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Published: March 19th 2007
Peace Maaaan !!!!
The symbol of peace in the east - the Swastika. Unfortunately, a little man with a moustache in the west 70 years ago gave it another use...Day 291, 18th March
Jeram - Kelang - Morib
As I dozed off last night there was a strobe-effect of distant lightning on my tent that lasted more than an hour, but no thunder. Animals kept me alert last night. All kinds of beasties were lurking around my tent having a nosy at the ‘New Arrival’ in their jungle realm. I remembered a guy in Gergetown telling me we had crossed the so-called ‘Darwin Line’, a point where species drastically change. South of the Darwin Line lies Malaysia, Indonesia, Australasia, and the Pacific islands. The guy, can’t remember his name, had been working in the jungle nature reserve near the border with Thailand where I camped and had the encounter with the bear. He said it was a ‘sun bear’ and that they were really violent, I was lucky I called its bluff and scared it away, he said. Good new was that ther were no bears near the coast.
I was glad of first light and packed up my things quickly, all my bedding, towel, and day-clothes wet with sweat - man! I must stink! I just keep sweating in this climate, especially from my chest. I
near Kelang
One of the picturesque harbours west of KL. must have drank at least 10 pints of fluids yesterday and only pissed half a pint. Is this good for me - that’s the question? Sometimes I don’t know what’s actually going through my mind - I mean, every day, cycling, sweating, camping, stress on dangerous roads….what am I doing this to myself for? Sometimes I just want to go straight home, be back in England, in my nice cosy bed, not having to worry that a crocodile will bite my cock off in the night when I leave the tent for a leak! Sorry, be this is life on the road - and these are my thoughts, somebody out there can relate to them, surely. Or am I really becoming delusional?
As I rode off to the Kampung (village), monkeys leapt from tree to tree, it was amusing, and great to see that this wildlife exists just a mile from the hectic road. The sun rose like a bright red disc above the palms in front of me as I cycled from the coast to join highway 5 again, then, back to reality…
The road, surprisingly, wasn’t so busy as I’d expected. Yesterday it may have been
Palm Oil plantations
In Melaka state this was a common scene, the quest for palm oil - the need for smooth skin.... holiday traffic or something? I stopped after a few miles at a very friendly roadside café and had three delicious roti with dahl and two big cups of creamy and sugary tea.
It was an easy days riding, just over 50 miles today, but the road was hectic in parts, even horrendous, quite atrocious, very dangerous, etc,.. etc,.. Just before Morib the road forked and the majority of traffic went left towards KL, my coastal route became very quiet. I stopped in Morib for a look around, it was very quiet and seemed very Islamic. There was a promenade with signs warning couples no to hold hands or walk arm-in-arm. The beach was muddy, I had the impression that this resort-town had passed its sell-by date.
Continuing down the coast it became very rural with mosques in every village. Just south of one such village I saw to the right a track, and on a tree next to the track was the international sign for a camping-site, drawn on a piece of cardboard box with an arrow pointing down the dusty track. “One of the guys”! I instantly thought. “He’s camping down near the beach and he’s made
COCAINE
A Malaysian woman in a rubber plantation, probably oblivious to what it says on the front of her T-shirt! a sign for me, Great”… What happened over the next hours and overnight was strange…
I followed the track down to some squat buildings in a clearing, it wasn’t a camp site, well, not as we in the west know it! I looked around and then an elderly muslim gentleman appeared, he wore traditional robes and his head was covered. He welcomed me and asked what I was doing. He spoke good English and was fascinated that I’d cycled there all the way from England. He told me that for a small donation, I could camp there under the trees and use the showers… so I did.
It was 3pm, so I pitched between the buildings and what looked like an adventure playground. I had a long cooling shower and got all my stuff washed before deciding to try out the adventure playground. It was fun and I found that I had many muscles that remained unused. I scrabbled up rope ladders, over walls, swung over pools on ropes, scurried over the barbed-wire entrapments….hmmm… climbed up the… watchtower!? Watchtower! Barbed-Wire! I had a moment of realization…was I really naïve or was my mind fantising - I looked down
Rubber Ahoy!
This is where it all comes from lads! The gooey juice turns into latex which is made into - you've guessed: Erasers! on what looked very much like a military training area!
I cooked up some noodles ate ate, contemplating. The elderly owner came over to me and sat down to chat. He was really interesting and talked for ages. Apparently he was born in 1936 and remembered the Japanese invasion of Malaysia. After the war, the British troops came ashore first at Morib Beach in amphibious vehicles he said. He told me that he’d fought for independence and attacked the communists in Malaysia. He whiled away the hour with stories of military strategy until it was time for him to leave just before dark - there was a meeting and he said that ‘I’d be safe in my tent’.
When it was dark a storm brewed up and between the clatter of the rain and the rumble of thunder, I could hear men chanting in the nearby buildings.
Total Miles: 13343.72 Todays Miles: 55.31 Average speed: 11.0 Time on bike: 5:00
Day 292, 19th March
Morib - Sepang - Port Dickson - Cape Rachado
It was an un-eventful night and I awoke to a picture-postcard sunrise over the palm trees. My mozzie-guard sprayed at
KL Ahead...
While I was taking the quiet roads, Rory was on the motorway into Kuala Lumpur. In fact, it's quite legal to cycle on the motorway and much safer! the entrance of the tent last night prevented an invasion of ants. The small black ants are softies I’ve discovered, it’s the red ones you have to be careful of, they have a nasty bite. I packed up and as I left I took another look at the so-called assault course…I reckon my imagination had been running away with me yesterday. The owner bade me farewell - and I realsided that he was a genuinely pleasant and helpful person. Thank you ‘The Media’ and shame on me for letting you pollute my mind with your propaganda…
I set off on nice and quiet roads heading south-easterly, and after a while left the state of Selengor and entered Negeri Sembilan. The hillsides were being stripped and terraced for palm-oil I suppose, the terracing must give easier access to the palms. It was past noon when I arrived in the town of Port Dickson, a kind of non-descipt place that took me 5 minute to explore before I decided to head off along the coast again with some snackie-things I’d bought in town and a half-bottle of Hollywood liquor.
I have the idea that like Penang, this coastal strip has
Petronas Tower
Rory - the Engineer, just had to see this marvel of architecture, didn't he! had the idea to try and gear up to mass-torism, but the hotels remain empty. Has anyone ever been to Blackpool or Brighton in January? Well, this is how it feels, except it’s humid here - not damp. The sea looks bright blue, but the beach isn’t at all top class. Mud-flats and white sand which upon close inspection masses of broken shells.
I carried on about 10 miles, stopping for a drink at a pleasant beach café, before I reached the turning for Cape Rachado, a peninsula belonging to Melaka state. There was an army base for the first mile which ended on a thin isthmus which was the state border. A bit further along the road was an un-manned barrier blocking the road to the lighthouse. It was easy to roll my bike under the barrier and then a very steep climb through monkey-filled forest. It was worth it for the view. I could see clear across the Strait of Malacca to the island of Sumatra on the other side - it happened to be one of those rare clear days that I’d heard about. The British-built lighthouse was out of bounds. My plan to camp at
Sad Forest
What do you reckon caused this? Acid rain or something? (near KL) the lighthouse was impossible because the only area of flat land was at the base of the lighthouse steps. Everywhere else was thick jungle with tiger mosquitoes after my blood.
I went back down to the isthmus momentarily forgetting the barrier and nearly crashing through it. There was a grassy bit of land overlooking the beach with a few old boat on it and a table. I asked the owners of a nearby house if it was okay to camp there, “No problem” they said. I pitched the tent just inside of Melaka territory then wandered the 100 yards along the beach into Negeri Sembilan state. I then followed the boundary line (well marked) the 300 yards to the south beach where there was a rubbish dump full of vicious-looking scavenging monkeys who chased me away!
As I walked a different route back to the tent, I noticed that the trees were full of different species of monkey. I found it fascinating just watching them - watching me. The guard at the nearby fitness complex warned me not to leave anything outside on my tent for the monkeys to steal, they are the theives around here, not people.
Cape Rachado
From the lighthouse there was a view clear over the Straits of Malacca to Sumatra. Total Miles: 13403.17 Todays Miles: 59.45 Average speed: 10.4 Time on bike: 5:41
Day 293, 20th March
Cape Rachado - Kuala Tingghi - Melaka
No monkey-madness last night - just rain, making me run out of the tent during the night to put on my outer sheet again. The rainy season is upon Malaysia I reckon. I packed my tent and thought to myself that this may be the last time on the trip that I do it, tonight I’ll be in Melaka, hopefully meeting up with the guys, then it’s not far to Singapore. What a thought - no more camping! No more exciting bumps in the night, growls, pitter-patter of rain, smugglers….no more being alone in my thoughts?!
I left at eight and stopped shortly after joining the main road for my roti and milky tea breakfast. Once on the road again I spotted what turned out to be two Malaysian ID cards sitting by the roadside. Probably a theft, a handbag theft, thrown out of a car window? Being the ‘good-citizen’ that I am, and returning some of the ‘good karma’, I handed them in at the next POLIS station before
Last night of camping?
Cape Rachado - the night before reaching Melaka, this was probably going to be the last night I used my tent. going on to cross the state line into Melaka.
It’s funny what you discover at the roadside when cycling: Bags, Caps, Shoes, Porno Mags, Hub-Caps, Wing-Mirrors, and Numberplates - my favourite. I collect them and stick them on my bedroom wall at home. From this trip I’ve got plates from: Hungary, Slovakia, 3 from Russia, Mongolia, Thailand, and a few small motorbike plates from here in Malaysia. I’ve also been collecting country stickers too and they’re all over my bike. Another common roadside sight, in EVERY country I’ve cycled in, is the McDonald’s bags,cups, cardboard packets, etc,… I find myself wondering why McDonald’s don’t change their corporate colours to two-tone green, for instance. At least then, they would blend in with the envionment!
I took the small roads to Kuala Tingghi, past beautiful traditional wooden houses on stilts. In Melaka State the architecture of the houses seems somewhat different, more Mediterranean looking and a lot of places are made from stone. The road followed the coast most of the way and wound inland now and again through ‘stripped’ countryside which was being prepared for palm-oil plantations. I think the terraced effect is for easier vehicular access.
As I approached Melaka the roads became busier and the roads narrower with colonial-style buildings either side of the street. The centre became a confusion of one-way streets, but at least it was small making it easy to find The Eastern Heritage Guest House which was located within a beautiful Chinese building. It was R8 for a dorm bed and there was a cold dipping pool downstairs. The place was full of nooks and crannies, laquered woodwork and intricate carvings adorned the place. I unpacked, showered, then chatted with the others guests.
Later, I went out to find an internet place and checked my mails. Great! I found out that most of the other guys are alive and well and scattered all over the place. Scott has spent two weeks on the Surin Islands in Thailand diving. Tobes is in Kuala Lumpur. Rory is trying to organise some sort of media event in KL. And Stephane is just a little cryptic about where he actually is, but is adamant that he doesn’t want to set wheel in KL. I also got the feeling that Rory and Tobes were up to something big. Reading between the lines, they have got some sort of big surprise waiting in Singapore and I just can’t figure it out?
I wrote to Kathryn in LA telling her what she didn’t want to hear. Every travellers dilemma - lack of cash. Now I’m in a desparate situation and a meeting with her in Hawaii looks remote, I’d be skint there. I could just fly to LA? I mailed my folks asking the un-askable….you know what I mean….HELP…send some cash, please. I hope my son doesn’t grow up to be like me, but….
I wandered the streets of old Melaka looking at the buildings of the old colonial powers who once had their grip on this place; Portugal, Holland, and Britain…fascinating! Checked out the cheapest shops to get food, could be here for a week waiting for the guys to arrive, then made noodles back at the hostel. I don’t think the Chinese owner likes me that much cos I’m not buying the food he has on sale here. Later on all the other travellers an I watched a crappy American movie called “Three Kings” about the Gulf War in the TV room - not recommended! I’m sure there will be another Gulf War soon if Bush gets his way, that guy’s desperate to kill Saddam. Then we’ll have a real ‘movie’ to watch courtesy of BBC and CNN - every night, indefinately! Before I went bed I convinced myself that the world is a really nice place and had a dip in the pool…
Total Miles: 13451.31 Todays Miles: 48.14 Average speed: 11.5 Time on bike: 4:11
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Tot: 0.38s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 26; qc: 94; dbt: 0.1403s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
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shane
non-member comment
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its the wallace line in indonesia