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Published: April 13th 2009
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What a difference a week makes. Just over seven days ago we struggled to cover 70Km and now in the last 3 days we have covered 192 miles - 70, 50 and 72 miles respectfully. I think it is safe to say that we are now acclimatised and have got our cycling legs back. Joy got upset when we left Kuantan after running over a live lizard. She is petrified that she could run over a live snake and it could possibly rise up and bite her in revenge. I have reassured her that the chances of that happening are very slim and, if she went a bit faster, almost impossible. The result of this advice is that our daily average speed has increased by almost 2mph.
The east coast of Malaysia is beautiful and there are miles of golden beaches. We stopped one night in Kuala Terengganu which was by far the nicest town we had seen so far in Malaysia. That evening we walked around the night market trying various tasty delights. Joy was like a child at Christmas - “ooh you must try this”, or “I remember these when I was in school” etc. The next morning
we had a few problems trying to get out of the town. A motorist saw me looking at the map at a set of traffic lights and then pulled over a short distance in front of us. He drew us a sketch map and sent us on our way. We eventually came to the long bridge he had mentioned and started to cross it. As there was no hard shoulder we had to go like the clappers to prevent holding up the heavy traffic. Halfway across I looked down to my left and saw what looked like a palace, with golden domes, appearing through the mist. It looked as if it was sitting on the lake and with its backdrop of rugged mountains, it would have made a fantastic photograph. Unfortunately I couldn't stop so alas probably one of the best photo opportunities of the entire trip was missed.
At Penarek we stayed in a beach hut. It was very basic but adequate for our needs. Also staying there was an Austrian couple who are travelling around the world in their camper van. They had been on the road for 4 years and were about to ship the camper
van from Malaysia to Australia. We had a very enjoyable evening with them and the owners of the lodge swapping travel stories.
We arrived in Kota Bharu late yesterday afternoon having now cycled the whole length of the country. We only planned to spend a couple of days here to sort out our Thai visas and catch up on some chores etc. Our guide book says that it takes about 24hrs to issue a 60 day visa, so we got up early this morning to be at the front of the queue. When we arrived at the Thai consulate we found it closed until Thursday due to a public holiday in Thailand. As Kota Bahru is a Muslim state the consulate will also be closed on Friday and Saturday so it is unlikely that we will get our visas until Sunday.
Walking back to our hotel I bought a local paper and was horrified to see that the Thai government has declared a state of emergency as a result of civil unrest in the country. I then checked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website and they are advising against travel to Bangkok and other areas in Thailand
and for those already there to remain indoors - not very practical if travelling around on a bike. This news has potentially scuppered our plans. We can't get to Loas and Cambodia without going through Thailand. We could risk it and just crack on but we will not be insured (our insurance will be invalid if we travel to a country or a region against the advice of the FCO).
We have been pondering what to do all day but in the end have decided to get the Thai visas as planned and then go by bus to Alor Setar (on the west coast of Malaysia). From there we will go to the island of Langkawi for a weeks holiday. If by then the trouble has diminished we will crack on with our original plan and enter Thailand. If not, then we will re-evaluate our options and probably confine our travels to Malaysia - it's a big country with plenty to see.
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Moira and Les
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Hi you two - thanks for the email Joy - have just caught up with the blog - such interesting reading and brill pictures. Hope troubles settle and you can carry on as planned. Take care Lots of love xxxxx