15th May 2018
Suanbo Saipan Hot Spring Hotel, South Korea
24c and raining
Y150 = £1
I'm not very good at this blogging lark this time around. Ten years ago I was writing almost daily but not this time. Hey ho, it's either in your or it isn't. Since my last post we've been to southern Japan and southern South Korea, so let's start with Japan.
We flew into Osaka on a cold and rainy evening in April, we were reminded of the UK immediately. The first challenge was arranging for the transport of two boxed bikes from NIX airport to our accommodation in the suburbs of Osaka. Transporting bicycles anywhere in the world is not easy when they are boxed, but in Japan particularly difficult. NIX is on an island and you can't cycle on the bridges. There are companies all over Japan transporting baggage for tourists but most of them have a size and weight limit. After much consultation on FB and the interweb we ended up going to the KABS company where for a whopping Y9000 each our bikes were transported to our hostel in Osaka.
The next challenge was getting ourselves to our hostel, we felt like a pair of rabbits caught in headlights at NIX railway station. There are always adjustments to be made when arriving in a new country but land borders and ferry crossings seem a gentler way of easing ourselves in. Coming in on the big silver bird means covering huge distances in a short space of time (great, but ....), so the weather, language, culture can all be hugely different. A shock to the system no matter how experienced a traveller you are.
We're not used to having to deal with transportation issues as we usually have our own, so it's daunting, particularly so in a country where the language is so alien to us. We finally worked out where we needed to go and which train to take, and with a little help from Mr Google we managed to buy our tickets, we felt like a right pair of Gringos. By the time our train arrived, and we were 20 mins into our journey to Osaka, we realised one of my panniers was missing. I then realised it was the pannier with ALL my clothes, the sleeping mats and our Helinox chairs, my new contact lenses and several other things I couldn't even remember. I felt sick. When we arrived at Gate 80 Hostel it was 1030 pm, we were soaking wet, freezing cold and very fed up, not a great start to Japan. However, to the rescue came the fabulous Yuti, who, at 11pm managed not only to track down an actual person to talk to about my lost pannier (imagine THAT in the UK) but the actual person who had my pannier! I was elated. In London the Bomb Squad would have been called in and my pannier would have been toast.
The following day we returned to the airport station where we found the man who had my pannier, he also had a list of EVERYTHING contained within (slightly embarrassing but could have been a lot worse). It was like The Generation Game, I had to recall and write down everything in my pannier, while he checked it off his list. He let me off the last few items (a hard skin scourer, a penlight and a bag of elastic bands) and insisted I check through the bag to make sure it was all there. It's true what they say, it's very safe in Japan.
We had all but missed the Sakura (cherry blossom) but I managed to find one tree in full bloom in the park near our hostel. It's amazing what illusions you can create with a camera. Our first few days were very cold but luckily we had anticipated the drop in temperature and liberated some warm clothing from the recycling store at Tree in Lodge. Even so, it was a shock to the system having to wear socks and a second or even third layer of clothing.
Talking of layers, had we stuck with our original plan, going north to Hokkaido, we would have been heading into snow. That's when we decided to go south and into South Korea first, where the weather is much kinder to cyclists. From Seoul we can take a cheap flight direct to Hokkaido at the end of May when, hopefully, the weather is warmer.
Once we were back on the bikes the weather definitely perked up, so much so that within days it was 30c and while we couldn't understand what the newsreaders were saying the images of clear blue skies, with bright sunshine and much mopping of sweaty brows, meant the message was clear. It was unusually hot for this time of year.
First stop was the lovely Kyoto. There is a cycle path which takes you all the way from Osaka to Kyoto and what a fantastic wildlife corridor it is. Between the cycle path and the river green spaces are used for golf, baseball (very popular here), foraging, keeping fit, picnicking and general relaxation. It's also a great place for cyclists to wildcamp.
There are literally hundreds of official free camp sites in Japan and they are mapped in a group on Facebook called Free Camping and Hot Springs. In our experience the camp sites are very clean, they have toilets (with toilet paper) BBQ and fire pits, many of them also provide the cleaning products (washing up liquid and gloves!) but there are no litter bins so everything has to be transported out and disposed of elsewhere! Also included on the map are the Michi-no-ekis (rest areas) where it is also possible to camp. They are designed for motorists and as such the larger ones have great facilities; wifi, cafes or markets, heated rooms with tatami mats for a lie down, and some even have showers.
Kyoto is where you go to see all that is traditional in Japan. It's popular to rent a kimono and have your photograph taken at the temples. You can visit the traditional wooden houses, you may even see Maiko on their way to an appointment. You can take part in a traditional tea ceremony and see a show, but this comes at a price and we were told the price is very high.
Japan is expensive when compared to South East Asia, however, once we got over the initial shock it's actually not that bad. Accommodation and transportation are very costly and seeing as we camped most of the time and we have our own transport it hasn't been too expensive for us. We were there during Golden Week, when several national holidays coincide so that by just taking an extra day or two of leave you can get a whole week off work. We camped in several free camping sites that week and it was lovely to see Japanese families and groups relaxing, laughing and joking. Most of the time we felt everyone was very reserved and shy, except for the lovely gentleman in Hiroshima who, when we told him we were from England, started listing everything English he knew, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Bond etc ........ as we were pulling away from a set of traffic lights he was singing 'Satisfaction'. I'm really not sure what the Japanese people around us were making of that.
From Kyoto we made our way south through the urban sprawl towards Kobe from where we took a ferry to Tokamatsu.on the island of Shikoku, where eventually we would hit the Shiminami Keido, an expressway with a cycle path that runs from Imabari to Onomichi, 80kms across several islands. I had no idea the islands would be so beautiful, surrounded by clear, blue seas, beaches of white sand and practically deserted. One of my favourites was Ikuchi, an island where citrus fruits are the main crop. The orange blossom was just starting and the air was full of perfume, it reminded me of a walking holiday in Majorca many years ago. In fact the weather in Japan and South Korea is very European-like, we can lurch from a hot summer's day to a cool spring morning in hours.
We visited Hiroshima, a very sombre place, where some of the images of what a hydrogen bomb can do to humans and earth are indelibly etched on my brain. It's where we met the lovely Drew from California and it was also Dave's birthday, so a picnic and a beer in the park was the order of the day.
Vending machines selling cigarettes, drinks, beer, noodles and coffee abound, these coupled with the millions of convenience stores means we're never far from food and drink, or wifi. We discovered we can also buy WINE, oh yes, a reasonable Chilean red for Y400/Y500. Sushi is also very reasonable as long as you stick to the vegetarian variety but, just to confuse us, buying rice to cook for ourselves is very expensive and there's no cheap Indian or Thai rice to be had either, unless you go to a shop that deals in foreign goods, but there you'll pay a premium.
Eventually we made it to Shimonoseki where we would take the ferry to Busan, in South Korea. More adjustments and moving onto South Korea would be no different, however, it was the number of permed heads which took us completely by surprise!
Laters
Showing posts with label cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cycling. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 May 2018
Friday, 13 April 2018
Singapore, Bali, Japan and South Korea
11th April 2018
Tree in Lodge Hostel, Singapore
32c and humid
It's interesting how plans can change, especially when you don't have onward tickets to worry about. The only date in the diary is Teleri and Todd's wedding, 31st August, in Sydney. Don't worry, it's in the diary and we won't forget. Seriously though, not having deadlines and responsibilities while travelling can lead to a total meltdown in the whole scheduling process. Just yesterday a woman at the hostel discovered she'd missed her flight to Bali because she hadn't checked the time properly. But first, a quick catch up on what we have been up to since leaving Sumatra.
We took the bus from Bukittinggi to Dumai and we're glad we did. Palm oil plantations as far as the eye could see, plus a roller coaster of a road which, at times, was so narrow it would have been dangerous to cycle. Some spectacular mountainous scenery along the way, so it wasn't all bad. Returning to Melaka and eating thali was a welcome change from fried noodles or rice. The three day cycle to Singapore was uneventful, we got to see even MORE palm oil plantations and I got to squirm around on my increasingly uncomfortable saddle before making the decision that I HAD to get a new saddle in Singapore. There was no more 'tinkering' with the height, the angle or the bracket that had broken, and trying to straighten the twisted 'nose' hadn't worked either. It was 'do or die'.
The crossing into Singapore was easy and before we knew it we were in safe, secure, dependable, efficient and sparkly new Singapore. Dave took Maps.me at its word and followed the cycle route which, at first, seemed like a good idea but we soon found ourselves leaving the Park Connectors and on mountain bike trails, which with a loaded touring bike, believe me, are no fun. It took HOURS to get from Jahore Bahru to our hostel when it should have taken no time at all. We later discovered that we weren't the only cyclists to have fallen for the Maps.me trap, so that made us feel slightly less stupid.
After Sumatra we were both feeling in desperate need of a 'holiday'. It had been a difficult 5 weeks with both of us being ill (not at the same time which extends the 'down' time significantly) plus all the other difficulties mentioned in my previous post. We had also, at that time, been travelling for 9 months and were both feeling the need for a break from the bikes. So somewhere between Bukittinggi and Melaka we decided to ditch the bikes in Singapore and fly to Bali for a couple of weeks. Luckily, the lovely Tree in Lodge hostel were good enough to let us store our bikes and panniers (we literally had one carry on bag) in Singapore so it was easy enough. I just want to say at this point, the SK and Jung (spelling?) the guys running Tree in Lodge Hostel have been amazing. This is a wonderful hostel, especially for cyclists, they have looked after us (and the other 10 cyclists that we have met here) SO well, we can't thank them enough. If you're heading to Singapore, this is the ONLY place to stay.
We flew to Denpasar with Scoot (Singaporean budget airline) having done virtually no research except for how to get from the airport to Legian where we had booked our first few nights' accommodation. We had spent several months in Indonesia 30 years ago but seeing as our recollections of Bali were scant to say the least, we didn't think it was any use at all. Getting around Bali is not easy, even if it is a small island compared to Java and Sumatra, we found out why early on in the trip.
There is only one public bus company Kurakura (tortoise in Bahasa, that tells you something) and it's not permitted to operate from the airport. There is only one taxi company with a licence and wo-betide any other company who try to muscle in on that business. The taxi company with the licence is NOT the taxi company with the great reputation, that is Blue Bird. So, on arrival you have to have your wits about you and know what the prices are. That in itself is difficult, because nobody really wants you to know the 'real' price. We discovered the price should be between 55,000 and 80,000 Rps. Ask at the official taxi desk (which is where all the tourists are herded towards) and they will try and charge you as much as they can get away with. Our first quote was 250,000, we walked away and eventually (while walking away) negotiated 100,000, still over the odds but not too bad. The gnashing of teeth started right there.
Friends we had met in KL were also in Bali and had been staying in Sideman (pronounced Sid-a-man) and it looked so lovely up there on the eastern side of Mt Agung, in amongst the rice terraces, that we decided we would like to spend a few quiet nights up there also. Transportation to and from Sideman, for the reasons stated above, is not easy. The reputable Blue Bird doesn't go that far (30km), the public bus company only serves the densely populated south and therefore doesn't go there either. It looked like the only way to get there was by hiring a car and driver for the day at a cost of 400,000 or 500,000 rps. We found that very difficult to justify when the accommodation was costing less than 200,000 per night. So after much deliberation and gnashing of teeth, we cancelled the Sideman accommodation and went north to Ubud. At least we could take a bus to Ubud, but it was when we arrived there we realised the extent of the 'taxi mafia' problem in Bali. Not only are Uber, Grab and any other online booking service not permitted, there are stories of 'outsiders' being beaten or their cars being vandalised. The streets of Ubud are lined with individuals offering taxi services, but there are no taxi companies. It's a big problem for tourists like us and it occured to me that the government could easily do something about this but they clearly choose not to.
Once we got over the logistical nightmare we settled down to enjoying our break. Legian and Kuta are great places if you need to shop, and for the first few days we needed to do just that. Legian is the slightly quieter end of a very VERY long beach that eventually leads into Kuta and while shopping was on the agenda initially it didn't take very long for that novelty to wear off. We chose accommodation based on two criteria, it must have an outside seating area (either a balcony or access to a terrace) and a fridge. If it had a pool as well that was a bonus (two did). The choice is extensive, for less than £10 a night we fulfilled our criteria, AND had a fabulous breakfast included but you can pay less or you can push the boat out and book one of the resorts overlooking the beach, or go really exclusive and rent a fabulous villa In the hills where it's a little cooler.
The heat had ramped up significantly, or so it seemed, so day long excursions anywhere were immediately cut to half, and eventually we managed 3 hours at a time. We slept A LOT, ate western-style food (again, the novelty wore off fairly quickly) and drank beer and cocktails, we socialised with the 'Canadians', a lovely group of people all travelling together and so glad to have met them in KL and have caught up with them in Bali. We walked and walked but found ourselves dipping into malls to cool off as the temperatures seemed hotter than ever.
The highlights were the walks we took in the rice paddies in Ubud, such a beautiful place, really calming and hardly any tourists. It was in Ubud we were most reminded of when we were in Bali all those years ago when we were invited to a wedding and teeth-filing ceremony (quite often done at the same time) I still have the photographs somewhere. I remember the young couple very well, they were physically very slight, as a lot of Balinese are, in full traditional dress and they looked TERRIFIED. I wasn't sure if it was the wedding or the teeth-filing that was terrifying them. In those days Ubud was a large village it's now a huge, sprawling town with far too much traffic, just like the rest of Bali, particularly the south. Ubud is still a very special place and you can get away from the tourist trap shops and restaurants fairly easily, just turn down an alley way, or head to the rice paddies and you'll find a local artist, a yoga studio or a potter.
Eventually we found ourselves back in Singapore, fully rested and ready for the next part of our adventure, Java, (returning to) Bali and Lombok. Unfortunately for Java we met the lovely Michel and his wife who after an evening's chat persuaded us that cycling in Java wasn't actually a good idea. A couple in their 60s they are experienced cycle tourers, who have travelled in many difficult places, had given up on Java because they felt it was very dangerous. If I'm perfectly honest we were both looking for an excuse to look at other options, after 5 months in South East Asia we were feeling a little SEAd out. So while Dave was at the dentist having his filling replaced I got to thinking about ALL our options and did a bit of brainstorming with the help of Mr Google. The result (although these things are never THAT straightforward, in fact it took a whole day of BOTH of us with the aid of 2 phones, a laptop and a lot of 'what ifs' being thrown around) was a flight to Japan. Our intention was to go to Japan AFTER Australia, but why not now?
Since booking the flight to Osaka we have changed our route several times based on a meeting with Gerald (who had recently toured in Japan) and consultation with weather maps. Japan is actually quite big (should have worked that out before we booked the flight) and we really want to tour around Hokkaido (in the far north, lots of bears, yikes) but the weather is still cool. So, we have decided to head straight for South Korea (weather's lovely now) and then fly from Seoul (we think we can get a cheap flight for approx £140, for both of us and the bikes) to Sapporo in Hokkaido. By that time, the weather should be perfect.
Our first problem is getting out of Osaka airport with 2 boxed bikes, 4 panniers and 2 extra bags, into Osaka itself. We're hoping the baggage forwarding companies will take pity on us and not turn us away (recent accounts are they don't take bicycles any longer, but if you label the boxes with 'bike parts' we might get away with it). The other approach is to act dumb 'Johnny Foreigners' who know no better and hope that all the stories we have heard about wonderful customer service and the inability to offend are correct. Wish us luck!
Laters
PS we have flights to Australia booked now, 8th August, to the Gold Coast, then a mere 900 kms cycle to Sydney!
Link to Facebook photos coming soon!
Tree in Lodge Hostel, Singapore
32c and humid
It's interesting how plans can change, especially when you don't have onward tickets to worry about. The only date in the diary is Teleri and Todd's wedding, 31st August, in Sydney. Don't worry, it's in the diary and we won't forget. Seriously though, not having deadlines and responsibilities while travelling can lead to a total meltdown in the whole scheduling process. Just yesterday a woman at the hostel discovered she'd missed her flight to Bali because she hadn't checked the time properly. But first, a quick catch up on what we have been up to since leaving Sumatra.
We took the bus from Bukittinggi to Dumai and we're glad we did. Palm oil plantations as far as the eye could see, plus a roller coaster of a road which, at times, was so narrow it would have been dangerous to cycle. Some spectacular mountainous scenery along the way, so it wasn't all bad. Returning to Melaka and eating thali was a welcome change from fried noodles or rice. The three day cycle to Singapore was uneventful, we got to see even MORE palm oil plantations and I got to squirm around on my increasingly uncomfortable saddle before making the decision that I HAD to get a new saddle in Singapore. There was no more 'tinkering' with the height, the angle or the bracket that had broken, and trying to straighten the twisted 'nose' hadn't worked either. It was 'do or die'.
The crossing into Singapore was easy and before we knew it we were in safe, secure, dependable, efficient and sparkly new Singapore. Dave took Maps.me at its word and followed the cycle route which, at first, seemed like a good idea but we soon found ourselves leaving the Park Connectors and on mountain bike trails, which with a loaded touring bike, believe me, are no fun. It took HOURS to get from Jahore Bahru to our hostel when it should have taken no time at all. We later discovered that we weren't the only cyclists to have fallen for the Maps.me trap, so that made us feel slightly less stupid.
After Sumatra we were both feeling in desperate need of a 'holiday'. It had been a difficult 5 weeks with both of us being ill (not at the same time which extends the 'down' time significantly) plus all the other difficulties mentioned in my previous post. We had also, at that time, been travelling for 9 months and were both feeling the need for a break from the bikes. So somewhere between Bukittinggi and Melaka we decided to ditch the bikes in Singapore and fly to Bali for a couple of weeks. Luckily, the lovely Tree in Lodge hostel were good enough to let us store our bikes and panniers (we literally had one carry on bag) in Singapore so it was easy enough. I just want to say at this point, the SK and Jung (spelling?) the guys running Tree in Lodge Hostel have been amazing. This is a wonderful hostel, especially for cyclists, they have looked after us (and the other 10 cyclists that we have met here) SO well, we can't thank them enough. If you're heading to Singapore, this is the ONLY place to stay.
We flew to Denpasar with Scoot (Singaporean budget airline) having done virtually no research except for how to get from the airport to Legian where we had booked our first few nights' accommodation. We had spent several months in Indonesia 30 years ago but seeing as our recollections of Bali were scant to say the least, we didn't think it was any use at all. Getting around Bali is not easy, even if it is a small island compared to Java and Sumatra, we found out why early on in the trip.
There is only one public bus company Kurakura (tortoise in Bahasa, that tells you something) and it's not permitted to operate from the airport. There is only one taxi company with a licence and wo-betide any other company who try to muscle in on that business. The taxi company with the licence is NOT the taxi company with the great reputation, that is Blue Bird. So, on arrival you have to have your wits about you and know what the prices are. That in itself is difficult, because nobody really wants you to know the 'real' price. We discovered the price should be between 55,000 and 80,000 Rps. Ask at the official taxi desk (which is where all the tourists are herded towards) and they will try and charge you as much as they can get away with. Our first quote was 250,000, we walked away and eventually (while walking away) negotiated 100,000, still over the odds but not too bad. The gnashing of teeth started right there.
Friends we had met in KL were also in Bali and had been staying in Sideman (pronounced Sid-a-man) and it looked so lovely up there on the eastern side of Mt Agung, in amongst the rice terraces, that we decided we would like to spend a few quiet nights up there also. Transportation to and from Sideman, for the reasons stated above, is not easy. The reputable Blue Bird doesn't go that far (30km), the public bus company only serves the densely populated south and therefore doesn't go there either. It looked like the only way to get there was by hiring a car and driver for the day at a cost of 400,000 or 500,000 rps. We found that very difficult to justify when the accommodation was costing less than 200,000 per night. So after much deliberation and gnashing of teeth, we cancelled the Sideman accommodation and went north to Ubud. At least we could take a bus to Ubud, but it was when we arrived there we realised the extent of the 'taxi mafia' problem in Bali. Not only are Uber, Grab and any other online booking service not permitted, there are stories of 'outsiders' being beaten or their cars being vandalised. The streets of Ubud are lined with individuals offering taxi services, but there are no taxi companies. It's a big problem for tourists like us and it occured to me that the government could easily do something about this but they clearly choose not to.
Once we got over the logistical nightmare we settled down to enjoying our break. Legian and Kuta are great places if you need to shop, and for the first few days we needed to do just that. Legian is the slightly quieter end of a very VERY long beach that eventually leads into Kuta and while shopping was on the agenda initially it didn't take very long for that novelty to wear off. We chose accommodation based on two criteria, it must have an outside seating area (either a balcony or access to a terrace) and a fridge. If it had a pool as well that was a bonus (two did). The choice is extensive, for less than £10 a night we fulfilled our criteria, AND had a fabulous breakfast included but you can pay less or you can push the boat out and book one of the resorts overlooking the beach, or go really exclusive and rent a fabulous villa In the hills where it's a little cooler.
The heat had ramped up significantly, or so it seemed, so day long excursions anywhere were immediately cut to half, and eventually we managed 3 hours at a time. We slept A LOT, ate western-style food (again, the novelty wore off fairly quickly) and drank beer and cocktails, we socialised with the 'Canadians', a lovely group of people all travelling together and so glad to have met them in KL and have caught up with them in Bali. We walked and walked but found ourselves dipping into malls to cool off as the temperatures seemed hotter than ever.
The highlights were the walks we took in the rice paddies in Ubud, such a beautiful place, really calming and hardly any tourists. It was in Ubud we were most reminded of when we were in Bali all those years ago when we were invited to a wedding and teeth-filing ceremony (quite often done at the same time) I still have the photographs somewhere. I remember the young couple very well, they were physically very slight, as a lot of Balinese are, in full traditional dress and they looked TERRIFIED. I wasn't sure if it was the wedding or the teeth-filing that was terrifying them. In those days Ubud was a large village it's now a huge, sprawling town with far too much traffic, just like the rest of Bali, particularly the south. Ubud is still a very special place and you can get away from the tourist trap shops and restaurants fairly easily, just turn down an alley way, or head to the rice paddies and you'll find a local artist, a yoga studio or a potter.
Eventually we found ourselves back in Singapore, fully rested and ready for the next part of our adventure, Java, (returning to) Bali and Lombok. Unfortunately for Java we met the lovely Michel and his wife who after an evening's chat persuaded us that cycling in Java wasn't actually a good idea. A couple in their 60s they are experienced cycle tourers, who have travelled in many difficult places, had given up on Java because they felt it was very dangerous. If I'm perfectly honest we were both looking for an excuse to look at other options, after 5 months in South East Asia we were feeling a little SEAd out. So while Dave was at the dentist having his filling replaced I got to thinking about ALL our options and did a bit of brainstorming with the help of Mr Google. The result (although these things are never THAT straightforward, in fact it took a whole day of BOTH of us with the aid of 2 phones, a laptop and a lot of 'what ifs' being thrown around) was a flight to Japan. Our intention was to go to Japan AFTER Australia, but why not now?
Since booking the flight to Osaka we have changed our route several times based on a meeting with Gerald (who had recently toured in Japan) and consultation with weather maps. Japan is actually quite big (should have worked that out before we booked the flight) and we really want to tour around Hokkaido (in the far north, lots of bears, yikes) but the weather is still cool. So, we have decided to head straight for South Korea (weather's lovely now) and then fly from Seoul (we think we can get a cheap flight for approx £140, for both of us and the bikes) to Sapporo in Hokkaido. By that time, the weather should be perfect.
Our first problem is getting out of Osaka airport with 2 boxed bikes, 4 panniers and 2 extra bags, into Osaka itself. We're hoping the baggage forwarding companies will take pity on us and not turn us away (recent accounts are they don't take bicycles any longer, but if you label the boxes with 'bike parts' we might get away with it). The other approach is to act dumb 'Johnny Foreigners' who know no better and hope that all the stories we have heard about wonderful customer service and the inability to offend are correct. Wish us luck!
Laters
PS we have flights to Australia booked now, 8th August, to the Gold Coast, then a mere 900 kms cycle to Sydney!
Link to Facebook photos coming soon!
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| Chinatown |
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| Outside Zam Zams with our Singapore 'family' |
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| Veggie Thali |
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| The very expensive Balmore Whisky, £4000! |
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| Getting on the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) |
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| Stephen Wiltshire's Singapore, after a 30 minute helicopter ride |
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| I have no words |
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| Chinatown heritage buildings |
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| Arab Street grafitti |
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| Ubud rice paddy |
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| La Lima Hotel, Kuta |
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| Working |
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| There he is, Boy Wonder! |
Monday, 19 February 2018
Sumatra, the adventure begins
20th February 2018
Brown Bamboo Lodge, Bukit Lawang
A very pleasant 30c, with a breeze
Exchange rate 19,000 IDR = £1
Sumatra is turning out to be an interesting choice. A nearby volcano (Sinabung) erupted yesterday morning, spewing ash 7kms into the atmosphere and depositing a fine layer over our little world. It was dormant till 2010 and since then has been having a merry old time getting lively again. Our host, also the victim of the 2003 flood in Bukit Lawang that wiped out the whole village, yesterday just raised his eyes and shrugged his shoulders saying 'ugh, the volcano is making trouble again' and carried on sweeping the floor. Life goes on.
The ferry from Melaka was very straightforward, it cost an extra 20MYR for each bike and they were safely stowed inside the boat, unlike the other passengers' bags and boxes that were stashed outside on the pointy bit. Dumai is by no means a destination of choice but it's not that bad either. We were totally convinced that despite everything we read on the internet we would be able to find a bus or minivan to take us to Medan during daylight hours. This is what happens when you've spent a long time in countries which have good infrastructure and transport systems. It's a bit like trying to imagine you will need to take a fleece and a flask of hot tea with you, when at the point of leaving it's 35c, it's difficult to perceive how and when the change will come. There was NOTHING to Medan apart from the night bus, leaving at 7pm, 10 hrs, 554 kms. We asked everyone we came across about transportation to Medan, blank stares were usually followed by a light bulb moment of 'ah Medan, night bus'.
Because we were so foolishly convinced of the transport situation we spent the night in Dumai in the City Hotel, although this did give us an opportunity to get an Indonesian SIM. The only shop selling them was run by a Chinese family, who were packing up for the New Year but they very kindly opened up for us. We paid 100,000 INR (about £5) for, we think, 2 gb, over 30 days, but we can't be sure because the language barrier kicked in and we cannot for the life of us find out how to check our balance. When it runs out, it runs out. Later on we discovered we didn't have the SD card but lucky for us, again, the owner was still in the shop so we were able to retrieve it and ALL our photos, phew.
City Hotel wanted a whole day's rate for a 4 hr late check out, which we politely declined, deciding instead to sit in their air conditioned lobby and use their excellent wifi. We had eaten at a small warung the day before and the effects were being felt by both of us so we were glad of some clean facilities. There is a type of food/restaurant here in Sumatra (named after a city in the south) called Padang. The shop front displays the dishes on offer, the bigger the warung, the more dishes. When you sit down all the dishes are put in front of you, you pay for the ones you eat. Spotted the problem with this yet? Cooked dishes are sitting in a glass window, they go to a table, don't get eaten (or maybe they get prodded a bit) and they go back to the glass window for the next customer. Since then we've stuck to cooked dishes but we can see, as we move around, a LOT of places only do Padang food. Thank goodness we have a cooker now, we could be eating a lot of noodles in Sumatra.
On the way to the bus station Dave was propositioned by a man on a motorbike. We've read at least two other accounts of this happening, in and around the same area, so is it one person who is very prolific, or, are their lots of very frustrated men in Dumai? Since then there have been a couple of conversations that make me think that Dave is going to be more of a target for getting hit on than I ever will be. As I said, Sumatra is turning out to be very interesting.
As well as the unwanted sexual attention Dave is also the lucky person who now has to deal with all the bureacracy. Women tend to stay in the background and the men all want to talk to Dave so, for a while anyway, I can just exist in the background and not have to deal with all the day to day rubbish, welcome at the moment, but I'm sure it won't last. We've already worked out some 'safe' words/phrases to get him out of sticky situations.
After the usual malarky with buying bus tickets, tout takes us (despite protestations) to the bus station (a ticket office just outside) but I don't believe him so hike off to the bus station itself around the corner only to find the prices are very similar (shame on me for doubting). The bus turned out to be as comfy as a night bus can be, not too cold, we had blankets and some water and a food stop (50,000 for 2 bowls of soup, rip off, that won't happen again).
We'd read such a lot about Medan being a sh*thole, but really, it's not that bad, once you find the green spaces it's OK. We found a mall just down the road from our GH with a Carrefour Supermarket so stocked up on essentials. We were very pleasantly surprised to find cold beer at our GH (35,000 for a large bottle, only a 1000 markup on shop prices).
Cycling the roads in Malaysia had introduced us to the notion of bad drivers and we didn't feel very safe there. Here, the roads are generally in worse condition, there are more belching trucks but the drivers aren't that bad. The road to Bukit Lawang at times disintegrated into a potholed mess, usually around the villages. As usual, the most difficult thing about the ride was the heat (my new pants seem to be working, fingers crossed) therefore plenty of shade and drink stops were required.
One of the things we weren't ready for were the full on, in-your-face touts, who began accosting us on their motorbikes about 2 kms from the village. Most people arrive by bus, so I'm sure it's worse for them. Dave ended up telling them to f**k off and leave us alone, but they just looked incredulous, they don't really understand people getting angry. The reason for the aggressive touting is the very lucrative Trekking industry that exists in Bukit Lawang. The touts know that if they can befriend you first, arrange a guesthouse (and claim commission) and get you to go on a trek with them, they will be quids in.
We visited Bukit Lawang in 1989 when there was an Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre here. After the Orangs were 'rehabilitated' (physical ailments etc) they were released into the jungle but fed twice daily, a deliberately boring diet of milk and bananas. For about tuppence you could buy a pass and that entitled you to 3 days' worth of trekking (twice a day) with the rangers, to the feeding platform. Some Orangs would feed for a day or two and never be seen again, others wouldn't leave. The ones that didn't leave are the ones that you will see now. This feeding programme continued until 2015. Unfortunately, now if you want to see Orangs 'in the wild' in Sumatra you will pay between £40 and £50 for a half day, depending on your haggling skills. We've read and heard horror stories of terrible guides, some of which border on putting lives in danger others are just inexperienced or immature, but the common denominator seems to be that they all still feed the Orangs, which is good for business because the Orangs want food so they will come, that's what tourists want to see.
It's a tricky one, but we decided not to partake, despite our host trying incredibly hard to persuade us to go with his guide. Had we not already seen Orangs previously we may have had a different attitude. £40/50 is not a lot of money to someone from Western Europe, goodness, my neices and nephews think nothing of spending £120+ on a night out but here it's a lot. I've asked myself what the difference is between the feeding programme and the trekking business now and it's all about the money. The feeding programme wasn't a money-making venture, but in all other respects, it's the same, so maybe we were no better back then. We couldn't bring ourselves to pay so much money, to watch a guide feed Orangutans so we could take photos. I talked to a guy in Medan who said that he had had an awful experience when a guide had fed a mother with her baby, there were about 30 people all snapping photos, he likened it to the papparazzi! In fairness, he did say that the Orangs didn't seem to be bothered by any of the attention they were getting, but still, I think a similar experience would have made me uncomfortable. I just hope that some of the money that is being made on the backs of the Orangs is being channelled back into their conservation, and into Bukit Lawang, but I'm skeptical. We have had a fab few days in Bukit Lawang. Don't be put off coming here if you don't want to trek, it's a very chilled out place to be, once you shake off the touts that is.
Anyway, you don't need to go on a trek to see wildlife, yesterday we saw a Thomas Leaf Monkey having a nosh down by the river. Fabulous.
Volcano permitting, we are heading towards Berestagi, not far from the volcano and then onto Lake Toba, we'll be checking the news regularly for updates, I don't fancy being fried alive in Sumatra.
Laters
PS if the volcano doesn't get us the passive smoking will!
Brown Bamboo Lodge, Bukit Lawang
A very pleasant 30c, with a breeze
Exchange rate 19,000 IDR = £1
Sumatra is turning out to be an interesting choice. A nearby volcano (Sinabung) erupted yesterday morning, spewing ash 7kms into the atmosphere and depositing a fine layer over our little world. It was dormant till 2010 and since then has been having a merry old time getting lively again. Our host, also the victim of the 2003 flood in Bukit Lawang that wiped out the whole village, yesterday just raised his eyes and shrugged his shoulders saying 'ugh, the volcano is making trouble again' and carried on sweeping the floor. Life goes on.
The ferry from Melaka was very straightforward, it cost an extra 20MYR for each bike and they were safely stowed inside the boat, unlike the other passengers' bags and boxes that were stashed outside on the pointy bit. Dumai is by no means a destination of choice but it's not that bad either. We were totally convinced that despite everything we read on the internet we would be able to find a bus or minivan to take us to Medan during daylight hours. This is what happens when you've spent a long time in countries which have good infrastructure and transport systems. It's a bit like trying to imagine you will need to take a fleece and a flask of hot tea with you, when at the point of leaving it's 35c, it's difficult to perceive how and when the change will come. There was NOTHING to Medan apart from the night bus, leaving at 7pm, 10 hrs, 554 kms. We asked everyone we came across about transportation to Medan, blank stares were usually followed by a light bulb moment of 'ah Medan, night bus'.
 |
| Just off the boat |
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| A very large, well utilised, exercise area in the centre of Medan |
Because we were so foolishly convinced of the transport situation we spent the night in Dumai in the City Hotel, although this did give us an opportunity to get an Indonesian SIM. The only shop selling them was run by a Chinese family, who were packing up for the New Year but they very kindly opened up for us. We paid 100,000 INR (about £5) for, we think, 2 gb, over 30 days, but we can't be sure because the language barrier kicked in and we cannot for the life of us find out how to check our balance. When it runs out, it runs out. Later on we discovered we didn't have the SD card but lucky for us, again, the owner was still in the shop so we were able to retrieve it and ALL our photos, phew.
City Hotel wanted a whole day's rate for a 4 hr late check out, which we politely declined, deciding instead to sit in their air conditioned lobby and use their excellent wifi. We had eaten at a small warung the day before and the effects were being felt by both of us so we were glad of some clean facilities. There is a type of food/restaurant here in Sumatra (named after a city in the south) called Padang. The shop front displays the dishes on offer, the bigger the warung, the more dishes. When you sit down all the dishes are put in front of you, you pay for the ones you eat. Spotted the problem with this yet? Cooked dishes are sitting in a glass window, they go to a table, don't get eaten (or maybe they get prodded a bit) and they go back to the glass window for the next customer. Since then we've stuck to cooked dishes but we can see, as we move around, a LOT of places only do Padang food. Thank goodness we have a cooker now, we could be eating a lot of noodles in Sumatra.
On the way to the bus station Dave was propositioned by a man on a motorbike. We've read at least two other accounts of this happening, in and around the same area, so is it one person who is very prolific, or, are their lots of very frustrated men in Dumai? Since then there have been a couple of conversations that make me think that Dave is going to be more of a target for getting hit on than I ever will be. As I said, Sumatra is turning out to be very interesting.
As well as the unwanted sexual attention Dave is also the lucky person who now has to deal with all the bureacracy. Women tend to stay in the background and the men all want to talk to Dave so, for a while anyway, I can just exist in the background and not have to deal with all the day to day rubbish, welcome at the moment, but I'm sure it won't last. We've already worked out some 'safe' words/phrases to get him out of sticky situations.
After the usual malarky with buying bus tickets, tout takes us (despite protestations) to the bus station (a ticket office just outside) but I don't believe him so hike off to the bus station itself around the corner only to find the prices are very similar (shame on me for doubting). The bus turned out to be as comfy as a night bus can be, not too cold, we had blankets and some water and a food stop (50,000 for 2 bowls of soup, rip off, that won't happen again).
We'd read such a lot about Medan being a sh*thole, but really, it's not that bad, once you find the green spaces it's OK. We found a mall just down the road from our GH with a Carrefour Supermarket so stocked up on essentials. We were very pleasantly surprised to find cold beer at our GH (35,000 for a large bottle, only a 1000 markup on shop prices).
 |
| I have absolutely no idea |
Cycling the roads in Malaysia had introduced us to the notion of bad drivers and we didn't feel very safe there. Here, the roads are generally in worse condition, there are more belching trucks but the drivers aren't that bad. The road to Bukit Lawang at times disintegrated into a potholed mess, usually around the villages. As usual, the most difficult thing about the ride was the heat (my new pants seem to be working, fingers crossed) therefore plenty of shade and drink stops were required.
One of the things we weren't ready for were the full on, in-your-face touts, who began accosting us on their motorbikes about 2 kms from the village. Most people arrive by bus, so I'm sure it's worse for them. Dave ended up telling them to f**k off and leave us alone, but they just looked incredulous, they don't really understand people getting angry. The reason for the aggressive touting is the very lucrative Trekking industry that exists in Bukit Lawang. The touts know that if they can befriend you first, arrange a guesthouse (and claim commission) and get you to go on a trek with them, they will be quids in.
We visited Bukit Lawang in 1989 when there was an Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre here. After the Orangs were 'rehabilitated' (physical ailments etc) they were released into the jungle but fed twice daily, a deliberately boring diet of milk and bananas. For about tuppence you could buy a pass and that entitled you to 3 days' worth of trekking (twice a day) with the rangers, to the feeding platform. Some Orangs would feed for a day or two and never be seen again, others wouldn't leave. The ones that didn't leave are the ones that you will see now. This feeding programme continued until 2015. Unfortunately, now if you want to see Orangs 'in the wild' in Sumatra you will pay between £40 and £50 for a half day, depending on your haggling skills. We've read and heard horror stories of terrible guides, some of which border on putting lives in danger others are just inexperienced or immature, but the common denominator seems to be that they all still feed the Orangs, which is good for business because the Orangs want food so they will come, that's what tourists want to see.
It's a tricky one, but we decided not to partake, despite our host trying incredibly hard to persuade us to go with his guide. Had we not already seen Orangs previously we may have had a different attitude. £40/50 is not a lot of money to someone from Western Europe, goodness, my neices and nephews think nothing of spending £120+ on a night out but here it's a lot. I've asked myself what the difference is between the feeding programme and the trekking business now and it's all about the money. The feeding programme wasn't a money-making venture, but in all other respects, it's the same, so maybe we were no better back then. We couldn't bring ourselves to pay so much money, to watch a guide feed Orangutans so we could take photos. I talked to a guy in Medan who said that he had had an awful experience when a guide had fed a mother with her baby, there were about 30 people all snapping photos, he likened it to the papparazzi! In fairness, he did say that the Orangs didn't seem to be bothered by any of the attention they were getting, but still, I think a similar experience would have made me uncomfortable. I just hope that some of the money that is being made on the backs of the Orangs is being channelled back into their conservation, and into Bukit Lawang, but I'm skeptical. We have had a fab few days in Bukit Lawang. Don't be put off coming here if you don't want to trek, it's a very chilled out place to be, once you shake off the touts that is.
 |
| One of several footbridges across the Bohorok River, Bukit Lawang |
Anyway, you don't need to go on a trek to see wildlife, yesterday we saw a Thomas Leaf Monkey having a nosh down by the river. Fabulous.
 |
| Thomas Leaf Monkey |
Volcano permitting, we are heading towards Berestagi, not far from the volcano and then onto Lake Toba, we'll be checking the news regularly for updates, I don't fancy being fried alive in Sumatra.
Laters
PS if the volcano doesn't get us the passive smoking will!
Saturday, 17 February 2018
We went to Malaysia for a few weeks
14th February 2018
Swiss Heritage Hotel, Melaka
Very, very hot – about 40c!
I almost forgot about writing this entry, so keen are we to get on a ferry to Sumatra! Only kidding, the past month seems to have flown by, so a brief update:
From Koh Lanta we backtracked to the mainland and headed south towards the Malaysian border. Every now and again Maps.me takes us on a little adventure which, depending on how we are feeling at the time, we choose to take or otherwise. In the Thale Ban National Park we let Maps.me do the guiding, only because it was 8 kms shorter than the main road and by that time of day we are getting well and truly fed up with the fishy smell emanating from the many trucks that whizz up and down the highway (what IS that smell?). We were directed away from the rubber and palm oil plantations into a community forest. Past a gathering of some sort, the man on the microphone making us the centre of attention for the 30 seconds or so it took us to cycle through. Everyone stopped eating and drinking, started waving and clapping, smiling and laughing; We felt like royalty. We meandered through this beautiful area for about 5 kms, then it was back onto the main road. Thank you Maps.me, a fabulous little diversion.
We crossed the border at Wang Prachan, incident-free, and the first challenge was to get over the 5kms of hills standing between us and Kangar. The road was very steep at various points made more difficult by the midday sun and the fact that we hadn’t climbed anything steeper than stairs for ages. Dave lucked out when he found a mobile phone (obviously fell out of someone’s pocket) so like the little Magpie he is stashed it in his pannier for later. Lo and behold, once he’d cleaned it up and reset it (unable to find out who it belonged to sadly) it works perfectly!
Afternoon/early evening showers became a thing right from the start in Malaysia, so on our first day we spent an hour sheltering in a disused building waiting for it to stop. Pretty much every afternoon, somewhere between 3 and 6, it rains for an hour or so, sometimes longer, torrential wet-you-in-a-moment kind of rain, that no umbrella will repel. By the way, it's the dry season.
It became clear that my memory of accommodation in Malaysia was correct. It is expensive compared to it’s neighbours, and the quality is, on the whole, quite poor. Windowless rooms are common and one of them had 3 out of the 4 walls painted black! We aborted our ride up to Frazer’s Hill because the hotels in Kuala Kubu Bharu were SO awful (and expensive) we couldn’t bring ourselves to stay. Having said that, we had a fabulous room in Tapah, with floor to ceiling picture windows and views of the mountain, for just 10 Ringgit more than the ‘black hole’. Also, where we are staying in Melaka is amazing, with an actual bath, balcony, fridge and we could have a game of badminton in it if we were inclined (we’re not) it’s so big. So accommodation in Malaysia is, shall we say, a mixed bag.
We spent a few well deserved days off in Georgetown, re-acquainting ourselves with the old town and finding the street art that it is now famous for. We found ourselves drifting back to Little India everyday for Roti Canai, Dosai and Thali, we had a 'western' style breakfast one morning but decided that was a mistake. It really felt like being back in India. Malaysia has very high taxes when it comes to alcohol so our ‘after ride’ chilled beer has been quashed. However, in Georgetown we managed to find the ‘bar’ (it’s a little supermarket that just happens to have stacks of tables and chairs that people are able to use) selling cheap beer and liquor. Locals rub shoulders with visitors, everyone shares tables and stories, it’s really quite sociable. We're not sure how they do it but suspect they have a 'source' in Langkawi (duty free alcohol).
I have little to no recollection of the quality of driving in Malaysia on previous trips, just as well because we probably would have avoided it. It’s like Mr Bean meets every Sunday Driver you’ve ever known that SHOULDN’T be driving, or, Boy Racer in supped up cars (brand new and lowered suspension, or, old and battered, like the cars me and my friends would have been driving in the 70s). We love the Malaysians when they're not driving, really we do. I've lost count of the number times people have paid for our coffees or rotis, or stopped us in the middle of the street or a supermarket to say hello and have a general chit chat about where we were from etc. We always feel comfortable in Malaysia in a way we don't in, say, Thailand, even though over the years we've spent the same amount of time in both countries. Some places are just like that.
Malaysia is a proper melting pot of cultures and nowhere is this more evident than in Georgetown and Melaka, where we are currently. Buddhist and Indian temples side by side, mosques share spaces with churches, incense mixes with chanting and bells, and the call to prayer wafts out of minarets that look like pagodas. In Melaka we also have the Dutch and Portuguese influences so we can eat the little custard tarts we used to buy in Porto and sip a coffee, by the river, in an old Dutch Colonial building with a windmill attached. The riverside walks have been regenerated and sitting with a coffee or a cold beer you could be anywhere in Europe. We liked The Reggae Bar, not for the reggae but for the guys running it, it’s a very chilled place.
To be fair, the cycling hasn’t been amazing. We would have preferred to cycle the east coast, but as it’s monsoon at this time of year we stuck with the west. The road up to the Cameron Highlands, thankfully, was wide enough to cater for everyone, the superbikes, the dotty drivers and the boy racers, oh and us, in our little lane to the side of the mayhem. The road down to Tapah was not so great with potholes and, in places, no special lane for cyclists. A bit hairy but very beautiful. We took the Simpang Pulai to Tanah Rata route (94kms, 1500 mtrs), which was a challenge. The steep gradients are at the start of the climb, 8.5 – 10%, thankfully when it’s cooler, (we set out at dawn) then it settles down to 3-5% for the rest of the way. Ten years ago we would have completed the ride in a day, but, this time we decided to do it in two. Round the 47km mark there are a couple of cafes, with public toilets and mandis, which is where we camped for the night. Ideal. There’s very little on the road up to the cafes, so provisions and water are a must.
After our camping spot came the strawberry farms and eventually tea plantations. The strawberries are grown in poly-tunnels the numbers of which are rivalled only by those in southern Spain. Not terribly attractive. Tea plantations are always beautiful as they have to be planted in such a way that tea-pickers can get to the tips of every bush to gather the ‘golden’ or ‘silver’ tips, so the texture of the landscape is quite stunning when viewed from the seat of a bicycle. The ride down to Tapah was absolutely sensational. We took our time and stopped regularly to admire the views and the Kampungs along the way.
We have ‘history’ with Kuala Lumpur roads and hoped that a bit of extra planning on our part would mean that history did not repeat itself. Well, somehow, the planning and Maps.me went all to pot. The way in wasn’t so bad but the way out was a nightmare, AGAIN, taking more than two hours to clear the main roads in. We will never, EVER, cycle in KL again. The city itself was much nicer than we remembered, it helped that the weather was cloudy most of the time we were there, plus lots of tall buildings means shade most of the day. We stayed at the 1000 Miles Guesthouse, highly recommended by Travelfish and now us. We met a lovely group of people too, which always makes any stay more interesting.
I’m sure there have been other days when I’ve been really fed up, but, the last three days, from KL to Malacca, have been really hard work. A combination of pants trouble (ruching on the inner thigh) an uncomfortable saddle (or is it? We just don’t know, I have new cycling pants which I’m hoping will sort out of the chafing problems), the heat – it’s really hotting up now, reaching 40-42c by 1pm, and undulating terrain that is never-ending.
Being in Melaka has cheered me up though as has seeing Hornbills, White Bellied Sea Eagles and huge Monitor Lizards, one was being stalked by a cat! The incredibly large (dead) Python we saw on the road up the mountain scared the bejessus out of us knowing that we would be camping that night! We couldn’t remember much about Malaka (apart from some canons which we found at the old fort, and the antique shops which it turns out is now the Jonker Street area) but suffice to say it is very charming. Chinese New Year is just around the corner and the place is awash with red lanterns, juicy tangerines being offered to anyone and everyone and people “cleaning” like crazy, out with the old and in with the new, apparently.
So the new for us will be a new country, Indonesia (Sumatra). It’s looking a bit ‘wild west’ at the moment, there’s not much out there in terms of blogs or detailed travel (cycling) information, although we have found a few on the CGOAB site. We have decided to concentrate on the north and have already hit a problem in trying to get a bus to Medan. There appears to be one bus and it’s a night bus (taking 10 hours). Both of us would prefer a bus during daylight hours, just because we value our lives really, so we will have to investigate getting a minivan.
Firstly, it’s a ferry to Dumai, and we still haven’t paid for the bikes yet although the woman who sold us our tickets has assured us they WILL be allowed on AND it will only cost 20MYR!
Laters
Link to all Malaysia photos on Facebook here
Swiss Heritage Hotel, Melaka
Very, very hot – about 40c!
I almost forgot about writing this entry, so keen are we to get on a ferry to Sumatra! Only kidding, the past month seems to have flown by, so a brief update:
From Koh Lanta we backtracked to the mainland and headed south towards the Malaysian border. Every now and again Maps.me takes us on a little adventure which, depending on how we are feeling at the time, we choose to take or otherwise. In the Thale Ban National Park we let Maps.me do the guiding, only because it was 8 kms shorter than the main road and by that time of day we are getting well and truly fed up with the fishy smell emanating from the many trucks that whizz up and down the highway (what IS that smell?). We were directed away from the rubber and palm oil plantations into a community forest. Past a gathering of some sort, the man on the microphone making us the centre of attention for the 30 seconds or so it took us to cycle through. Everyone stopped eating and drinking, started waving and clapping, smiling and laughing; We felt like royalty. We meandered through this beautiful area for about 5 kms, then it was back onto the main road. Thank you Maps.me, a fabulous little diversion.
 |
| Rubber to the left of me, Palm Oil to the right, here I am ...... |
We crossed the border at Wang Prachan, incident-free, and the first challenge was to get over the 5kms of hills standing between us and Kangar. The road was very steep at various points made more difficult by the midday sun and the fact that we hadn’t climbed anything steeper than stairs for ages. Dave lucked out when he found a mobile phone (obviously fell out of someone’s pocket) so like the little Magpie he is stashed it in his pannier for later. Lo and behold, once he’d cleaned it up and reset it (unable to find out who it belonged to sadly) it works perfectly!
Afternoon/early evening showers became a thing right from the start in Malaysia, so on our first day we spent an hour sheltering in a disused building waiting for it to stop. Pretty much every afternoon, somewhere between 3 and 6, it rains for an hour or so, sometimes longer, torrential wet-you-in-a-moment kind of rain, that no umbrella will repel. By the way, it's the dry season.
 |
| Stuck drinking beer while the rain stops, shucks |
It became clear that my memory of accommodation in Malaysia was correct. It is expensive compared to it’s neighbours, and the quality is, on the whole, quite poor. Windowless rooms are common and one of them had 3 out of the 4 walls painted black! We aborted our ride up to Frazer’s Hill because the hotels in Kuala Kubu Bharu were SO awful (and expensive) we couldn’t bring ourselves to stay. Having said that, we had a fabulous room in Tapah, with floor to ceiling picture windows and views of the mountain, for just 10 Ringgit more than the ‘black hole’. Also, where we are staying in Melaka is amazing, with an actual bath, balcony, fridge and we could have a game of badminton in it if we were inclined (we’re not) it’s so big. So accommodation in Malaysia is, shall we say, a mixed bag.
We spent a few well deserved days off in Georgetown, re-acquainting ourselves with the old town and finding the street art that it is now famous for. We found ourselves drifting back to Little India everyday for Roti Canai, Dosai and Thali, we had a 'western' style breakfast one morning but decided that was a mistake. It really felt like being back in India. Malaysia has very high taxes when it comes to alcohol so our ‘after ride’ chilled beer has been quashed. However, in Georgetown we managed to find the ‘bar’ (it’s a little supermarket that just happens to have stacks of tables and chairs that people are able to use) selling cheap beer and liquor. Locals rub shoulders with visitors, everyone shares tables and stories, it’s really quite sociable. We're not sure how they do it but suspect they have a 'source' in Langkawi (duty free alcohol).
 |
| Right round the corner for The Seven Terraces, you can't miss it |
I have little to no recollection of the quality of driving in Malaysia on previous trips, just as well because we probably would have avoided it. It’s like Mr Bean meets every Sunday Driver you’ve ever known that SHOULDN’T be driving, or, Boy Racer in supped up cars (brand new and lowered suspension, or, old and battered, like the cars me and my friends would have been driving in the 70s). We love the Malaysians when they're not driving, really we do. I've lost count of the number times people have paid for our coffees or rotis, or stopped us in the middle of the street or a supermarket to say hello and have a general chit chat about where we were from etc. We always feel comfortable in Malaysia in a way we don't in, say, Thailand, even though over the years we've spent the same amount of time in both countries. Some places are just like that.
Malaysia is a proper melting pot of cultures and nowhere is this more evident than in Georgetown and Melaka, where we are currently. Buddhist and Indian temples side by side, mosques share spaces with churches, incense mixes with chanting and bells, and the call to prayer wafts out of minarets that look like pagodas. In Melaka we also have the Dutch and Portuguese influences so we can eat the little custard tarts we used to buy in Porto and sip a coffee, by the river, in an old Dutch Colonial building with a windmill attached. The riverside walks have been regenerated and sitting with a coffee or a cold beer you could be anywhere in Europe. We liked The Reggae Bar, not for the reggae but for the guys running it, it’s a very chilled place.
 |
| Melaka waterfront |
To be fair, the cycling hasn’t been amazing. We would have preferred to cycle the east coast, but as it’s monsoon at this time of year we stuck with the west. The road up to the Cameron Highlands, thankfully, was wide enough to cater for everyone, the superbikes, the dotty drivers and the boy racers, oh and us, in our little lane to the side of the mayhem. The road down to Tapah was not so great with potholes and, in places, no special lane for cyclists. A bit hairy but very beautiful. We took the Simpang Pulai to Tanah Rata route (94kms, 1500 mtrs), which was a challenge. The steep gradients are at the start of the climb, 8.5 – 10%, thankfully when it’s cooler, (we set out at dawn) then it settles down to 3-5% for the rest of the way. Ten years ago we would have completed the ride in a day, but, this time we decided to do it in two. Round the 47km mark there are a couple of cafes, with public toilets and mandis, which is where we camped for the night. Ideal. There’s very little on the road up to the cafes, so provisions and water are a must.
 |
| Strawberry anyone? |
After our camping spot came the strawberry farms and eventually tea plantations. The strawberries are grown in poly-tunnels the numbers of which are rivalled only by those in southern Spain. Not terribly attractive. Tea plantations are always beautiful as they have to be planted in such a way that tea-pickers can get to the tips of every bush to gather the ‘golden’ or ‘silver’ tips, so the texture of the landscape is quite stunning when viewed from the seat of a bicycle. The ride down to Tapah was absolutely sensational. We took our time and stopped regularly to admire the views and the Kampungs along the way.
 |
| Yes, run off from the mountain pouring down the gulley ALL night |
We have ‘history’ with Kuala Lumpur roads and hoped that a bit of extra planning on our part would mean that history did not repeat itself. Well, somehow, the planning and Maps.me went all to pot. The way in wasn’t so bad but the way out was a nightmare, AGAIN, taking more than two hours to clear the main roads in. We will never, EVER, cycle in KL again. The city itself was much nicer than we remembered, it helped that the weather was cloudy most of the time we were there, plus lots of tall buildings means shade most of the day. We stayed at the 1000 Miles Guesthouse, highly recommended by Travelfish and now us. We met a lovely group of people too, which always makes any stay more interesting.
I’m sure there have been other days when I’ve been really fed up, but, the last three days, from KL to Malacca, have been really hard work. A combination of pants trouble (ruching on the inner thigh) an uncomfortable saddle (or is it? We just don’t know, I have new cycling pants which I’m hoping will sort out of the chafing problems), the heat – it’s really hotting up now, reaching 40-42c by 1pm, and undulating terrain that is never-ending.
Being in Melaka has cheered me up though as has seeing Hornbills, White Bellied Sea Eagles and huge Monitor Lizards, one was being stalked by a cat! The incredibly large (dead) Python we saw on the road up the mountain scared the bejessus out of us knowing that we would be camping that night! We couldn’t remember much about Malaka (apart from some canons which we found at the old fort, and the antique shops which it turns out is now the Jonker Street area) but suffice to say it is very charming. Chinese New Year is just around the corner and the place is awash with red lanterns, juicy tangerines being offered to anyone and everyone and people “cleaning” like crazy, out with the old and in with the new, apparently.
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| Beautiful relief work |
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| Here be dragons |
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| Chinese temple |
So the new for us will be a new country, Indonesia (Sumatra). It’s looking a bit ‘wild west’ at the moment, there’s not much out there in terms of blogs or detailed travel (cycling) information, although we have found a few on the CGOAB site. We have decided to concentrate on the north and have already hit a problem in trying to get a bus to Medan. There appears to be one bus and it’s a night bus (taking 10 hours). Both of us would prefer a bus during daylight hours, just because we value our lives really, so we will have to investigate getting a minivan.
Firstly, it’s a ferry to Dumai, and we still haven’t paid for the bikes yet although the woman who sold us our tickets has assured us they WILL be allowed on AND it will only cost 20MYR!
Laters
Link to all Malaysia photos on Facebook here
Wednesday, 17 January 2018
2018 and back in Thailand
14th January 2018
K Guesthouse, Krabi
A very pleasant 27c
2018!!!! Happy New Year! Thank goodness I don't have to write cheques any longer having to scrub out 2017 EVERY time, for at least 3 weeks!
We left Cambodia on 29th December, with none of the 'intimidation' issues we encountered on the way into the country. I just wished we had remembered that NOT following the crowds is sometimes a good idea and instead of going with all the 'Jonny Foreigners' to get stamped into Thailand we had gone with the vehicles and saved ourselves at least an hour of queueing. Next time.
After Battambang we hopped on a bus (2 separate buses actually, seeing as the bus company made a really big thing about only carrying one bicycle per bus) and saved ourselves 2 days' ride (AND some backtracking to get to Thailand) in order to get to Siem Reap for Christmas. I took the early bus and felt like a right Gringa sitting in shorts and T shirt on a bus with the a/c blasting out freezing cold air. All the other farangs had their hoodies and blankies to keep them warm, the women beside me was clearly not in a sharing mood. Dave arrived 2 hours later with another English girl, also with her bicycle; so much for the only allowing one bicycle per bus!
We settled into the lovely Po Residence (a VERY nice hotel) and on Christmas Eve visited the temples. Getting up at 0430 really is like getting up in the middle of the night, although the market just around the corner from the hotel had been in full swing for 2 hours by that time. We cycled out to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise, along with eleventy billion other people with very sharp elbows. We met a guy later in the day who said he had gone to the west gate where there were only 6 people, maybe we should have done a bit more research. Not having a tripod seriously impedes getting any really good shots of the temples with so little light, but, it's still a beautiful time of day even if you are sharing it with the world and his wife!
We both got a little bit carried away with the detail. I loved the Apsaras and Dave loved the 'hall of mirrors' effect within the temples. By 10am the sun was really hot, and we were both starting to feel tired, so by 1230, we had had enough. We hadn't even been into Bayon (the one with the faces), just passed it by on the way back to the city. Oh well, maybe next time we come to Cambodia (and we WILL be back) we will come back to Siem Reap and take a different approach. A three day ticket, a tuk tuk driver, no 0430 starts and I may even go on my own!
On Christmas day we treated ourselves to a very delicious thali, in one of the many Indian restaurants in Siem Reap. We had also bought some wine (chilled to within an inch of its life) which we quaffed and basically spent the day doing very little. We really liked Siem Reap and with plenty of time on our visa moved from Po Residence to a cheaper spot in town, and stayed a further 3 days, lolling around on Pub Street and the surrounding area drinking cocktails and eating nice food. Life ain't so bad really.
In 1988 we flew to Bangkok and cycled through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It didn't enter our consciousness to go to Cambodia because it was so off the radar, as was Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. As far as we knew these countries were closed to tourists so we didn't even consider them. We used to hear horror stories of cyclists crossing into China and being either escorted everywhere, or, simply being deported at the first opportunity. One guy we met managed to get where he was going by telling the authorities, when asked, he was going in the opposite direction, that way they thought they were sending him back to where he had come from (he was then another district's problem) but actually he was going where he wanted to go! He was also shot at (yes, with a gun) when he ignored a request to stop on a railway platform. Remember, this is a time of no internet so we couldn't just 'Google' the latest FCO advice on travel in these countries, even if we had been allowed in.
So after 30 years we finally made it to Cambodia. We had avoided coming to Cambodia in 2009 because the rainy season was about to begin and we had heard horror stories of roads being washed away, dirt tracks or washboards for miles and miles, nah, we didn't fancy that at all. Fast forward to 2017 and what we found couldn't have been more different. Our route: Koh Kong - Sre Ambel - Kampot - Kep - Phnom Penh (via H3, not recommended) - Kampong Chnang (south of Tonle Sap) - Battambang - Siem Reap - Poipet. The roads weren't that bad at all. OK, so Thailand does the road thing better but we had stretches in Cambodia that were good, and most of the time they were perfectly adequate. The road from Koh Kong through the Cardamom Forest was wonderfully scenic. We didn't venture to Sihanoukville but that road is supposed to be quite spectacular too. Highway 3 was a bit of a traffic nightmare, so wouldn't recommend it but much of the time it was extremely pleasant to be riding in Cambodia. Drivers are very courteous, in the towns and villages everyone drives quite slowly because it's all a bit haphazard, the rules about entering traffic and who gives way to who is all a big vague, so if you go slow enough then everyone gets to where they are going, eventually.
The people are absolutely delightful, despite what they have been through historically and all in all we felt incredibly safe. It's a very pretty, unpretentious country which we liked very much and it is one of the few countries we have decided we will come back to in future. People are industrious and business seems to be done at a micro level. For example, one guy has a large truck and several very large plastic containers (probably 200 litres each). He goes to the petrol station and purchases a lorry full of fuel. That fuel is then decanted into smaller, jerry cans, and sold on, it is then decanted into used 1.5 litre bottles, which is then dispensed to motorists at the side of the road. There are plenty of petrol stations in Cambodia (almost as many as Albania) but this model of doing business seems to work and everyone makes a little bit of money in order to survive. I saw the same thing with charcoal, rice, peanuts and just about anything edible you can think of.
So, here we are back in Thailand. We spent New Year in Bangkok, enjoying a bucket of Gin and Tonic at Khoa San Road, but before you get too excited about us having a whooping all nighter, we were back in our hotel and in bed by 2130! However (at 7pm), there was a great atmosphere, everyone was having a fab time and I'm sure the evening went off with a bang at midnight.
Return to Thailand highlights so far:
K Guesthouse, Krabi
A very pleasant 27c
2018!!!! Happy New Year! Thank goodness I don't have to write cheques any longer having to scrub out 2017 EVERY time, for at least 3 weeks!
We left Cambodia on 29th December, with none of the 'intimidation' issues we encountered on the way into the country. I just wished we had remembered that NOT following the crowds is sometimes a good idea and instead of going with all the 'Jonny Foreigners' to get stamped into Thailand we had gone with the vehicles and saved ourselves at least an hour of queueing. Next time.
After Battambang we hopped on a bus (2 separate buses actually, seeing as the bus company made a really big thing about only carrying one bicycle per bus) and saved ourselves 2 days' ride (AND some backtracking to get to Thailand) in order to get to Siem Reap for Christmas. I took the early bus and felt like a right Gringa sitting in shorts and T shirt on a bus with the a/c blasting out freezing cold air. All the other farangs had their hoodies and blankies to keep them warm, the women beside me was clearly not in a sharing mood. Dave arrived 2 hours later with another English girl, also with her bicycle; so much for the only allowing one bicycle per bus!
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| Central Market, Battambang |
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| I couldn't resist ..... |
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| 'big boys' on small chairs |
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| 'little girls' on big chairs |
We both got a little bit carried away with the detail. I loved the Apsaras and Dave loved the 'hall of mirrors' effect within the temples. By 10am the sun was really hot, and we were both starting to feel tired, so by 1230, we had had enough. We hadn't even been into Bayon (the one with the faces), just passed it by on the way back to the city. Oh well, maybe next time we come to Cambodia (and we WILL be back) we will come back to Siem Reap and take a different approach. A three day ticket, a tuk tuk driver, no 0430 starts and I may even go on my own!
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| Angkor Wat - not the greatest photo |
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| Apsara |
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| Apsara having been 'petted' and made shiny over the years |
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| Buddha |
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| Doorway detail |
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| 'Hall of mirrors' |
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| Angkor silhouetted |
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| Polishing off leftover coconut |
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Getting up at 0430 to see the temples means lots of packed breakfasts,
these children knew that plenty of hard-boiled eggs and pieces of fruit would be thrown away, but still perfectly edible
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| Pineapple seller |
On Christmas day we treated ourselves to a very delicious thali, in one of the many Indian restaurants in Siem Reap. We had also bought some wine (chilled to within an inch of its life) which we quaffed and basically spent the day doing very little. We really liked Siem Reap and with plenty of time on our visa moved from Po Residence to a cheaper spot in town, and stayed a further 3 days, lolling around on Pub Street and the surrounding area drinking cocktails and eating nice food. Life ain't so bad really.
In 1988 we flew to Bangkok and cycled through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It didn't enter our consciousness to go to Cambodia because it was so off the radar, as was Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. As far as we knew these countries were closed to tourists so we didn't even consider them. We used to hear horror stories of cyclists crossing into China and being either escorted everywhere, or, simply being deported at the first opportunity. One guy we met managed to get where he was going by telling the authorities, when asked, he was going in the opposite direction, that way they thought they were sending him back to where he had come from (he was then another district's problem) but actually he was going where he wanted to go! He was also shot at (yes, with a gun) when he ignored a request to stop on a railway platform. Remember, this is a time of no internet so we couldn't just 'Google' the latest FCO advice on travel in these countries, even if we had been allowed in.
So after 30 years we finally made it to Cambodia. We had avoided coming to Cambodia in 2009 because the rainy season was about to begin and we had heard horror stories of roads being washed away, dirt tracks or washboards for miles and miles, nah, we didn't fancy that at all. Fast forward to 2017 and what we found couldn't have been more different. Our route: Koh Kong - Sre Ambel - Kampot - Kep - Phnom Penh (via H3, not recommended) - Kampong Chnang (south of Tonle Sap) - Battambang - Siem Reap - Poipet. The roads weren't that bad at all. OK, so Thailand does the road thing better but we had stretches in Cambodia that were good, and most of the time they were perfectly adequate. The road from Koh Kong through the Cardamom Forest was wonderfully scenic. We didn't venture to Sihanoukville but that road is supposed to be quite spectacular too. Highway 3 was a bit of a traffic nightmare, so wouldn't recommend it but much of the time it was extremely pleasant to be riding in Cambodia. Drivers are very courteous, in the towns and villages everyone drives quite slowly because it's all a bit haphazard, the rules about entering traffic and who gives way to who is all a big vague, so if you go slow enough then everyone gets to where they are going, eventually.
The people are absolutely delightful, despite what they have been through historically and all in all we felt incredibly safe. It's a very pretty, unpretentious country which we liked very much and it is one of the few countries we have decided we will come back to in future. People are industrious and business seems to be done at a micro level. For example, one guy has a large truck and several very large plastic containers (probably 200 litres each). He goes to the petrol station and purchases a lorry full of fuel. That fuel is then decanted into smaller, jerry cans, and sold on, it is then decanted into used 1.5 litre bottles, which is then dispensed to motorists at the side of the road. There are plenty of petrol stations in Cambodia (almost as many as Albania) but this model of doing business seems to work and everyone makes a little bit of money in order to survive. I saw the same thing with charcoal, rice, peanuts and just about anything edible you can think of.
So, here we are back in Thailand. We spent New Year in Bangkok, enjoying a bucket of Gin and Tonic at Khoa San Road, but before you get too excited about us having a whooping all nighter, we were back in our hotel and in bed by 2130! However (at 7pm), there was a great atmosphere, everyone was having a fab time and I'm sure the evening went off with a bang at midnight.
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| NYE but a bad hair day for me! |
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| Rambuttri Village |
Return to Thailand highlights so far:
- An encounter with Mr Chew (sp) on the train from the border. A larger than life individual who couldn't resist the opportunity to practice his English on us. He learned two new words; beautiful and excellent, his pronunciation and spelling were impeccable.
- A troop of Dusky Tail Monkeys that came to visit us (to feed in the tree under which we were camped actually) on the beach.
- Indian Rollers, Kingfishers, Brahminy Kites (what magnificent birds) and many other birds, I can't identify, have graced our skies
- The baby otter I got to cuddle at a roadside stall (I don't condone cuddling wild animals but while I was trying to identify what it actually was - a stoat, a weasel? - I got a little closer and it was thrust into my arms) it was VERY cute. I have no idea of the circumstances surrounding the otter (I tried to get information through Google Translate, but it was a bit hit and miss) and they appeared to be taking good care of it, however, I know that pups cannot survive without their mothers and to prevent imprinting humans need to be disguised, this clearly wasn't happening.
- The Royal Coast Road and the slow, back roads route from Hua Hin, has been an absolute delight. Lovely road surfaces, very little traffic, fantastic wildlife, gorgeous beaches and overflowing jungle made it a very pleasurable several days' cycling.
- We have stayed in a variety of accommodations with price tags to match. The cheapest was 200 baht and a 'lurv motel' (we think) with pink walls, electric blue curtains to match and mirrors down one wall. It was, however, spotlessly clean. On the very scenic route between Surat Thani and Krabi we stayed at the lovely Green View Resort, where we had a delightful, detached bungalow, in what can only be described as a Ramsey Street-type cul-de-sac, for 500 baht. The onsite restaurant was excellent and had room for more than 100 diners, but sadly both times we ate there, it was only us.
- Lovely spikiness in the form of Pineapples (5p each or 12 for a £1), Jack Fruit and Durian. We didn't see any Durian being sold at the side of the road, it's such a prized, and therefore expensive, fruit most of it is exported.
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| Dusky Leaf Monkey |
We've had a few days' rest in Krabi, having cycled almost 800 kms since Hua Hin, but ''there's no rest for the wicked' as my old dad used to say. You can run (or in our case, cycle) but you can't hide from the taxman. So the last two days has seen us sharing the laptop in order to complete said task and you'll be pleased to hear we don't owe the government any money, hurrah!
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| Is it a bee or a wasp? |
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| Wat in Krabi |
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| Krabi graffiti |
Onto the next leg, the plans for which have changed slightly (they are always changing but I just don't mention them usually). We have ditched the idea of going to Phuket and have decided to go to Koh Lanta instead, which is on the way but a slight, well, quite big actually, diversion off to the west. We are heading south to Malaysia, we may go to Langkawi (I'm updating this entry on our 3rd day in Koh Lanta and think we may have had our island fix for now) or head straight into Malaysia the scenic route, and down to one of our favourite places, Penang.
Some numbers for you:
8668 kms so far (not including the times I've forgotten to put my computer on)
122 kms the most cycled in one day (this trip)
16 kms the least cycled in one day, ever
28 kph, the fastest speed achieved on a flat road (by Lynne) maintained for 15 kms, with a tailwind :)
6 months 2 weeks on the road
7 punctures (I have somehow managed to completely trash a tyre which may not be recoverable)
4 wipeouts (me x 2, Dave x 2, although I'm the only one who has bled profusely)
3 haircuts (me Croatia and Cambodia, Dave Cambodia)
3 massages (Lynne)
1 Food poisoning (Lynne, pesky pizza in Albania, still can't stomach the thought of eating one)
Several items lost (Dave)
0 days unwashed (a record)
Tomorrow we set off bright and early towards Koh Lanta. We've experienced rain lately, and there's some forecast here until Tuesday, but it's warm rain so it doesn't count. Also, here we call headwinds 'breezes' as they cool us down and we don't mind them.
Peace and grease, as our Aussie mates Therese and Nick would say!
Laters
17th January 2018 Koh Lanta update - tomorrow we backtrack to the mainland and head south towards Trang, there's a couple of National Parks en route to Malaysia, we may swing by on the way. Hasta luego!
17th January 2018 Koh Lanta update - tomorrow we backtrack to the mainland and head south towards Trang, there's a couple of National Parks en route to Malaysia, we may swing by on the way. Hasta luego!
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