Funny stomach, boat ride and a room with a view

Well yesterday was a funny day, had a big sleep in and a full English breakfast which I don’t think my stomach took to too well. My stomach just felt funny all day, nothing really happened it was just one of those times were you decide it’s best not to venture to far as something could happen and it could be a bit of a problem.
So I had a walk around the local area which was full of overweight middle aged English men with young thai girls. For all those who have been travelling I was in that area. It was not as though I was going in blind though when I found a place to stay there. The British type pubs, the over priced hotels etc etc. You know what I mean like.
Anyway I did drag my sorry arse out for a bit of a ride down the road to a cheap Thai food place for lunch which seemed to help with the stomach. You pack so much rice in not much is going to move it through unless it wants to be moved. That night had a pretty good Pad Thai seafood with Purple tentacles. Now for those who have not been to Thailand the purple tentacles are Squid but sometime they stand in a meal. Very good none the less. So after my cheap Thai meal I went and got two banana pancakes, with condensed milk on top. Beautiful. There goes my waist.
That was pretty much my day, the overpriced room had a TV with sports and movies in English so I watched a bit of crap tv as well. O yes watched the F1 live. Go Jenson. Where are my Ferrari. The next day I was heading off to Ko Pha-Ngan.
Woke up this morning with a lot of mosquitoes in my room, luckily I had only got two bites, I went on a killing spree and managed to get 5 as pay back. So I was feeling good this morning and wanted to do a few miles on the bike so I headed the long way round the island, this would mean I would complete a circuit. Around 30km for the morning and there were hills lots of hills, some steep but it was good to be going up and down. The bike goes up and down pretty good.
With doing the ride I got to see most of the beaches etc even though the main road is in land a bit you can get some nice views from the tops of the hills. The rest of the island pretty much was like where I was staying with restaurants and Hotels right up to the beach front, it ruins the beach front really. I rode the 30km it about 2 hours with breakfast stop.
Had inquired at one of the travel agents the night before to see where to get the car ferry from, now these run every two hours so with my timing I should have got there just before it was about to leave. Got to the wharf where I had been told but they don’t leave from there it’s about 7km down the road. Bugger.
So off I went down the road, the boat was just finishing loading up as I made it, but alas I was too late. So there are some faster ferries that run the same route to so pulled up at the tourist information office, the lady behind the counter said,yes I can sell you a ticket, ok but how much for the bike, you have to check over there. Ok I’ll go and check over there then. But you buy ticket here. Ok I’ll buy ticket from you once I know how much the bike will cost and they can take it.
Right I am going over there to check how much the bike will cost, ok I come with you, and you buy ticket from me. Ok whatever.. So after all of this I cost 200baht the bike cost 150Baht and if I had got the car ferry would have cost me 150 baht all up. Not happy and ok yes we are only talking about a few dollars but that is a few dollars that I could be spending on food.. You can see what rules my world.
Managed to get on the boat in the end, I think I could have got on without paying for the bike, as no one checked if I had a ticket for it or not. They guys on the boat lifted the bike and trailer on so that was sweet. We headed out on our way to Ko Pha Ngan.
Arrived at the pier and had to take bike and trailer off myself, come on people were is the customer service around here. Some girl held my bike while I put the trailer back on and then I was off, looking for Lonely planet recommend place. I knew I had to head north, always heading north I am. Rode passed a few bays and figured that I must have gone passed it even though I had been very vigilant in trying to find it.
Asked a local guy who was passing were I was on the map, I knew I was well passed the place but I was nearly at the top of the island. So U turn and start looking around for something on the way back. Had this local lady who I have named Mum yell to me so stopped, she said she has something for 200 baht, checked out the room, brand new, plastic still on all the plugs and everything. No aircon, but I’ll have to live with that. The room is on the second story with views of the bay. O yes and for all of you in the know, there is a half moon party in two days time so might just stay around for a couple of days.
Meet a guy today who lives up back who is a DJ for the fullmoon parties. It seems that the people who do the full moon parties is different from the guy’s who do the Half moon parties. The half moon are run by the locals but the full moon has a more international flavor.
Ko Pha Ngan is the home of the full moon, half moon and No moon parties so it is really hard to come here and not be able to go to a party. Will see anyway. There are a few travelers around here so will just see what happens.
The next door neighbors are all yoga enthusiasts, meditation is big in this area, so I might become a hippy if I could afford it. 7000baht for a ten day meditation retreat, so you pay them so you can’t talk. They should just get away from tourist areas then they won’t speak English. I have had a couple of days were there was limited conversation.

Short ride and back to island life

Well had my alarm all set to go off at 5:30am this morning and it did and I turned it off and must have gone back to sleep as the next time I looked at the clock it was 6:30am. So jumped up through on my cloths and everything, I was 1 hour behind schedule. I decided the night before that Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan and Ko Tao were going to be my next ports of call.
Checked the room then because I was still half asleep checked it again, the thing is on a bike is you don’t want to have to go back for anything. On the bike and down the road, feeling hungry already, need some water as well. Stopped and picked up 13banana’s for about $1dollar NZ and got some water. First breakfast taken care of. Had about 60km to ride by 10am to get the ferry to Ko Samui.
After yesterday my legs and mind were feeling good, so after inhaling 6 banana’s and some water I was cruising along, o yes to save time I eat while I rode. I had been given directions the night before by a Swiss guy on how to get there using the back roads it cut off some 10km which is half an hour bike time.
So there I was cruising the back roads which means dodging pot holes while trying not to be run over by the passing trucks. Thailand is different from Malaysia in that sense, Malaysians will give you enough room that they nearly do a head on were as Thai’s don’t give you much room at all. One thing they do do is beep the horn as they come up behind you. Gives me the willies but at least I know there coming.
Any way life is different in the back country, the trees are closer to the road so I had some shade which was a nice change from the searing heat of the motorways. The traffic does come closer to you but there is less of it and I don’t get as many hello’s. This is because they are so shocked to see me go by they just steer at me opened mouthed.
I did bump into the Khanom mountain bike club going out for a Sunday ride, they had some nice bikes there and asked me if I wanted to come along. I said yep but you have to ride my bike, they did not seem so keen after that. They were out for their 8km ride, alright guys go for it, I have already done 24km and I’m not even started. I did not say that of cause. Was told I have about 35km to go so that was better than the 47 the signs said. Like Malaysia Thai’s sign posting is just as bad.
So after some photo’s I was off again, back out on the open road, just me my bike and a few hundred cars. Sweet, the rest of the journey was pretty good there were even some hills beautiful hills not steep hills but hills I could let the bike roll down and it would not stop. Heaven.
On the way had finished off all my banana’s, there smaller than the ones we get in NZ but a lot sweeter. I arrived at the ferry 10 minutes before it was about to leave, no extra charge for the bike, sweet, so on I rode and left it with all the cars. Now the Swiss were going to be getting this ferry to but no sign of them.
The boat trip out was nice, the land around were you catch the boat is hilly, I think it is limestone that shoots up out of the earth covered with cliffs and vegetation. It’s kind of like a pirates cove paradise. I’m sure if you were a pirate it would be a good place to hang out and wait for ships to come passed. I got to relax for an hour and then we arrived at the island. The guy in charge of letting everyone off the boat let me go first which was nice of him.
The search for accommodation had begun, I head north up the island as boats to Ko Pha Ngan left from up there and I did not want to far to go when I had to catch my next boat. I am now in a guest house not too far from the beach paying way too much for a room that on the mainland would be loads cheaper. The things I have to do for Island life. I am right in the middle of the hotel area though.
Before I finish for the day I had a bigger hill to climb today on the island, now for all you bikers out there do not go over what I estimated to be around 60 to 70km/h with a trailer, it gets the wobbles if you go to fast, added a bit of excitement to my ride anyway.

Why Why why

I am so tired, I woke up so tired this morning, it took me a while to get out of bed and get ready. I jumped on the bike and headed out of town, my arse is killing me, my legs don’t feel too bad it’s the mind that has the problem. My mind is tired from pushing my body along the day before.
After 30km some of which I rode through a military base, there were guards at the start of the road but they never stopped me so I just carried on riding, it was good because the road was fairly quiet, and stair towards were I needed to go. So on I rode passed solders and an airforce base and the more guards at the other end, I just waved to them and then all of a sudden the road got really busy again.
So stopped for Breakfast it a town that I don’t think had seen westerners in a long time. Had a few people watch me while I ate breakfast. The rest of the ride turned into one stop after another which makes the journey so much longer. Time seemed to drag on and on, I was still going in the right direction but I knew there was no way I would be able to do the 135km I had thought about doing.
So I have stopped in a little resort town of Sichon which is by the beach it is nice but the prices of accommodation is expensive, managed to get them to drop the price but the room for how much they wanted for the room is a bit over the top. Lets just say I would not want to pay any more for it then I am which I still think I am getting ripped off.
So have about 71km to go and then I thought I might do some island hopping for a few days, maybe 2 days on each island, hopefully they will let me take my bike on the boat to Ko Tao. Then that will take about 250 km of the riding side of things.
So I just have to write a bit more, the sunset tonight was extraordinary. Ok just so you can get the idea, I’m sitting in a restaurant that is above the local harbor on a hill. The local boats are heading out fishing for the night, the harbor swings in and around the hill. There are old fisherman’s buildings and ramshackled wharfs with a forest behind and tall palm trees popping out the top. The sun is slowly going down behind some clouds, the sky is a fiery red, as the sun breaks the clouds the water starts to glisten like a million diamonds. I am sitting supping my Coke, yes would be a great add for coke. Then the sun slowly sinks down between two palm trees, it looks larger then in NZ and because of some thinner cloud cover the sun is a dark orange.
I kinder had a small twang of loneliness at this point more that there I was sitting watching this amazing sunset and no one was there to enjoy it with me. O well I probably have not really done it justice with my description but I hope you can get the idea. It’s was one of those sunsets that you remember for the rest of your life. Yes people it was that good. No photo’s sorry left my camera behind. What sort of photographer am I.

Crashing a wedding and 100miles

Started this morning with the idea of only doing about 80km today, was woken up by the guy next door at 5:15 with his tv blearing away, could have done with the extra 15 minute thank you very much, get up out the door down the road and on the ferry. 2 baht for the ferry and it cuts of 15km of road riding sweet. On the road and away, bit of 7 eleven as feeling hungry already, on down the road.
Now for some reason there were lots of weddings and funerals going on. All morning I had cars going back and forth with ribbons on them. So the morning went as it usually does, stop for second breakfast just after 8am after 40km. Then back on the road, at the 60km mark I was getting hungry again so it was time to look for more food, went through a village with a limited number of eating places, so cruising down the road I found on that looked pretty busy.
So I pulled over and jumped off the bike, now as I walked in I realized that it was a wedding but it was too late I had been seen by the older men, with a few arm waves I could not back out so I went over and sat down. They offered the obligatory alcoholic drink, after saying no thank you and just having a coke we sat down to chat, Not much English here folks, luckily for me there was a young guy who had a bit of English.
So I tried to ask were to get some food, and a few minutes later food was brought to me, ok so I am now part of the wedding. Have to say the food was good, Had liver with intestine curry and a Pork shoulder curry. Very nice. Anyway me and the young fella did a bit of chatting. Then the Bride and groom came out and the wedding started, can’t go now because that would look really bad.
So stayed around and took some photo’s. It was pretty interesting, they both sit behind some wooden boxes and people pour water over their hands, while the priest chats away on the microphone. The pouring of the water is like good luck and happy long marriage. So once they had done this, that’s it there married. So I got the young fella to teach me how to say congratulations in Thai.
I had already talked to the mother of the Bride and she sent the bride over to say hello to me, I did my best Ko Sa Dang Kwam Yin Dee Duy Kub (congratulations). She understood me and thanked me and I thanked her and everyone else after this and I took to the road again and headed for Hua Sai 30km it was starting to get hot. I had spent about 1 ½ hours at the wedding so it was now after lunch.
Made it to Hua Sai and meet a English girl outside the old 7 eleven now she was just passing through but could speak Thai so she asked a cop for me if there were any places to stay, we came to the conclusion that not really, right all morning I had know it was about 100miles from Songkhla to Nakhon Si Thammarat and I was thinking of giving it ago, so there it was, I had done 100km that morning so 60km more should not be too hard.
After another 20km had some more food and then there was 40km to go. The rest of the ride was pretty good. So it took about 10 hours to ride 160 km not bad have to try 200 km next just to see if I can do it. Was pretty tired but not as bad as I thought I would be. The city of Nakhon Si Thammarat looked really interesting, it had a 6 story Wat which was just outside my window, a large pagoda down the road and the some old style fortification the only problem with it is there is not many places to stay.

a german an Englishman and a Viet-kieu.

Well it was rest day, had meet a German guy Ralfe at the Hotel where I was, he is like the guy that never left, chatted to him and a Englishman Alex for a while the night before, anyone would think these two were married the way they went on at each other. Alex has had dingy fever a while ago and has it again now. The crazy bugger did not take the proscription the doctor gave him so it keeps coming back. Ralfe says it’s all down to what he eats and because he smokes. It was all very entertaining for a while. Ralfe offered to show me the market the next day. O yes this was the night before.
Next morning got up and waited for Ralfe, he came out with a big box of fruit and kept handing me banana’s and mango’s very nice, while we were sitting the Alex came out with his box of fruit and the discussion from the night before started all over again. Same thing with no final conclusion.
Anyway me and Ralfe jumped on the bikes and headed into town. Now Ralfe has been coming to Thailand for 6months of the year for the last 7 years so he speaks pretty good Thai. He went around and brought all his fruit for the next few days while I took some photo’s. After we had done this he said I’ll take you to a massage place. Ok it’s a bit early in the morning for that sort of thing. No kids not that sort of massage a Thai massage.
240 baht for 2 hours. Now you know if you’ve had a Thai massage they can be pretty full on. Two hour am I nuts. Ralfe explained that I only wanted an hour. Right shoe’s off feet cleaned. Now for you who have not had a Thai massage before, it can sometimes feel like you have gone twelve rounds with Mike Tyson, it can be hard when it’s getting done but you feel pretty good when they finally stop. Now Ralfe headed away but before he left he said” if you want it softer say bow bow” means softly softly. Sweet cheers Ralfe.
So she goes to work on me. I have to say she did carry on for two hours but I was not going to stop her it was great, did not have to use bow bow at all. A couple of times I did screw up my face and she relaxed a bit after laughing at me. These women are harsh. After two hours I was fully relaxed and ready for a swim so it was off for lunch then the beach.
The beach is more like a lake, there was hardly a ripple out there. I locked the bike to a chair and headed for the water. It was slightly cooled then the air temperature but still pretty nice. So after frolicking around for 30minute I got out. Now the chair I had parked my bike besides had someone else’s cloths on it as well. He arrived back at the same time I did.
We said gidday and did the old intro. His name was Kevin an Vietnamese-Canadian aye. Anyway we started chatting away and he is teaching here. So we talk about all sorts of stuff, it was pretty good and at least I did not have to hear any more about dingy fever. I told him I was reading a book about a Viet-keiu who went back to Vietnam in the 80’s. It’s been a pretty interesting read. Could not remember the name of the book so we said we would catch up for dinner after a shower. We meet up later for Dinner and I had just about finished the book so we did a swap, sweet new material. It was back to the hotel after this and get ready for the ride the next day. 80km is the plan.

Fast ride, police escort, open road and a seaside stop

Ok before I start I have to clarify something, when I say the cop pissed me off, More like made me very uncomfortable in a Flight or Fight way, everything about oozed seedy under tones.
So I had managed to get some sleep, but still woke up before my alarm, Got up and dressed, packed the bike which had stayed in my room on the 5th floor and headed out. Once on the road I could finally relax, I headed out of town and through the road blocks and was away. Then as I was cruising down the main road a cop ute pulled up beside me. O shit. Four in the cab, with Machine guns and two on the back. Me I have a bike pump. The guns the day before did not bother me now they have a presents.
The window comes down, first thing that pops into my head, it’s him. But no it was not him, thank the gods, well whichever is around at this time. He asks me where I am going, so I tell him, O yes at this point my legs have hit over drive. For a bike that weighs 34kg it is flying. Top gear and my legs are hammering away. He seems content with my answer, they slow down and pull in behind me and trail me for the next ten km, I know this from the road signs shooting passed. I carry on down the road wondering why they are still following me.
Just as I turn onto the road heading to Hat Yai which was going to be my next stop, they cruise up beside me, my legs are still going pretty quick and have a good rhythm going. The copper in the front seat waves to me and they turn back the other way. So by now I am 15km out of town. I drop down a gear but carry on at a fairly good pace. The more ground I put between me and Pattani the better I feel.
About 5 more km down the road I go passed a squad of army guys on their motorbikes, two to a bike one with a M16 on the back the other with a lighter machine gun on the front. I am still racing along at a pretty good speed not sure how much further my legs can go, the first Army bike cruises up and passed me the other one hangs back. I have an army escort for the next 15km. As we come up to a road block the Guys on their bikes turn and head back the other way. So not only a police escort but a army escort out of town and all I want to be is on my own.
I flash through the road block with a few hello’s and on down the road, my pace is still pretty good and when I stop for breakfast 1 ½ hours after starting I have covered 45km. After a breakfast of Rice, Glass noodles and egg, with a quick stop at 7 eleven (it’s like your 4 square there everywhere) for some milo drinks, I’m back on the road and away.
My pace had slowed down now to the usual 15km/h and there were no more road blocks, I was out of the bad lanes, I did come across some small hills which were nice and was able to just let the bike roll for a bit. The rest of the ride that morning was pretty good, instead of going to Hat yai I headed to Songkhla on the coast.
I need a swim and to relax for a day, I had just done 3 days of 100km or more and need a break. Get some washing done then back on the road tomorrow. I think I will head up to Chumphon and maybe out to Ko Tao for a few days. It is about 1000km from here to Bangkok, then maybe 700km or so to Vientiane, so 500km to Chumphon is about right for a break stop.

More guns, picked up by police, and learning English and a freak cop

So headed out of town about 6am the thermostat said 27.3 c, yep could be a hot day. Cruised out of town and out onto the open road, it was about 20km to breakfast stop. At about the 15km out of town mark came across my first road block, now these are just barriers which people have to go around and if the cops don’t like the look of you over to the side of the road to be searched.
Sweet I just ride straight through, with Hello from all sides. The best one is Hello where are you going and that’s all the English they know. So I just yell out Hello back and carry on going. Now the town where I was stopping for breakfast was call bak bin or something, as I came into town, guns were blazing there was screaming, blood in the streets, people running everywhere and little old me just riding through.
That’s what you want to here, there was road blocks and lots of military, with big guns, who all waved and said hello as I rode through. So I found a nice restaurant, and ordered rice with chicken, eggs and vegetables with a young girl who could say a few words in English. She looked at me rather blankly and said write down. I think they had a Thai English dictionary because there was some discussion and the ten minutes later my food appeared. Nicely cooked with good flavors.
As I sat there and ate, a few patrols walked by, and I thought to myself this is more then you every day amount of soldiers. O well it’s not as though I can just ask someone, no one spoke English. Sometimes it’s best not to know. On the bike and off I went again, Now I have pulled muscles in both my legs, it’s the same muscle and I think it is because of the new riding position.
Once my legs warm up it’s not too bad it’s just really hard starting and stopping. For the next few km’s there was a pretty high military count, Hummers with roof mounted guns, road blocks with sniper posts and machine gun posts all fully armed and ready for action. Well some of them were, some of the guys looked half asleep.
I had clocked off another 30km and decided it was time for another stop and refreshment before I carried on, the road blocks were becoming further apart now and not so much military action. After the break it was back on the bike and off down the road. Up until now I had not really minded all the military things going on, everyone seemed friendly and I had lots of hello’s. The next thing this ute drives by with a guy sitting on the back, now I don’t know if he was joking or what, but he made his hands into a gun and shot me. The Bastard. I must say it put the willies up me a bit.
Nothing else like that happened for the rest of the ride, I got some GI’s to take a photo of me for my 1000km and rode on. The clouds were starting to look heavy and the air got that smell of rain to it. It was not long before it started to rain and then came in heavy. I stopped underneath some trees and it looked like it would pass quick. Some coppers in their car pulled up and asked if I wanted a lift. What the hell.
So we pulled the bike and trailer apart and put them on the back of the ute, yes everyone drives a ute in Thailand so far. I jumped in the back sits with 3 of them two up front in the double cab. Had a M16 up against my leg and another gun I am not sure what it was, and another M16 sitting in front of me. All these guns. So I have to point out it was still raining.
They took me about 10-15km down the road, then there was some chattering on the radio and a minute later I was on the side of the road with my bike and gear and they were off in the other direction, all waves and smiles. So luckily the rain had stopped and I only had 5km to go to Pattini, sweet.
I arrived it Pattini and just about rode straight passed it when a guy yelled out from the side of the road. So after a viewing of all the hotels that were out of my price range we settled for the palace Hotel, run down and I think a brothel. The guy who took me to the hotels name was Matt (Ahamad), he was learning English and wanted someone to talk to. So after a shower me meet up for lunch, it was pretty good and we chatted and then he showed me around town.
There was not that much to see but it was nice to get out again. He dropped me back at the hotel a bit later on and we were going to meet up for dinner later and his friend was going to come along. He friend could speak better English then him. I thought Matt was pretty good anyway I understood most of anyway.
So I got picked up and we headed out to a place he hangs out in, I was feeling a bit tired at this stage after a long day out in the sun and the rain. His mate was running late so we just hung out. Now there was a police stop across the road and two cops came across. One of them came over to our table to introduce himself. Now I am normally a fairly placid guy but for some reason the way this guy looked at me got me Pissed. If I was a dog all the hair on my back would have stood up and I would have been growling. Now this was just meeting him.
Matt started talking to the cop as he could not speak any English, The guy keep looking over at me. You know when you start running over scenarios in your head, like breaking his jaw or neck well these started popping into my head the only problem was that it all ended in my going down in a hail of bullets as his mates shoot me to pieces. Any way normally cops will ask where you came from where are you going. This guy was asking where I was staying, who I was with, what were we doing after the restaurant. I thought very cagey stuff.
After the cop left I got Matt to drop me back at the hotel, I just had to get away from there and now this guy knew where I was staying and everything. I mean what would happen if he showed up at the hotel he could get my room number easy enough. When I got back to the room I could not relax, thoughts kept running through my head.
So if I stayed here I would just lie awake wondering if this cop was going to show up. I decide bugger it I’m moving out, I did not want any trouble in this place and he had freaked me out. So I packed up real quick and headed out the door, I pulled up at another hotel I had seen on the way back and got a room there. Call me a wuss or what every but I prefer to stay out of trouble. I managed to get to sleep a bit later on.

Border crossings, road blocks and No trains.

Well I was up early and out, had to make it to the border before 8.45am to catch the train from Sungai Kolok to Hat yai. This would get me out of the problem area of Thailand. Well besides Bangkok. The first part of the ride went really well I made good time to the border and the traffic was not to heavy. The sun had only just crested the horizon as I made my way into Rantau Panjang. Got some locals to take a photo of me at the crossing and headed off.
The Malaysian side of things is really good here, ride up, hand my passport over and stamp stamp see you later. Headed to the Thai side and was not really sure were to go, I could have just keep going and not bothered with the passport side of thing, in the end I found the area I was supposed to go. Ok passport done, money and then train. Headed into town, asked some people were the train station was and some guy said No trains. Bugger.
Back to the tourist office at the border to see if I can find out what is going on, the cleaning lady had to wake them up, I think really should have just asked the cleaning lady. In the end worked out that they did not know when the trains would be starting again, there were problems further up the line. Bugger $@##%@#%@$#@%^@% what the f%@%@. So I now had to get some money and get out of town, I could not find out where the trouble was off the tourist office, what f#$ken use are they I could have ridden right into the middle of it. Tourist office my Arse. You know those days went things are going pretty well and then it all turns to crap, I really had the feeling this was going to be one of them.
As you can tell I was not impressed I think if anyone had caused me trouble on the way to the bank it would have been all over for them. Anyway found a bank and a ATM machine, because there is a hours difference between Malaysia and Thailand it was still only 7:30 in the morning and the banks did not open till 9am. So Money out of the ATM and will have to change my Malay dollars at a later date.
This is where my morning improved, one of the local police had made his way over from the police station just over the road, he was a mountain biker so we bonded straight away. He liked my bike and asked me a few questions about where I had come from and where I was going to. Now this is my saving grace, I pulled out a map and said I was going to take a straight north route to Hat yai. Shaking his head he pointed and said trouble, this was where the train ran. Ok so were to my friend, he pointed out all the safe areas, which was pretty much up the coast. It makes it a round trip with lots of Km but it was out of the bad lands.
So after this I was feeling better, I got the cop to go for a ride on my bike realizing he had just ridden off with all my money and stuff. O well could be a short trip. A few minutes later after doing a lap of the block he came back into view with a big smile on his face. In pigeon English which we had had all our discussion in, he said he liked the bike. So after a photo of him on my bike much to the amusement of his mates, and some directions out of town I was off again.
The bank Machine had only given me 1000 baht notes so I managed to buy some water and a drink at a petrol station and got some smaller notes for the food stalls I knew I would be using. So it was going to be about 65km on top of the 37km I had already done. Breakfast was going to be 30km down the road as I had already eaten my Roti earlier.
The roads so far have been wide and flat with plenty of room and the first 30km slowly cruised by, I stop for some breakfast at a road side stall I had seen some well dressed Thai’s come out of. It was rice with a prawn Curry source, it was pretty good but I think I would have eaten anything by now, even the back leg of the mangy mongrel that had just walked passed me. A very old dog with no hair, and looking will passed its use by date.
They guy who served me picked me out all the prawns which I thought was really nice. I asked were a toilet was and could not get him to understand so it was back on the bike and a stop further down the road. You thought it would be easy describing going to the toilet, He must have thought what the hell is wrong with this guy. So after food and water release I was back on the bike, it was just after I started that I got a sharp pain in my thigh muscle I think I have pulled a Muscle, it did not improve for the rest of the ride.
As I peddled down the road, the day became hotter and hotter, I was drinking a lot of water. You know how you get those days were you looking down the road and the heat waves rise up of the road, the wind had picked up as well, but all that did was make it feel like I was riding through a fan forced oven. By the time I made it to Narathiwat, my knee, yes bad knees, was pretty sore and I was knackered, I had done 100km rides already as you know but this one seemed so much harder. The thermostat in Narathiwat said 35.7 C so it was pretty warm.
Well I have found a place and am just about to head out for food. Have 90km to do tomorrow and then another 90km the next day. Should be fun.
The food experience, well went out for dinner and found a busy restaurant, jump in line with the rest of them, it was a point and shoot, ones were they have it all laid out and you kind just point at what you want. So I was standing there waiting, the guy behind the counter served everyone else around me and a few people who came in after me, so I figured he could not be bothered so headed down the road.
Found a place further down the road, a guy from the shop next door asked me what I wanted and then ordered it all for me. Thanks guy from shop next door you’re a life saver.

Moped, Buddha’s, and a whole lot of crazy

Well it’s passport day, it should be back with all relative visa documentation, and yes it was. Right up for breakfast and the passport was the order of things, at breakfast Min asked if I want to head out and see some Buddha statues and another beach. Sounded like a plan as I had nothing else to do. So I headed off got my passport and had a look around for some sunscreen. I was going to meet up with Min at 12.
I got there at 12 and texted Min he was heading back soon. So I waited, it seems to Be a thing with Min that he makes you wait a while. I ended up ordering some lunch knowing full well that as soon as I did Min would show up. Now why the hell does it always work out that way, is it because you leave it so long it is inevitable, I don’t know but as soon as I sat down to eat Min showed up. Well I waited for him he waited for me.
Right on the bike and out of town, we headed straight towards the border, the Buddhists have built a couple of temples with large Buddha’s statues facing towards Malaysia. Anyway I asked Min if he knew where he was going, yep I think so came the answer back. Once we got out of town he got lost. OK we asked for directions, the Min made his fatal mistake, Steve do you want to drive. Well I could give it a go. Min said “one thing the front break does not work”. OK and no it really did not work.
O well off we go, I took it easy for the first 100 or so meters then it was no holding back. We were zipping through the traffic and I was just going by feel. A few turnings later we passed right by the monastery. Spin about and we stop. We had a walk around, I asked Min why a Muslim is bringing me to a Buddhist Monastery and not a mosque. Answer: it’s different.
So after this we were off to the beach, we came across another monastery further down the road. Now this is the first time I had seen this in a Buddhist Monastery, on the walls were pictures of Demons eating people with Buddha off in a corner looking down, it was more like what you see in Hindu temples. A bit disturbing. Min stayed outside and got directions to the beach. Right there was a police road block up the road, now as I mentioned earlier Min has not got a license. The guys Min had been talking to were heading the same way so we followed behind them. As we came up to the road block the Vans in front of us slowed down, we didn’t, we cut a track on the far side of the vans and breezed through.
So the beach was just another garbage full beach, I thought the North had improved but no it is a mess as well. We sat down and had a coke and chatted. There were some guy’s just down the beach getting ready to fly some kites, now these were not ordinary kites, these had Wuu’s attached to them. Now a Wuu is a bow like setup with a piece of ribbon instead of a bit string. The ribbon makes a Wuu sound, these are attached to the kite and as they fly it makes a Wuu sound. They have a competition each year for who has the best Wuu and how High you can fly your kite.
After this we headed back in to town, after we had got passed the police road block, Min let me take the wheel, we shot back into town with some dodgy passing maneuvers and a whole lot of fun, well for me anyway. Let it be known that we arrived safely at our destination and no motorbikes or children were hurt throughout the ride.
After getting back Min had to do a bit of work so I shot off and dropped back later on, I meet a couple of Mins friends who had stopped in on their break for dinner. Later I order some Roti for the morning and headed off saying good bye to Min. It was great to have someone to hang out with for a few days. Next day was Thailand..
I want to mention here about the cars, this is before I sign of the Malaysian part of my trip.
To fast to furious, Malaysians have watched it way to many time. With the passing the crazy driving and everything, and the number one thing is your car has to have a spoiler otherwise it just an’t a car

80km without a trailer.

So the morning dawned blue sky and no clouds, I had decided the day before that I should get on the bike and go for a ride as I had not done much lately. After my Roti Breakfast and a quick chat with Min I headed out of the city towards the border where I hopefully would be crossing in a few days time.
The road out to the border is extremely busy and not very wide on some stretches, a few times today I had to breath in so people could get passed and a couple of times I felt the wind rush passed my hand as the cars came it close. When I left Kota Bharu the sign said 37km to Rantau Panjang the border town, when I reached Rantau Panjang the road sign back to Kota Bharu said 40km. The mysterious appearance of 3 extra kms. Why I ask why???
I had got some new touring bars for my bike, there not the best made but they are not too bad for weight, so I was trailing them today, after the first half of the ride I decided to change them round a bit see if I could get a better fit, I did this a few times on the way back and I now think I have them in the perfect position. For $25 I think they will do.
The whole 80km took about 5 hours with a drinks break and a few changes to the bike. It’s amazing to ride the bike over a distance with no weight. I think these guys who do the Tour de France should have to carry their own gear then see how fast they will go. Even if they didn’t this sort of thing would be good training for them. Maybe I do a bit of tour riding when I get back and see if it works for me. Bring on Tibet and altitude training.
I washed Barnaby the Bear and all my cloth, bike and the lot this afternoon, I think it will be good to start a new country all nice and clean, I really wish Monday would hurry up. These Malaysians know how to add kms to there roads why haven’t they figured out hour to speed up time. Well just have to see what tomorrow brings.

Will post some more images tomorrow...

colds going, Markets and motorbikes

So got up today feeling a lot better, nose was not running like a fire hose, it was now more like a leaky tap. Feeling better, headed out to Min and Roti Canai, ate breakfast and chatted away, then we got on to how to make Roti, Min said come and try, so it was, I throw on my apron washed my hands. Ok first step, use butter, sugar, egg, salt and white butter, which to me looked like lard. Mix together and than rest. We did not bother with this part as they already had a load done.
Now to make a good Roti you need to flatten it out, Take one lump of Roti, coat hands in oil, use palm of hand to push roti out flat, about the size of your two hands together. Done. Next lifting the roti with both hands do a circular motion and throw roti down. OK what he forgot to say in his pigeon English was once you stuff it up you throw that away and start again. Take two, twist and flick, he’s nodding , you have to do the twist and flick a few times, after 3 attempts I thought I am using a bit too much so gave it away. Something I think I will have to work on at a later date.
Min had invited me out for a tour of the city on the back of his motorbike, now these are 110cc of pure Asian grunt. I said yep sounds like a good plan so we made a time to meet at 12 o clock, I still had about 1 ½ hours to wait till he fished work, so I took a walk to the local market. Now local markets sell everything even a kitchen sink if you wanted one.
As I wondered through the streets in the direction of the market, thoughts of passed visits to markets sprang to mind, colors and smells, I would not be disappointed. As I made my way inside the colors of the fresh vege and fruit sprang to life, the local women in their bright berkers, it was a symphony of color. Greens of different shades, oranges, reds and purples all combined to make a vibrant view. Then the sound of a hundred deals being stuck, women chattering away negotiating the costs of meals for the next week.
I wondered further into the market just letting the place intoxicate me, and then BANG it hit me, the smell of rotting meat, old stale fish and a thousand other dead things. I had wondered into a maze of fish guts, cows legs and chickens. Not live but gutted and de-feathered ready for the oven. Flies were everywhere clinging to the meat as if it was there last supper while the people selling franticly swished cardboard over the produce to keep them away.
Asia markets are a photographers dream, you have these wise old women sitting in the middle of their produce, with bright colored clothes, in a sea of color. Men sharpening knifes and cutting meat and fish for many people who pass by. As I was leaving the market I came across a old man and his wife loading up their cycle rickshaw with the days buys. By the time they had finished there was only just enough room for his wife to fit on the bike. As I positioned the camera to grab that moment in time the battery light which had come on a bit earlier decided it had had enough. Bugger. Magic moment gone forever just to now live with my memories.
The time had come for me to head off anyway, so after picking up some new batteries I headed off to meet up with my guide Min. As I arrived at their little food stall Min was just finishing packing up, he must have had a busy morning. He said he was just off to get an extra helmet and would be back in 30 minutes. No problems, 45 minutes later his mum and dad are passing through to drop of some things and they informed me Min might be a bit late as he was have bike problems. This could be interesting.
10 minutes later Min shows up, I jump on the back of the bike, we cut in between cars and other bikes to get the optimum position at lights, we are heading to the coast about 8km from the city. As we head out of town, we join the rest of the madness that is Asia’s roads.The hat I am wearing is about 2 sizes too big, I have shorts on with a light top, great protection if something happens. For a start Min takes it easy just cruising along on the open road. We are getting passed by a few people but that does not matter we are in no rush anyway.
As we arrive at the beach it is a bit of a disappointment, Min says that years ago it was really beautiful but a storm came through and pretty much wiped the beachfront and a few km inland flat, so the government had build a high rock wall to stop it happening again. Now there is sand there but it is a steep beach into a green sea.
After lunch at the beach we head back into town, this time we are passing cars and bikes, I look over Min’s shoulder to see the speedo saying we are doing 100km/h, yes forgot to mention while we were at lunch Min confessed he did not have a motor bike license. With the few traffic cops I had seen on my travels I knew this would not be a problem.
So we headed back to town and then the river, A murky brown mass of water heading out to sea. About a football field wide the river picks up clay silt and drags it to the ocean, it was not my first brown river and I am sure won’t be my last. We discuss what to do next and because it is a Friday and a Holiday in Malaysia we decide to call it a day and head back.
The rest of the day I chatted with a few of the other back packers that were passing through. All had come down by bus or train and had not seen any trouble in South Thailand, it seems that a lot more people are heading down then up. I have only meet a couple of other people heading up in to Thailand.

Visa's and a Wait

Right the cold, bugger, went to sort my Visa out yesterday and the lady at the Thai Embassy said your kiwi you get 30day visa at border. Cool I thought, came back to the hostel and had a look on the net, yes you do if you fly into the country, so back to emigration in the afternoon to get a two month visa, No charge sweet, but and yes there is a but I won’t get it back till Sunday, but it’s Thursday and you said this morning I get 30 days and I find out that is if you fly into the country. Sunday thank you good bye.
I’m sure the Thais were better last time, ok so it was over 10 years ago, should things change that quick. Alright so stuck in Kota Bharu for 4 days, let’s find out what there is to do. Nothing, the beaches are crap, there is a ship wreck of the coast if I dived. Well I don’t really feel like biking with this cold.
That morning I had had a chat with my local Roti Canai man and his son. I chatted with his son a lot and they were really nice, we talked for a couple of hours about economies, life, work etc. There English was pretty good. The young fella’s name was Min. Been up it Kota Bharu for about 2 weeks working for his old man. Min is about my age and follows the Muslim way, so it was really interesting comparing our lives and what we had done. There were a few similarities between him and I.
I left about lunch time and said I would be back in the morning for breakfast. After sorting out the visa and learning I would be here for a few days, I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Chatted with a few other tourists who were passing through on their way south.

Rain again, bloody road signs and a cold

Right I am starting this with a rant, the road signs in this country are about as useful as tits on a bull. I have been looking at the signs as a measure of distance as everyone would I think they are, Ok so here it is road sign coming into a village 21km to Kota Bharu, cool ride through the town and just on the other side after doing about 3 km there is another sign with 21km to Kota Bharu, Ok so you think they measure only the high way km right, wrong. Big sign post before I think it was Marang the other day, Sign saying 50km to Kuala Terengganu, 25km to Marang, ok so 25 from 50 is 25 right, I think my maths can work that out, I think even AJ could work that one out.
Ride into Marang, through and out the other side, sign up 30km to Kuala Terengganu, what the hell is going on here were the hell did 5km come from, I looked around, no space time continuums here no parallel universe that I have slipped it to. Nope everything seems normal, I pinch myself just to make sure I not dreaming. You would not believe how many times this has happened now.
Just one more example this is more to do with Google maps, thought I would check my route on the net, typed in Kualu Besut and Kota Bhura on Google maps destinations, see how many km I have to do. Came up with 57, ok had a look at the roads I needed to take. Sweet 57km easy ride these days 3-4 hours no problems. On the road out of town headed for the town of Jertih were the map said to go. About 15km from Besut, made it there then see a road sign 57km to Kota Bhura, so what about the 15km I have already done.
Did I take a wrong turn somewhere, because there was only one road out of town people, one road, it’s that bloody parallel universe doing strange things again. Man I feel sorry for the guys in their cars, honey I just going to the shop for bread, O now why the hell have I turned up in Kuala Lumpur, must have taken that wrong turn into that parallel universe again.
Anyway that’s enough of that, so was woken up by the Mula at 5:15am this morning, he was a bit early, so I dragged myself out of bed and readied myself for the ride, I have slowly been developing a sore throat over the last couple of days, great it was still there. Packed up ready to go 5:30am yep pretty efficient these days, had to wake the poor hotel man up, he looked a bit pissed, I did give him warning so he can’t really complain.
So look up no stars, not so usual normally there is a little cloud in the morning, out of town bit of drizzle, right out of town, lightning thunder, Ok it was going to be one of those days, rain heavy rain just what you need when you’re not feeling the best, stop in a bus stop out of the rain for a bit, don’t really want to get to wet. Waited ½ hour till it slowed down. OK so I am going to get wet, had my jacket, bag had two plastic bags inside it so gear should stay dry.
Off I went, rain eased then stopped, sweet that’s it then, sun broke through, it was looking better, I was heading west at this stage, turned north towards the border, off to the west the mountains were covered in cloud looked really nice hill just breaking through every now and then. From the east came these Big bad clouds, you know the kind were if you see them at home you turn around walk back inside put on a DVD phone your boss and say you’re sick, pull out the big fluffy blanket and hide under it. Those types of clouds, and they were coming my way.
Great hope I would get breakfast before they arrive, thank the heavens above they are only moving slowly in my direction, I make it to breakfast a bit wet from light rain and wet roads but not soaked. Maybe the morning won’t be so bad. I found a little Roti Canai shop no English just the way I like them. Order four Roti Canai and eat, fantastic, goes well with the sweet tea. Munch through them as though this is my last meal. Then back on the bike and away again.
Just to side step a bit here, I was thinking this morning as my legs pumped away that it is not longer a fitness battle that I am having with keeping going, it has now become a mental battle. My legs just seem to keep on powering along, it’s only when my mind starts to wonder that I start to slow up.
Anyway back to the job at hand, after heading out from breakfast I made good time towards Kota Bharu, it was not until about 10km out of the city did the heavens open up again, no thunder and lightning just lots of rain. Those big black unforgiving cloud had finally got me where they wanted me and let loose. Great. I wonder who I pissed off up stairs this morning to have this. Was it the thought when then Mula woke me up at 5:15am would someone shut him up, I am not too sure.
So as I made my way through the traffic and the rain I made it to the city centre and found my base for the night. Lazy traveler Guest house, the place is nice enough and I have a big room to spread out in. I have managed to wash all my cloths, O yes forgot to say as soon as I found the guest house it stopped raining. I took a walk this afternoon to the Thai Embassy which is closed till tomorrow due to the water festival.
Also I see that the trouble in Bangkok has been put an end to, there has still been a bit of trouble down south so probably will jump on a train for a bit. I have found out that NZ passport holders get a 30 day visa now at the border but will check tomorrow at the embassy. So as the Malaysian part of my journey comes to an end I’ll have to write a bit on the traffic and things. Maybe tomorrow.
Just got startled by the bug man and his spraying contraption, might need to close my window before I get gassed out. Probably not the best for a cold. Smells like diesel. Yep not the best thing for a cold already feeling my throat getting scratchy.

Sunsets on an island , baby monitor lizards

Besides the swimming, the reading and the sleeping I really did not do much, around 6ish I headed over to Corral Bay to watch the sun go down, on this trip I had seen many sun rises but being on the east coast I had not really seen many sunsets.
The walk over to corral bay from long beach takes about 15 minutes, it is an easy walk through the bush to the other side. I arrived about 1 hour before sunset, it was hot, I brought a cold drink some peanuts and made my way down the shoreline to I nice spot that looked out over the bay and the surrounding Islands.
As the sun slowly sank down into the soft embrace of the clouds the sky lit up, shafts of light sprang to the heavens the sky became red like fire and then slowly softened as the sun slid below the clouds to end another day.
14.04.09 Baby monitor lizards and breakfast
So the final day of my island break had come, I packed all my stuff and headed over for breakfast. The usual thanks, two banana pancakes. I had time for breakfast and a swim then catch the boat back to the mainland and off the next day. I pulled out my book and started to read when a little head popped around a corner, a baby monitor lizard had come for breakfast too.
He/she was about 20cm long, big black tongue tasting the air, and I sat very still and watched as bob the lizard that’s right I named him bob, made his way right underneath me, he stopped a few times to look around, and then wondered off underneath the couch that is up in the restaurant. I told the owner and we had a look but I think he had escaped into the safety of the couch as we could not find him.
I had a last swim in the sea which had now had calmed down so there was only a small surf breaking against the shore. I jumped on the 12 o clock boat back to the mainland and retrieved my bike, found a hotel for the night so it’s off to Kota Bharu tomorrow and then into Thailand, the home of spicy food, cheap beer and cheaper women.. ha ha just kidding. About the women thing anyway although that is probably true.
I think by the end of Malaysia I will have done just under 900 km, not bad for my first months riding. Hope all is well back home with everyone…

Turtles sharks and a whole lot more

The morning started a little over cast and a little windy, the waves were still crashing against the shore as I headed for breakfast, it looked to be one of those days were it could rain or it could be fine. After a couple of banana pancakes and some orange juice I headed down to the pickup area for the snorkeling trip. When I got their it was just me, no one else was there, I was told that 4 more people were coming once they finished breakfast. People the bloody trip starts at 10:30 do I have to wait for you to finish your breakfast because your too lazy to get up on time. Useless bastards. So there I sat and waited.
They finally came and then the guide decided that we should split up as the group had got too big. Being the single person I was sent off onto another boat. Good the other people seemed a bit arrogant. Any way once I was on the boat it chugged into life and we headed off.
As we plowed away around the Island I thought to myself that the boat was not sounding to well, it sounded as though it had lost a couple of cylinders. We were slowing down, it soon became obvious that this boat and engine were not going to last the distance. We managed to make it to the first stop of the morning were our driver got on the mobile phone and arrange for a replacement boat. We had been sent over board for some snorkeling.
Now in my opinion this first stop was a load of rubbish, literally, there were plastic bags floating in the water and rubbish stuck to the corral, I could not believe they would take us to such a place. I thought well hopefully it will get better and not worse. By the time I was ready to get out the water the new boat had arrived.
The next place we went was shark bay, the corral was not the best here either but we did manage to see a small shark and a few fish. No big sharks but there was about 50 or so people in the water so what can you really expect. The next stop was turtle bay now this is what I had been looking forward to. Now I had thought that these would be smallish turtle.
Wrong. They were big buggers, the first one we found was maybe 2 ½ foot long and a bit less than 2 foot wide. From the surface it looked like a rock on the bottom to me but once in the water the magnificence of the creature became apparent. We swam along with the turtle for a while, it was a hard thing to keep up with, it glided through the water with ease and soon left us behind.
After we got back to the boat I realize my flippers had warn a hole in my toe so I decided to forgo the next turtle encounter. The next one was said to be bigger than the first, but it moved on just as quick as the last one. The thing with the turtles is the hang about between the two Perhantian Islands, it is a busy boating channel, I am amazed that there are turtle still around and they have not been mowed down by the boats. I am sure with the traffic that runs through there their have been some deaths.
So lunch time and then back out into the water. The next stop was just off corral bay, a light house about 1 km off the coast. This was one of the best spots of the day, the corral looked in very good health compared to the other places we had been. The greens, purples and or the other colors of the rainbow were present. We took turns swimming down to the nemo fish and watching as they came out to protect their patch.
A few in the group climbed the light house and jumped it the water, some even doing back flips. Then it was off again always moving on to the next lot of corral, it was our last snorkeling stop, I managed to see some squid in the water, they looked translucent in the water and moved rather quick when I followed them. After this we stopped on a white sandy beach and spent a bit of time just relaxing. Over all it was a good day out, but again the rubbish in the water has let the Malaysian islands down. Would I come back, yes possibly but I am sure there are better places with less rubbish.
The night was spent having dinner with the people from the trip. BBQ yellow fin tuna with potato’s and salad. Perfect way to finish the day.

Monitor Lizards, rolling surf, sun drenched beachs

The 11th was a quiet day, went for a couple of swims, read my book, and chatted with a couple of people staying at my guest house. The waves were really good, not good for surfing or though there were a few people out, but it was good for body surfing. The Lady who runs Bintang Guest house was saying that normally the sea is flat calm at this time of year. Have to say glad there were waves otherwise it would have been a bit boring.
The monitor lizards are everywhere, wandering across paths, through the bush, some of them are fairly big things, just poking their tongues out and wandering of you try and take photos of them. They all seem to be a bit camera shy.
Anyway dinner that night was at the Bintang restaurant, very good meal and excellent banana pancakes O so good. As the sun slowly set behind the hill, the lights of the restaurants came on and the music started to play. O yes forgot to mention but Perhentain Islands also means girls in bikinis worshiping the sun god, all day long. I really don’t know how they do it, I would have been like a lobster if I tried that.
I took a stroll down the beach and there are a few bars that sell Alcohol but overall it was pretty quiet. The moon was out a full and drenched the water in a silvery glow. The mosquitoes did not seem as bad here as some of the other places I have stayed which was good because it has given my body a bit of time to recover after I was attacked last time. The next day I had booked for a snorkeling trip.

late start, slow ride, on the island

Well as you can tell from the title it took me a while to get out of bed this morning, it was about 7.30am by the time I got on the road, my legs were feeling it and so was the body, it was one of those days that was going to be a struggle, luckily I only had about 40km ride 3 to 4 hours on a day like this. At least the sky was fairly clear with just high wispy clouds.
So the ride was a bit of a bird watcher ride, went through a swampy area and must have seen about 15 or so different species of bird, it is a shame I had to leave my 1001 birds of the world popup book back in New Zealand, I could have documented what I had seen with the stickers the book gives you. Anyway fantastic, the thing was, I was going that slow I could see them all.
Anyway made it to Kuala Besut and booked myself on a fast boat to the Perhentian Islands, I was going to be staying on the smaller one of the two, that’s were all the back packers go. Have left my bike with Wizam the local storage guy, the bike is staying in his house. He did not seem to dodgy anyway. Told boat leaves at 2pm, sweet can go and get some food before I go, no boat leaves at 2:30pm, No problem. Ok you come with me now boat is going. OK NO LUNCH, lucky only a 30 minute boat ride then lunch.
Boat ride out was pretty quick, Had some lunch at the first café I came to. Nice stir fry noodle, right down to business find somewhere to stay. First place nope sorry were full, Next place No sorry were full, third place yep we have rooms but there out of your price range. Ok fourth time lucky, yes we have rooms, and they looked alright to. Up on the hill looking down on the bay, sea breeze coming straight up the bay to keep you cool. Perfect.
There are some good waves to, not really surfing waves but good for a bit of body surfing. The sea is pretty clear so might book for a snorkel trip tomorrow and then might head over to the other side of the island for a couple of days. The sunsets are supposed to be amazing, and it is a protected bay so the water will be a lot calmer. Have also seen a few monitor lizards already. They just wonder around kicking back, I really hope I don’t run into one on the way to the loo in the middle of the night…

Rainy days, lots of DOMA and km’s

Woke up this morning to the sound of light rain, reference the light rain. No problem only 77 km easy in a bit of rain. Put my jacket on to see how that would fair. Off I went, back to the main road this an’t so bad, bit of rain keeps things a bit cooler. Through town starting to get a bit heavy, will keep going a bit more don’t mind if my feet get a bit wet. Well edge of the city and the gods let lose, thunder, lightning torrential rain. Straight in under a shops cover.
So not the best of starts, it should slow down can’t rain like this all morning, waiting, waiting 10 minutes 15, 20 o bugger this I’m off, everything should be dry in the bags and things. I will check a bit later on just to make sure. So off I went out into the pouring rain. 1 hour later it was still going, must admit it had slowed down a bit but still a pretty good flow. At least the thunder and lightning had stopped.
So I was doing a pretty good speed, did not have to worry about over heating today. 20km down thought I start looking for some place to stop for water and breakfast. Found both, breakfast was rice and chicken curry, which I had four pieces of chicken which amused the locals that were in there. The tea was beautiful, sweet, creamy ish fantastic. Breakfast of kings, well malay kings any way.
Feed watered back on the road, now sometimes you get a bit bored when you’re out there all alone so you make your own fun, like riding through the big river of water coming down the hill from behind that works sign, all good fun till just as your cutting up the inside line, yes not going were the cars are around the outside, you see the massive hole were all the water is gushing out from. Don’t panic you’ve ridden smaller gaps then that, yes there is a gap about 12cm across between the side of the road with the big puddle that you could lose an elephant in and the eruption of water to the other side.
So as I guided my bike between said to obstacles with ease and the skills of a trained professional I started to breathe again, better keep a look out for that sort of thing next time. Right get some Km’s done then, head down arse up and off I went, have to say made rather good time the rest of the way.
Arrived in Kuala Terengganu with some of the morning and the rest of the day to sort out the wet dirty cloths situation. Had lunch, three helpings of Roti Canai. Stopped at a few places to stay, too expensive, smells bad, can’t get bike up stairs, hmmm maybe something a little bit away from the centre of town, head off looking, looking, nothing. Ok Merang 30km up the coast should have something, 30km about two hours maybe less.
O bollocks, you ride 30km up the road and there all over priced or full, what is going on with the North East of Malaysia, south nooo problem, just rock up to a town and look there’s a few hotels now which one to choose. The north can’t find a thing. Did contemplate camping would have been alright, might have been able to dry something’s. Camp was full of Kids, a big school camp.. Bugger.
Right O, were to next, on my local map showed me a beach stop about 20km further up the coast, down a Red Bull, load up on water, trim the sails and I’m off, and racing now, head down arse up powering down the road must be hitting somewhere around 25-30km, got the wind coming from behind flying I was flying, 20km just went like that, of course by the time you add in looking at different places talking to the locals etc it was around 4pm by the time I found my rest stop for the night in a place called Penarik Beach.
Nice enough place really, the people are really friendly. Have a few wet cloths still but did manage to wash them all. I had checked my bag earlier in the day and everything was dry on top, didn’t check the bottom did I, just found my sleeping bag has taken on a bit of water, off to the Perhentian Island tomorrow so will dry it out then. The computer was dry so that’s the main thing.
So road kill, Lots of lizards of varying sizes today, few frogs brought out by the wet, couple of monkeys, 3 snakes of different sizes and colors, some type of possum like creature. There was a few DOMA, I personally feel that this is not the best way to see the creatures of Malaysia, I would much prefer to see them alive, But some of them I really don’t think you would have the opportunity to see in the wild. Too hard to find me thinks. Their more a zoo type of thing.
Anyway have about maybe a week or so left in Malaysia, then Thailand. Well look at the condition of southern Thailand when I get to Kota Bharu. Hopefully island if I can find somewhere to leave my bike.

refineries, sea views and the rules to Bike travel

Well left Cherating this morning had about a 87km ride to Dungun, Headed out the legs felt good the bike was running well and soon the km were dropping at a good pace, first 40km were done in just under two hours, breakfast was just some little café on the side of the road then back out and away I went.
Just after breakfast I hit the first of what would be about 6 refineries down both sides of the road, all with their flaming stacks and pipes that seem to go everywhere and end up in about the same place. Anyway lots of refineries for about 2-3 km, then it was back into the country side and waving locals. I had finished the 87km by about 11am this morning.
I have found a nice resort style accommodation, I am not sure what they thought of me but I got some weird looks. I think the receptionist tried to put me off staying here by quoting me there most expensive room price which was about 400 ringet, I looked at her dumbfounded and said you know where I can get cheaper room. This she mistook as what is your cheapest room. Which she then quoted me 100 ringet.
So I said again, do you know of another hotel that is cheaper than this one, from this I got we have rooms for 50 ringet, good I’ll take it, does it have Air con. That’s right I need a little comfort these days, it also helps with the heat rash I keep getting. Anyone know any way to stop heat rash in a hot country which I am riding through. The hotel is just across the road from the beach, with fantastic views of a few islands and the south china sea. Which I have to say is looking very clear today.
Any way I am here and need some creature comforts. They also have a pool which I intend to use very shortly. So the ride was good feels like it is getting hotter the more north I go, I had thought it would get cooler.
Ok so what I want to put here are some rules of riding through Asia, things that you need to know if you are doing anything like this.
First and for most rule, don’t do any training with your trailer or bags fully loaded, You will realize it is not that easy and will probably leave the bike and things behind. Once you’re here you have to do it.
Rule one: equip bike with touring bars, they would have been a great help.
Rule two: Have two Bandanas one for your head the other for your neck. The one on your neck can also be used if your riding through dusty smell areas. Thanks for that one Peter.
Rule Three: Invest in some good tires these can make hell of a difference. Thanks again Peter.
Rule Four: Trailers are really good as its great having nothing on your bike. You can also store extra water bottles on it.
Rule Five: Camelbaks are good to have if you like that way to carry your water, but make sure it is only the weight of the water on your back.
Rule Six: If you’re feeling hungry stop when you see somewhere that looks OK, don’t carry on thinking there could be something else around the corner, Sometime you have to do an extra 10km before you find the next place to eat.
Rule Seven: Start early in the morning you get a few hours in the cool before your covered it sweet, the roads are more pleasant and if you’re lucky you might get to see some wild life that is not road kill.
Which reminds me came across some nicely colored bird today it was a shame that they were DOMA, it would have been nice to see them alive.
Rule Eight: Buy a motorbike. No just kidding, were would the fun in that be…

Notes about Cherating

So to start with the sea flat calm this morning, slight ripple but nothing you could surf on. Bugger.
Not much has really happened today, I got savaged by mosquitoes at dinner time last night, even with mossie repellent on. So not to happy today to say the least. Have heat rash on my legs and the weather seems stifling at the moment. Looking forward to being back on the bike and on the road again, I think four days in one spot is enough at the moment before I get board and start thinking. Yep it does happen every now and then. Start contemplating the meaning of life etc. Still an’t come up with much though.
So Cherating, interesting place, there is no rhyme or reason to it. Shops open whenever they want, 10am one day 11am the next. Restaurants have their own work hours, which again change depending on what sort of day it is. There is one shop here that has only been open for one day and that has been it.
The information centre in town opens after lunch sometime and closes sometime in the afternoon, there is a time table on the door but that means nothing. The only place I have come across that opens and closes, well not sure about closes but at least it opens at the right time every day is the internet place. Open bang on ten and closes at twelve.
The monkeys have been out in force, did not see any the first couple of days here but the last two they’re everywhere. Wondering along power lines, saw one this morning with some ones bucket dragging it across the roof. Some other ones, we’ll probably the same ones have just come down into where I am staying and were into the guys building equipment, now what would monkeys need a hammer for. Yep time to leave.
A monkey just went across one of the power lines with a cup in its mouth.
Rule number one in Cherating never leave anything outside. The monkeys will get it or try to.
Rule two even if you think you have covered yourself with mossie repellent you have not, or there just ruthless little bustards here, I think the later as I had covered myself.
Rule three If the surf is good spend as much time as you can on it, even if it means not being able to walk the next day, you might not get a second chance.
Rule four, if coming to Cherating come on a weekday, you could have the whole beach to yourself like I did this morning.
Rule five goes with rule three, go surfing with the locals they know the sea and can get you the best waves.
Well those are the rules for Cherating, so far the one of the best beaches I have been to, Monkey bay was pretty damn good to. Well dinner time then pack ready for the 6 o clock start and some more biking. Have had numb fingers on both hands since the 100km ride the other day, just my little finger and the one next to it, it seems the way I hold the handle bar puts pressure on the nerves in my hand. I I I will tape them up tomorrow and see if that helps, have only just started to get feeling back. Movement circulation seem fine, just feels like I have sat on them for too long.

Point Break, Big bad bugs and another day

So the 5th was recon, food, find a board and have a look around the town, enjoy the sea. The food here is great some places are now offering Thai food as well. So I have to choose between Malay, Thai, India Malay (yes there are differences) and Western. I have to say as yet I have not had western food since subway in Brisbane airport. Mostly on the road it has been Roti. I have been eating a more India Malay breakfast then a Malay one which is normally just something with rice. You can only eat so much rice.
The Beach is really nice and unlike most other Malay beaches it’s pretty clean. So not really much went on on the 5th, it rained most of the morning so had to go out and get a new book, I was on the beach most of the afternoon. O forgot to mention, on weekends lots of Malaysians come to the beach, it’s a shame Cherating closes on a Sunday, yep that’s right, not much open till about 12pm and then all closed by 5-6pm which I have to say was nice.
I did find a contact for getting a surf board, was talking to a local girl and she said she knew someone with a board I might be able to borrow. Was told to meet her at the Little Bali bar at 10pm. I thought it best to go armed just in case something was up, so I took Barnaby (little teddy bear, he wanted to come anyway) along for protection. Anyway thought it was best to get there early and case the joint out.
Well it was a bar, by a river and there were a few Malay’s in it, so had a beer and waited, and waited and yes waited some more, 10pm she said, it was now close to 10:30pm well passed my bed time. While I waited talked to the bar lady and took some photo’s for some girls out on a hen night, women are worse than guys, or maybe it’s just Malay women the things they were saying. Had to tell Barnaby to close his ears. Feel sorry for the guy who is going to marry that one.
Anyway gave up waiting in the end and walk back via the beach, it was a clear night with the promise of a clear day. Let’s hope I can find a board and get some surfing done, the waves were calling. So off to bed.
All was well until about 3 in the morning, all of a sudden bang something large lands right on my pillow, dam near shat myself, sorry mum. This cockroach landed right by my face, and we an’t talking no NZ cockroach here we are talking about something that was about 2 ½ inches long and about a inch wide, it can also do a hundred meters in under ten seconds as I found out went I tried to kill it.
But the trouble was it was too quick and I was way too slow, only because I had just been rudely awakened. So I lost it, now I thought will hopefully it will go away and not come back. Yea right Steve. A few minutes later I could see a dark shape moving up the wall. This was it, I was wide awake now and ready to attack. No escape bug. So screaming I got up and ran. No just kidding I chopped the bottom off a bottle and managed to catch it in there. Took it to the door and through it out. Told it, it was band form this night club for a year.
Finally back to sleep, O yes stars were still out, perfect. Woke up the next day with the rest of the night in peace. Headed out for breakfast and board location. Found a board after a bit of a search. 30 rigit or $15 for half day. Not bad I thought. So out to the waves, I was a bit worried because I had seen a few locals coming back with their boards so thought I might have missed the best surf.
But No, surf was perfect for me, now just to fill you in I have had 3 days surfing in NZ in my life, and a couple of those days I spent more time trying to get out to the waves then catching them. So it’s safe to say I am a beginner. Now I do know a little bit about surfing, were I was going it was off a point break which for you who don’t surf , the surf starts at a rocky out crop. Then the wave just slowly breaks along the beach. Now Cherating has a perfect point break, and the waves just keep rolling down the beach all the way along. Now if your good I recon you could ride the wave for maybe 100 meters, yes that good.
Me I was going to be happy if I can still stand up. Now when I got out to the waves there was one local guy out there. Long haired short board looked like he knew what he was doing, yep I sat and watched him catch a couple before I headed out. Catch up on the local know how sort of thing.
Right I’m ready, out I go. The local guy, have to call him that because I never got his name, pointed out the waves to catch, the only thing was he pointed out the biggest waves to catch. So what the hell I have always been a all or nothing kind of guy. Yippy I up I down, I got slammed. Bugger. This was all much to the local guys amusement of course. So back out this time he pointed out one wave more my size not to small, just right. So up I went standing I was away for at least 20m then off. Came up with a smile on my face. I was the bomb.
Back out next wave, bam slammed again. Came up out of the water to find a crowd of people come down to watch. Lucky for them they had the local guy to watch. So I had a watch of him again and back out, changed my technique a bit and yes I was back, well for about 10m. This was it I was going to get it this time Local Guy pointed out a wave it was mine. Paddle, pop up standing, riding, going along the wave front, still going along the wave front, bit of a turn still going maybe 40 to 50 meters along the beach and the wave put me down nicely in about two foot of water. Arms in the air, I wooped, that’s right, I wooped. Absolutely grand, even one of the spectators gave me a clap. Who’s the beginner, I am.
So after this ride I had it down pat, started riding the bigger waves, yep the local guy was still pointing them out to me. Whoever you are local guy you’re a legend to me. After about 45 minutes I was picking the waves and getting some really good rides in, still had a few slams but that’s part of the fun. After about an hour and half local guy left. So the waves were all mine. I had started riding the waves around 9:30am and left at about 12:15pm as had to get the board back.
So it’s now about 4:30pm have done my days washing, cleaned my bike as it had got dirty on the ride from Kuantan and am going to arrange the board again tomorrow for some more surfing. So will stay another night then back on the bike. I have heard there are more surfing places up the coast with bigger waves, I think I am ready. I heard by day 6 surfing your classed as a pro. But there are also some nice islands as well up north. God this is hard to surf or to snorkel.
Have heard some more news from the south of Thailand, there has been no trouble for a couple of months so hopefully it stays that way. Will take some photo’s of the surf and up load them tomorrow.

Noisy Night, short ride, beach stop

Well decided to leave the hotel in Kuantan and make a run for Cherating beach, the hotel I stayed in last night was right by a road used by all the boy racers of Kuantan, so most of the night I had the sounds of cars racing by then at 5ish in the morning the local mosque blarring out to Ala, so the decision was made get up and leave.
The bike ride to Cherating was a pleasant 47 km which took about 3 hours had a few DOMA on the way, forgot to mention in yesterday’s report, had my first snake DOMA, ended seeing about 3. Monkeys seem to be a common thing.
The Beach here at cherating seems really nice, not as much rubbish on this one as everywhere else I have been which is a nice surprise. Well have to go for a swim a bit later on. There is some nice surf out there as well a good Left to right break off the point so will try find a board and head out tomorrow if I can. If it’s good might stay a few more days.
O yes have shaved my legs, not for speed, but because I have been getting bad heat rash, Shaving my legs has helped, not I feel like a real roady. So smooth. Might wax next time. You don’t really need to know that though. Does show off my Carves nicely…
Hope all is well back in NZ. Curly n Maria got a Date yet???

Swamps, sewerage and lots of km

Well I started a little late this morning, about 6:15am normally try to be out before 6am. Just could not get out of bed. Hope this is not the start of hard wake ups. Well the starting of the trip was not to bad, more straight flat roads and a head wind. Now why this does not seem bad it gets a bit boring and you have to keep on pedaling otherwise you come to a stop.
Now the first few hours passed uneventful, then the swamps began, and with the swamps the smell, it was like riding passed dead animals continuously. It was horrible to say the least, anyway as the morning wore on the clouds were gathering just before I reached the town of Nanasi the heavens opened up and the rain came down. I stopped for a bit in a bus stop and when the rain eased I found a nice little restaurant for some breakfast.
After breakfast it was off again on the open road, after an hour or so I came across the sewerage plant well the smell from this was not that great either and it went on for at least 2km.How much smelly fun can you have in one day. The rest of the morning was more flat road with curves yeppy a change from flat straight roads.
Made it to Pekan, don’t ever go to Pekan it’s a dive and only has 3 hotels one of which I could not find, the other one was full and the third was to expensive. So I thought maybe I can camp somewhere but alas no. So I had just done 87km and it was another 47 to Kuantan, big lunch two large plates of rice and chicken hopefully will get me through.
The roads out of Pekan all have road works being done on them so it was for the next 30 odd kilometers, it was also very hot and very humid. A lot hotter than in the morning, in the 47km I drank through about 5 litres of water. I was making good time a lot better than the morning and then I realized that I no longer had a head wind, I had been fighting it all morning. At about the 40km mark I asked some locals how much further it was to Kuantan and was told another 20km, my knees were sore I was tired and then I heard that it was a bit soul shattering. I refreshed myself and carried on. The turn off to Kuantan was about 4 km up the road and then it was about 10km into town. By the time I got to 5km to go I had to get off the bike and walk for a km. My knee just would go any more.
After a bit of a walk I managed to ride the rest of the way into town. I have now found a nice hotel for the night with internet access so am updating everything. Maybe off to the beach tomorrow or Sunday.

Break down of Km done

Singapore to Johor Bhuru 52km
Johor Bhuru to Kota Tinngi 47km
Kota Tinngi to Mersing 92km
Mersing to Junit Beach 87km
Junit Beach to Kuantan 122km
Kuantan to Cherating Beach 47km
Total as of 4th April 2009 447km

Bed bugs, Tragedy, and an English tea.

Well the trip back to Mersing from the island was uneventful, I decided to find an establishment heading out of Mersing. BAD MOVE. The scourge of the back packers has got me, bed bugs, I had covered my self with Bushman insect repellent on my back legs and arms hoping to ward off any mosquitoes, but what I forgot was my arse, lets just say it looks like someone has gone to town with a pin on my arse. Luckily the front escaped unharmed. Everywhere else seems to be fine. I have had a few mosquitoe bites but nothing like this. And no Treve I am not taking a photo of it.
Anyway because I had planned to start out early any way I got up about 4.30 and was well on my way by 5am. The stars were out and the lights of the city were soon flashing by. As I headed away from Mersing and the town I ended up riding through the country side in no time at all. At some points I was the only one on the road. It was me and the sounds of the forest. Yep after about 10km into the ride the thought popped into my head, what wild animals were there in Malaysia, and were there any that could eat me and what the hell was that sound behind me.
Luckily I put these thoughts to the back of my mind and carried on riding through the night, the stars were out and the morning was clear. I arrived in Endau about 6.45 so was still travelling around 20km per hour, the road was hill but just more up and down rather than long climbs. Tragedy had struck some were between Mersing and Endau I had lost my bright colored flag, I am now only flying the New Zealand silver fern, I will have to see if I can find a replacement flag at some point.
Breakfast at Endau was toast with honey and some sweet tea. Yep I had tea, the first cup was good the second not that great. After breakfast it was back on the bike and back out in the traffic. Asked for directions and got told the wrong way, so a guy on his motor bike showed me were to go and I was off again. Since leaving Endau the roads have been flat and easy going, I made good time to Kuala Rompin that I decided I would carry on up the road for another 15km to get a head of the game.
On the way here which is Lanjut Beach I came across a man with a monkey which was dropping coconuts out of the coconut trees, it was pretty cool to watch for a few minutes as I had not seen it done before. In the passed I just paid one of the local kids to climb up.
I am now by a beach with a bit of surf, I don’t really feel like swimming and the water is a bit of a brown color so washing and relaxing is the order for this afternoon, then back on the bike tomorrow to Pekan. Then Cherating beach for another few days break.