple lips (clams) and large patches of waving hair with clown fish peeking their heads out. Large bright parrotfish pecking off mouthfuls of coral; schools/clouds of fish of every color imaginable swimming before our masks. It is like swimming in a large aquarium fantasy world. We have spent over eight hours snorkeling here and each experience seems to out do the last. When we finish our two to three hour stints we are spent, cold, tired and ready to eat. At night we come down for dinner at around 7pm, order and our dinner arrives 45 minutes to an hour later. While waiting, we play cards and sip our beer. Lights off by 9:30, we sleep soundly. The only noise is our air conditioner and the rain.
1. beach trail
2. working on nets
3. bright saris
4. walk on water
5. typical toilet/shower arrangement
6. colorful shops
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7-24
Island retreat |
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