Kuantan (Malaysia)

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We arrived at Kuantan, our halfway point on the east coast, at 1540 hrs having covered just under 100 Km. We had planned to stop at a small town called Pekan about half way but the hotels were full or too expensive. There was a tourist resort just outside Pekan, but we didn't fancy staying at a Malaysian version of 'Butlins' so, as it was an overcast day, we decided to push on. Joy was really strong and for a change it was me that was doing all the whimpering. My saddle was killing me from the 50 Km point. I think that when I reassembled the bikes in Singapore I must have altered the position of the saddle slightly as it now feels as if I'm breaking-in the hard leather from scratch - thats my excuse anyway.

Today we are taking a rest day as we need to catch up on some washing and other chores. We normally wash our cycling clothes each evening but with the damp humid conditions here the clothes rarely dry overnight. I've been trying to get Joy to adopt the 'jungle routine' of putting the same damp clothes on in the morning - they are normally soaking wet again within a few miles in any case. Unfortunately she has only half heartily joined in. While she will put on her shirt she steadfastly refuses to put on her damp underwear. These items are tied to the top of her panniers to dry out throughout the day. Like in India, every time we stop we normally attract a number of people who want to look at our bikes. However, unlike India, Joy's bike seems to get more attention than mine here in Malaysia!

Food here is both delicious and cheap. We rarely spend more that £1 each on breakfast and less than £3 each on a main meal. A good cup of coffee will set you back about 20p and tea is about the same. Everybody seems to eat out and at these prices you can see why. Although Joy is not fluent in Malay she is good and getting better each day. It makes a change to order off the menu in the local language instead of having to point at things or do a charades impression of a cow or chicken.

The other day we stopped at a roadside cafe for a drink. Whilst Joy was getting her purse out of her bar bag I went ahead and sat down. Behind the counter were 3 Malay ladies wearing traditional headdress preparing food. The elder of the three said to me 'speak Malay, speak Malay.' I replied 'satu kopi kosong - terima kasih' (one black coffee thank you). All three of them in unison dropped their jaws then looked at each other and burst out laughing. It was a picture to behold but I'm glad they didn't attempt to test my linguistic skills any further as that is all I know in Malay at the moment.

Tomorrow we will head off for Cherating, a small seaside village popular with travellers. If it's nice we may spend a few days there.

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