It's More Efficient if You Wait Until We Leave to Clean Our Room - Day 35 and 36: Biking South From Bangkok

---

Day 35 and 36: Sabak Bernam to Kuala Selangor to Kuala Lumpur

We were awakened by two cleaning ladies banging on our door after having tried, noisily, to unlock it and having failed. It was 9 AM and these ladies were apparently ready to clean our room. We opened the door and requested they come back later. Perhaps after we had departed would be a better time?

We quickly ate some lo mein noodles at the Chinese restaurant beneath our hotel and headed out. We biked straight on a busy road with a tiny shoulder and loads of big trucks passing. But en route there were a dozen mango stands, selling delicious fresh-squeezed mango juice for the incredible price of 1 ringit (about thirty cents), and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, stopping frequently to enjoy. It was hot but not too humid and we enjoyed the ride, surrounded by mountains, farms and homes.

Unhappily, we passed a dead dog, freshly run-over and flattened on the shoulder, its insides splayed in every direction. Soon after we passed a dying crow, its wings broken, attempting to fly, and a flattened three-foot monitor lizard. Dozens of live cats and dogs roamed the neighborhoods on each side of the road, seemingly unaware of the dangers that lurked should they stray too close to the highway.

J crashed his bike while trying to mount a curb, skinned his knee and received black and blue bruises on both hands. I bought some bubble gum, blew a bubble, turned to show it to J, and watched as it blew out of my mouth to incredibly, land intact on the roadside. We reached our destination, Kuala Selangor, in the early afternoon. The plan was to stop here, just outside of Kuala Lumpur, the capital, to ensure ourselves plenty of time to navigate our way in to the capital the following day.

It was a less exciting small city than we’d hoped, full of colorful, decaying older buildings, mixed with newer decaying strip malls and small homes, set aside a busy road. We ate mee rhebus, curry noodles, with ayam, fried chicken and nasi goreng ayam, fried rice with fried chicken, with delicious, fluffy egg roti, the fabulous local flat bread. We found a cheap place to stay above another Chinese restaurant. This room featured a bucket shower, a double and a twin bed pushed together, a cracked boudoir, an ancient desk, peeling wallpaper and dirty walls.

We went off in search off beer, and returned unsuccessful to the restaurant beneath our hotel, forty minutes later, to discover they sold beer. We should have known, as only the Chinese restaurants sell beer, (because the Muslims do not drink beer, so Malay restaurants don’t, and the Hindus pretend not to drink beer, so Indian restaurants don’t). We enjoyed our beer while watching the Olympics and reading the local English paper. We were intrigued to learn that the five daily prayer times for Malay Muslims differ by one to eleven minutes, depending on the city.

I also want to mention that oftentimes people in Malaysia eat with their hands, which gets extremely messy when eating rice and curries. But a sink is always available so that people can wash their hands immediately before and after they eat.

Day 36: Kuala Selangor to Kuala Lumpur

The day was supposed to be easy, just 25 breezy miles in to the excitement of the capital city. But the day was not easy. It was beyond intense. First of all, the mileage was more like 40 miles. Second, it took hours to achieve those miles as the only way in to the city was highways, packed with cars, with tiny or no breakdown lanes. Very scary. And extremely hot. I wanted to cry. Frequently.

Once we finally got in to the city, we could not find any cheap hotels. The city was huge, and modern, and we saw Hiltons and Marriots and shiny, massive shopping complexes with Guccis’ and Pradas’. Everyplace we saw was an international chain.

We had been riding around the city for three hours, searching for a hotel when a kind, kind man stopped us, bought us a soda, and drew us a map. Then he followed us on the highway, stopping three times to ensure we went the right way. In his car! He was surely an angel. It started pouring while we were still on the highway, adding to the danger, but at least we were now on track towards a hotel.

Thankfully, the man’s directions were correct and twenty minutes later we were checking in to a hotel. We were beyond exhausted from the experience. It was 7 PM and we had left Kuala Selangor at 11 that morning. At a nearby restaurant, we ate fish ball, pork and rice soup, plus noodles with shrimp. We walked around the neighborhood and watched Indian men baking bread on the inside of a ceramic pot, on the sidewalk. We ate Indian desserts, turned the street corner, and spit them out. Exhausted in bed at 9PM that night, we vowed to plan our big city arrivals better.

---