We cycled for 6 days straight from Georgetown (Penang) to Port Dickson, on the west coast of peninsula Malaysia, just south of Kuala Lumpur, with a few adventures and stories to tell along the way.
For the first time on this whole trip, we found that hotels would not accommodate our bikes. So far, no one has had a problem with letting us bring the bikes inside, whether that be in the lobby, a back room or in our room, but in one particular town we had to try four hotels before we were allowed to leave our bikes inside. However, this may have been to our advantage because the hotel we stayed in had a swimming pool (with water, and yes it was clean – thanks for the tips on asking this first Alan!).
We stayed in one town called Kuala Selangor, famous for one thing; fireflies. We waited until it was dark and took a taxi out into the middle of nowhere. We arrived at a place along the river, with cheesy flashing lights and tacky firefly merchandise for sale. We weren’t really sure what to expect but we put on a buoyancy aid (the first safety exercise I have ever seen in the whole of SE Asia) and we boarded a little boat with a very quiet electric engine and set out in the pitch black river. All of a sudden we could see it in the distance; the bushes on the banks of the river were covered in what looked like Christmas tree lights. Thousands, if not millions of tiny flies, bums flashing yellow were busying themselves doing whatever it is fireflies do. It was magical and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
The next day was one of the hardest days riding for both of us. We decided not to cycle into Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur as looking at the map, it seemed the only way to get in was via an expressway – the motorway that bicycles are not allowed to ride on. However, even to cycle past it, along the coast (perhaps the equivalent of London’s M25) was horrific. It was a dual carridgeway with no hard shoulder, so cars, vans, lorries and trucks were screaming past us at at least 80mph. It was the only road and I have to say, I feared for our lives that day. I wanted to be seen as much as possible so I wore my fluorescent yellow jacket, albeit sweating underneath, but it was better than being clipped, or worse, hit.
Perhaps this is the time to go in to a little detail on Malay driving. In a word, it is crap. It two words, it is appalling and erratic. In a sentence, I have never seen such bad driving on such a high scale, from so many drivers. Naturally every nation has its terrible drivers, but I never fail to be shocked at how Malaysia’s driving scares me. They have no spatial concept, so a wide, heavily loaded lorry will squeeze through a gap, missing us by inches. Yet drivers in the puny and pathetic little Perodas (it’s Rover Metro size) can’t park, reverse around corners or pull out at a safe distance. It is no wonder that we are exhausted after each day, because not only do we have to have eyes like a hawk, but we also need to listen to vehicles coming behind us and judge those too. Thank goodness we both bought mini handlebar side mirrors because we are both continuously looking into them to see what is behind.
We eventually left the horrible main roads outside of KL and turned off on to a quiet little coastal road, which would take us all the way to Port Dickson. We checked in to a cute little house and went out to get supplies when we met Jacqui and Aaron on their touring bikes coming along the road on the opposite side. Of course, we stopped and ended up chatting to them for 45 minutes on the side of the road and much to our delight they stayed in the same house that night. Jacqui and Aaron are Australian, and newly married, and have been planning their trip for 4 years. They cycled from Sydney through the middle of Australia (!) through desert for 3 months, then through Indonesia and they will continue up through SE Asia, China, Mongolia, through the ‘Stans’ and into Europe, finishing in Ireland. We had a fantastic evening with them, swapping bike and journey advice, eating and talking til a little later then perhaps we should have done – thanks guys and all the best for your onwards journey.
For the first time on this whole trip, we found that hotels would not accommodate our bikes. So far, no one has had a problem with letting us bring the bikes inside, whether that be in the lobby, a back room or in our room, but in one particular town we had to try four hotels before we were allowed to leave our bikes inside. However, this may have been to our advantage because the hotel we stayed in had a swimming pool (with water, and yes it was clean – thanks for the tips on asking this first Alan!).
We stayed in one town called Kuala Selangor, famous for one thing; fireflies. We waited until it was dark and took a taxi out into the middle of nowhere. We arrived at a place along the river, with cheesy flashing lights and tacky firefly merchandise for sale. We weren’t really sure what to expect but we put on a buoyancy aid (the first safety exercise I have ever seen in the whole of SE Asia) and we boarded a little boat with a very quiet electric engine and set out in the pitch black river. All of a sudden we could see it in the distance; the bushes on the banks of the river were covered in what looked like Christmas tree lights. Thousands, if not millions of tiny flies, bums flashing yellow were busying themselves doing whatever it is fireflies do. It was magical and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
The next day was one of the hardest days riding for both of us. We decided not to cycle into Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur as looking at the map, it seemed the only way to get in was via an expressway – the motorway that bicycles are not allowed to ride on. However, even to cycle past it, along the coast (perhaps the equivalent of London’s M25) was horrific. It was a dual carridgeway with no hard shoulder, so cars, vans, lorries and trucks were screaming past us at at least 80mph. It was the only road and I have to say, I feared for our lives that day. I wanted to be seen as much as possible so I wore my fluorescent yellow jacket, albeit sweating underneath, but it was better than being clipped, or worse, hit.
Perhaps this is the time to go in to a little detail on Malay driving. In a word, it is crap. It two words, it is appalling and erratic. In a sentence, I have never seen such bad driving on such a high scale, from so many drivers. Naturally every nation has its terrible drivers, but I never fail to be shocked at how Malaysia’s driving scares me. They have no spatial concept, so a wide, heavily loaded lorry will squeeze through a gap, missing us by inches. Yet drivers in the puny and pathetic little Perodas (it’s Rover Metro size) can’t park, reverse around corners or pull out at a safe distance. It is no wonder that we are exhausted after each day, because not only do we have to have eyes like a hawk, but we also need to listen to vehicles coming behind us and judge those too. Thank goodness we both bought mini handlebar side mirrors because we are both continuously looking into them to see what is behind.
We eventually left the horrible main roads outside of KL and turned off on to a quiet little coastal road, which would take us all the way to Port Dickson. We checked in to a cute little house and went out to get supplies when we met Jacqui and Aaron on their touring bikes coming along the road on the opposite side. Of course, we stopped and ended up chatting to them for 45 minutes on the side of the road and much to our delight they stayed in the same house that night. Jacqui and Aaron are Australian, and newly married, and have been planning their trip for 4 years. They cycled from Sydney through the middle of Australia (!) through desert for 3 months, then through Indonesia and they will continue up through SE Asia, China, Mongolia, through the ‘Stans’ and into Europe, finishing in Ireland. We had a fantastic evening with them, swapping bike and journey advice, eating and talking til a little later then perhaps we should have done – thanks guys and all the best for your onwards journey.
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| Jacqui and I have the same frame! |
James then had a bit of a tube crisis. For some very strange reason, his tubes keep bursting at the valve, making them unfixable. We were going along at a good pace, when we literally heard a ‘pop’ and something had pierced James’s back tyre in two places, a centimetre apart, leaving us at the side of the road for an hour! He has an odd shaped wheel; 28 inch is rare here. We have been in many bike shops along the way trying to find spare tubes with no joy, as the ones he bought from home have all since been ditched. We were stuck, but luckily I managed to glue the valve back together which held for another 2 days, exactly when we were able to get the right tubes – very lucky!
We arrived in Port Dickson where we stayed in the usual budget fare and booked into a slightly more upmarket place for the next few days, as it was a special day that we wanted to celebrate in style. PD itself is a bit of a hole, but it is more famous for its beaches which run 16km outside of the town. It’s quite close to KL so it’s quite a trendy weekend getaway spot. We were there during the week however, so prices dropped and we got a bit of a bargain…
We arrived in Port Dickson where we stayed in the usual budget fare and booked into a slightly more upmarket place for the next few days, as it was a special day that we wanted to celebrate in style. PD itself is a bit of a hole, but it is more famous for its beaches which run 16km outside of the town. It’s quite close to KL so it’s quite a trendy weekend getaway spot. We were there during the week however, so prices dropped and we got a bit of a bargain…
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