15th May 2018
Suanbo Saipan Hot Spring Hotel
20c, raining
WON 1500 = £1
The overnight ferry from Shimonoseki to Busan was interesting to say the least. We had spent a couple of weeks in Japan where the people are incredibly polite and reserved. We didn't hear a raised voice (apart from some children) the whole time we were there. Lots of South Koreans were returning after a shopping trip (judging by the number of bags they all had) and seemed determined to enjoy the last night of their holiday. The noise levels increased in line with the number of bottles of Soju (local hooch) they drank and that was before we left the ferry terminal. On board we found our 2nd class 'cabin', to be shared with three others. We introduced ourselves, rolled out our mats and set off to explore the ferry.
After a couple of beers (from several vending machines on the ship) I decided to visit The Grand Bath while Dave decided to forgo the experience. I was rescued by a Korean woman who, noticing I was barefoot, furnished me with slippers and showed me where to put my clothes before going into the bathing area. The baths are for soaking NOT washing, so having showered first I got into the hotter of the two baths. There's no room for shyness in these places, everyone just gets naked and does their thing. While soaking I realised that I hadn't washed very well at all. What I should have done was brought a number of scrubs and a selection of beauty products with me, and washed myself until my skin almost fell off. Next time I'll know.
Later that night we found out just how unreserved the Koreans can be specially when they imbibe alcohol. We were woken by a commotion in the next 'cabin' where someone was clearly drunk and causing a nuisance. I'm glad he wasn't in ours.
In our experience the Korean people are curious, outgoing, generous and very sociable. Not many people speak English but that doesn't stop them chatting and trying to help us out. Everywhere we go people give us food, pay for our coffee, ask where we are from (at least we think that's what they are asking) and want to take a photograph to mark the occasion. They have definitely made us feel at home.
We are heading north towards Seoul on the 4Rivers Cycle Route, we have a passport and are collecting stamps at Certification Stations along the way. Most of the route is flat cycleway, along the river but every now and again the steep, sugar-loaf mountains, come right to the river and we have to go over them. Oh boy, some of them are STEEP, so much so there's no option but to push. Even going DOWN is pretty scary on a loaded bike. But all in all it is a lovely route and very easy.
We are meandering really, wild camping most of the time waking up early, starting late and finishing early afternoon. The longest day was 90kms but most days it's been 50 or so kms. We're enjoying the wildlife, Deer wandering into our camp most days, Otters gambling in the river, Snakes (yikes) sunbathing on the path, Voles and Mice scampering around in the undergrowth and sometimes the fish are a jumpin'. We have camped in the wooden pagodas along the way if it looked like rain and today it's rained all day so we decided to take a day off the bikes and stay put.
The cycle touring community is a tight knit one and with social media the world seems even smaller. This week we 'bumped' into Ross and Alessia (Rolling East) who are heading south, so our paths literally crossed. Only to discover that they had 'bumped' into Daniel and Antonia from Germany (we met them at Tree in Lodge in Singapore) in the Pamirs last year. It turns out that Ross's family live in Melbourne, which is where we will end up after the wedding in August. Apart from our friends being in Melbourne there's also Therese and Nick, cyclists we met in Greece last year, and, Diane (who wouldn't get on a bike if you paid her) who we met in Singapore.
We haven't been eating much Korean food as we are catering for ourselves much of the time. The Ramen noodles we had in Busan were lovely but at W18000 for a bowl of noodles and a beer (the beer was 9000) it was expensive. The best meal we've had so far was in Busan, near the station, a set meal for 5000. There were only 3 choices, there was a photo of each and a price beside the photo, easy. Not so easy in places where everything is in Korean and there are no photos. Yesterday we ended up eating a shed load of chicken because it was the only place in town with 'proper' tables and chairs, the kind you pull a chair up to and sit at. Everywhere else would involve two people with very creaky knees, trying to wriggle themselves under a table less than 12 inches off the floor and sit cross-legged. I would have felt the need to show them the scar on my knee to explain why I was wriggling around like a 3 year old having a sugar rush.
Confession time, I'm missing Europe and I'm missing friends. While we've been travelling life goes on for friends and family. One of my besties has been diagnosed with cancer, another has lost her mother, another has lost his brother and while most of the time I'm happy to be doing what we're doing, every now and again I want to be 'home' and be able to give someone a hug, or go out for dinner, or just 'be'. This isn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last, and I'm sure it will pass. We've got a wedding and a whole load of catching up to do in Australia, and we have to visit Luisa, Dave's cousin, in Japan. I'm so looking forward to all that.
Tomorrow we hit the path again and if the past is anything to go by you won't be hearing from me again until we go back to Japan!
Laters
Showing posts with label retirement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retirement. 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! |
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.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
Friday, 15 December 2017
All the Ps in Phnom Penh
15th December 2017
Sassi Guesthouse, Phnom Penh
Hot, hot, hot
This post was going to be entitled Pol Pot, Pavement Parking and Prostitutes in Phnom Penh, but I decided it was too flippant to lump the Pol Pot regime in with the rest of the Ps. More on that later.
My last post ended with us arriving in Kampot. What a lovely, chilled place that was. We did very little, along with the rest of the population, except wander aimlessly, eat, drink, sleep, repeat. Then we moved onto Kep, all of 24kms away, but with a completely different vibe. Firstly, there was a beach and secondly the town is very spread out with no real 'centre' as such.
The first thing we did was meet up with Katy and Ed, friends of friends, who happen to be in Cambodia at the same time as us, also travelling on bicycles. We chewed the cud over breakfast, all things bicycle touring, and then reunited in the evening for dinner and a few beers. It just so happens we're more or less cycling the same route in Cambodia so while we all ended up in Phnom Penh together the next time we will get together is probably going to be Siem Reap over Christmas. It's a small world!
We stayed at the very lovely Bacoma Gueshouse in one of the round bungalows. The grounds of the guesthouse are jungle that's been tamed and act to keep everywhere feeling very cool. In fact, we rarely used the fan in the bungalow and there was a point one evening when I almost reached for a 2nd layer, but resisted the temptation. We rode around the National Park early in the morning and while we heard a lot of wildlife, we saw very little. Even so, it was a lovely thing to do. On our way back to the guesthouse we took a detour along the new road, that's so wide it really should be called a boulevard, where we found some of the old burned out Modernist buildings.
Kep was once a playground for the French elite before the Khmer Rouge came to power, and although it's small and sleepy now it definitely has visions of grandeur. The huge roundabout at the entrance to the town, plus the new 'boulevards' being built, all point to a bigger future.
Two long, dusty traffic-filled days later, we arrived in Phnom Penh. If you arrived in Phnom Penh on a bicycle not having ridden into another Asian City before, you might have had at least one heart attack. It's crazy but it works, somehow. An expat in Kep, when asked about the number of Lexus cars in Cambodia, said (he was Irish) "ah, now in Cambodia you're either a Big Man, or you're nothing and Big Guys drive a Lexus". It turns out they also drive anything that's huge and shiny, has air conditioning and ensures you sit higher than the rest of the traffic. Today I even saw a Rolls Royce. Pavement parking ensures that pedestrians have to walk in the road with the rest of the moving traffic, I have no idea what anyone in a wheelchair or with a pushchair would do.
And so to the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre) and The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly a school that became the notorious S-21 Detention Centre. I'm not sure I can add anything to what has already been said about what the Cambodian people went through during the Pol Pot years, I can only talk about how harrowing I found the experience. Astonishing, is that The Khmer Rouge killed almost a quarter of the Cambodian population (nobody really knows how many) in the relatively short time (between April 1975 and January 1979) they were in power. It happened in my lifetime but I'm ashamed to say I remember very little about it.
What I saw and heard while visiting these two sites was indeed awful. Very little is left to the imagination, and perhaps that's how it should be. Personal testimonies of survivors, photographs, paintings and original torture implements, all paint a very dark picture. There's no smiling or laughing in these places, it's very sombre. It's not an easy place to be an observer, but observe and learn we must. I urge you to do your own research on this subject.
We both came away with a new found respect for the lovely Cambodian people we have met on our travels. It's staggering to think that survivors over the age of 40 will have some experience of this. Equally stupefying is that all the older people we see in the villages we cycle through somehow managed to survive the terrible conditions, starvation and the murder of family members, yet they move on, with dignity.
Another P - prostitutes. There are some notorious bars and clubs in Phnom Penh and today, unknowingly, we had lunch at one of them. BW fancied a felafal and it was only after we'd sat down and ordered we noticed the rest of the clientele. The food was lovely, and it was an interesting lunch, not least because I managed to indulge one of my favourite pastimes of 'earwigging' but my lips are sealed - for the time being anyway!
Laters
Sassi Guesthouse, Phnom Penh
Hot, hot, hot
This post was going to be entitled Pol Pot, Pavement Parking and Prostitutes in Phnom Penh, but I decided it was too flippant to lump the Pol Pot regime in with the rest of the Ps. More on that later.
My last post ended with us arriving in Kampot. What a lovely, chilled place that was. We did very little, along with the rest of the population, except wander aimlessly, eat, drink, sleep, repeat. Then we moved onto Kep, all of 24kms away, but with a completely different vibe. Firstly, there was a beach and secondly the town is very spread out with no real 'centre' as such.
The first thing we did was meet up with Katy and Ed, friends of friends, who happen to be in Cambodia at the same time as us, also travelling on bicycles. We chewed the cud over breakfast, all things bicycle touring, and then reunited in the evening for dinner and a few beers. It just so happens we're more or less cycling the same route in Cambodia so while we all ended up in Phnom Penh together the next time we will get together is probably going to be Siem Reap over Christmas. It's a small world!
We stayed at the very lovely Bacoma Gueshouse in one of the round bungalows. The grounds of the guesthouse are jungle that's been tamed and act to keep everywhere feeling very cool. In fact, we rarely used the fan in the bungalow and there was a point one evening when I almost reached for a 2nd layer, but resisted the temptation. We rode around the National Park early in the morning and while we heard a lot of wildlife, we saw very little. Even so, it was a lovely thing to do. On our way back to the guesthouse we took a detour along the new road, that's so wide it really should be called a boulevard, where we found some of the old burned out Modernist buildings.
 |
Mr Millipede
Signposting in Kep National Park
Kep National Park
  |
Kep was once a playground for the French elite before the Khmer Rouge came to power, and although it's small and sleepy now it definitely has visions of grandeur. The huge roundabout at the entrance to the town, plus the new 'boulevards' being built, all point to a bigger future.
Two long, dusty traffic-filled days later, we arrived in Phnom Penh. If you arrived in Phnom Penh on a bicycle not having ridden into another Asian City before, you might have had at least one heart attack. It's crazy but it works, somehow. An expat in Kep, when asked about the number of Lexus cars in Cambodia, said (he was Irish) "ah, now in Cambodia you're either a Big Man, or you're nothing and Big Guys drive a Lexus". It turns out they also drive anything that's huge and shiny, has air conditioning and ensures you sit higher than the rest of the traffic. Today I even saw a Rolls Royce. Pavement parking ensures that pedestrians have to walk in the road with the rest of the moving traffic, I have no idea what anyone in a wheelchair or with a pushchair would do.
 |
| On the way to Phnom Penh |
And so to the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre) and The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formerly a school that became the notorious S-21 Detention Centre. I'm not sure I can add anything to what has already been said about what the Cambodian people went through during the Pol Pot years, I can only talk about how harrowing I found the experience. Astonishing, is that The Khmer Rouge killed almost a quarter of the Cambodian population (nobody really knows how many) in the relatively short time (between April 1975 and January 1979) they were in power. It happened in my lifetime but I'm ashamed to say I remember very little about it.
What I saw and heard while visiting these two sites was indeed awful. Very little is left to the imagination, and perhaps that's how it should be. Personal testimonies of survivors, photographs, paintings and original torture implements, all paint a very dark picture. There's no smiling or laughing in these places, it's very sombre. It's not an easy place to be an observer, but observe and learn we must. I urge you to do your own research on this subject.
We both came away with a new found respect for the lovely Cambodian people we have met on our travels. It's staggering to think that survivors over the age of 40 will have some experience of this. Equally stupefying is that all the older people we see in the villages we cycle through somehow managed to survive the terrible conditions, starvation and the murder of family members, yet they move on, with dignity.
 |
| The Pagoda at The Killing Fields, to commemorate those who died |
Another P - prostitutes. There are some notorious bars and clubs in Phnom Penh and today, unknowingly, we had lunch at one of them. BW fancied a felafal and it was only after we'd sat down and ordered we noticed the rest of the clientele. The food was lovely, and it was an interesting lunch, not least because I managed to indulge one of my favourite pastimes of 'earwigging' but my lips are sealed - for the time being anyway!
 |
| Pavement parking, no room for pedestrians! |
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