The internet was still not working this morning. Apparently, a phone line in the area had been cut. The bad news about this was that I was unable to check the track schedule for today. I knew the race started late and that there wasn't much going on before it, so that gave us plenty of time this morning to change some tubes and tires. But first, roti at Al Nazim. I sat down at our usual table while Re went to order. She was met by a rather ebullient young woman, who we had not seen before. She seemed very excited that we were here and talked us into a different kind of coffee. She said it was healthy, and I swore that she said it had mushrooms in it, but what the heck. Sure enough, she brought over a package, and there was an illustration of a mushroom on it. Of course, if you believe the entire illustration, my coffee would also contain a tiger's head.

The food arrived, and it was, as usual, excellent. The coffee did have a bit of an aftertaste, but it was pleasant enough. As we finished our food, the young woman appeared again to ask our opinion of the coffee and to find out why we were in town. We explained a little bit about our trip, at which time she inquired if we had any kids. When we responded that we did not, she assured us that maybe we would some day. Not having children in Asia is usually seen as a tragedy. Re mentioned that we'd been married nearly 23 years, and that it hadn't happened yet. The woman leaned in close to Re, with bright eyes, and asked quietly, “was yours a love marriage?” Re assured her, it was, and the woman broke into the biggest smile we've seen in a while. In this context, I assume that love marriage means a marriage that is not arranged by the parents. In certain cultures, these marriages are kind of scandalous. After the young woman left, Re got up to pay as I waited near the front of the restaurant. A minute later, Re beckoned me to join her at the register, where the young woman took our photo with the package of coffee. I still don't know what it was all about, but some days are just like this.

I didn't feel any major health benefits from my coffee this morning as we walked back to the room, maybe they'll come later. We broke out the tools and the tarp and set to work on Re's front wheel. As usual, we attracted a small crowd while we worked. We removed the OEM front tire that has now been on Re's bike for over 21,000 miles, and the original tube as well. There was a fair bit of rust around the base of the valve stem, but the tube otherwise appeared fine. Regardless, it's time for a new tube and front tire. The tires that we purchased in Namibia were very stiff and not pliable, so Re found a patch of sun in which to lay them, in hopes that it would make it easier to put on the rim. When we dipped into the spares kit, I found that the higher quality Dunlop tube that we purchased in India was unfortunately of the 2.75/3.00 variety, which would be fine for the rear tires that we're currently running, but the new fronts are 2.50 in width. We do have a spare 2.50 tube, but it is a Nandi brand tube, which is the same tube that failed on me in northern India, when the valve stem ripped out. Hmm. We didn't see any motorcycle shops open at the time, so we decided to go with the Nandi tube and hope for the best. The heat did help the tire become a little more pliable, but it was still difficult to install on the rim.



While I was examining the tire for a directional arrow or balance mark, I did notice that it said it was , “Specially made for hot wearther.” Confidence inspiring. I did manage to get the second bead on without pinching the tube, so 270 strokes of the tire pump later, we were ready to install it. While the rim was off, I inspected the wheel bearings as best I could. I did not detect any lateral play, and the bearings turn smoothly. There was no evidence of any damage to any of the seals, so hopefully they are not the problem. Before reattaching the speedometer cable, we dribbled a few drops of engine oil along the length of the core, in hopes that it would quiet some of the noise Re has been hearing lately.

Our original plan was to change my front tire as well, but since we don't have a suitable tube, it'll have to wait until we get one. Instead, we decided to refill our batteries with water once again. My battery was completely dry, and I had been using my kick starter for the past couple of days, while Re's was nearly dry, but still producing enough juice for the magic button to work. A quick check of my notes shows that we last refilled the batteries a little over 2,000 miles ago, in Pakse, Laos. It has been hot, and we have been running hard, but that's surprising. Maintenance complete, we packed up the tools and went to clean up ourselves.

Since it was now around noon, Re cut up the watermelon we bought yesterday for a snack, and we watched a little TV. Apparently, while we were showering, the ginseng and tiger's head mushrooms that were in our coffee finally kicked in, as we were both feeling awfully frisky. Meeow. We managed to entertain ourselves until it was time to leave for the track at 2:00 pm.

The traffic around the track was much heavier today, and we had to make one complete circuit of the exterior roads to finally find the one parking lot where motorcycles were permitted. From there, we jumped on the shuttle and rode it around to hillstand C2, where we unrolled our rain jackets and sat down. Once again, we smuggled our water baby past security and a roll of Mentos (queue Judas Priest's “Breakin' the Law”).



Almost on schedule, the rain started seven minutes before the race. The cars completed a handful of laps before the safety car came out, and then the race was red flagged. The stoppage was less than an hour, and then the racing got underway again.



It was a fantastic race, and Re and I had shouted ourselves hoarse by the end. The bummer of the rain delay was that it meant it was dark by the time we got back to our bikes.

We battled our way through traffic and eventually back to Nilai. By now, it was well after 8:00 pm, and we were hungry. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday night, many things were closed. But not Al Nazim. We stopped in for some excellent chicken biryani before heading back to the room for the night. Thankfully, the internet was working again, and I was able to Skype with some of my family. Just to add another wrinkle to our trip planning, my oldest sister told us that she was planning a family reunion for July 7th, and that perhaps, even some of our relatives from England would be coming. Well now, there's a wrinkle, another wrinkle.


30 miles in about 2 hours. Re reports her new tire is fine, if a little bouncy. From the feel of the tire, I don't even think it needs a tube, it's so stiff.

Today we are planning to ride to, well, we didn't know where we were riding, we just knew we were going somewhere else. Before breakfast, we loaded up the bikes, added a couple of psi to a couple of the tires, and checked the oil level in both bikes, but we still hadn't decided where we were going. Instead, we walked down to Al Nazim for breakfast. We decided to forgo the tiger's head mushroom and ginseng coffee this morning since we needed to get on the road instead of each other. Over another delicious breakfast, we discussed possible destinations.

Malacca had been our next destination, but on our last visit, we spent five days there and saw just about every sight there was to see. We like Malacca very much but just couldn't come up with a compelling reason to return. So, maybe Kuantan. Kuantan is a city on the east coast of Malaysia, roughly due east of Kuala Lumpur. There's not really anything to do in Kuantan, other than eat at an excellent Indian restaurant and watch local soccer teams play at the field next to Masjid Negeri, but it is the gateway to the east coast. From there, we could head up to Cherating and Kota Bharu. We had been to Kota Bharu before but never to Cherating, and it might be interesting. The problem with going to Kota Bharu is that it is the jumping off point for the Perhentian Islands, which we enjoyed so much before, but we cannot take our bikes, so there's no real point in going. Okay, so where did we want to go? On our last trip, we didn't make it to the Cameron Highlands, and it is less than a day's ride, so maybe that's where we will go. The Cameron Highlands are located east of Ipoh, in the north-central part of peninsular Malaysia and are known for their tea plantations, hiking, and cool temperatures. Sounds good after sweating our butts off for the past couple of months, so that's where we will go.

We hurried back to the room, fired up the laptop, and spent a few minutes perusing the usual websites for room recommendations. At around 10:00, we walked out to the bikes, punched our destination into the GPS, pulled onto the main road, and promptly stopped for fuel. It is still such a novelty to be only paying about 2.50 USD for a gallon of petrol, but I like it! Fueled up, we headed north to Kuala Lumpur. On our ride south, we skirted the western edge of KL, but the GPS now had us skirting the eastern edge of the city. The route today was still a bit confusing, but it was certainly easier than before. The morning was bright and sunny, but once we cleared the northern edge of the metropolitan area, we could see dark skies in the distance. Again, the roads were excellent and fast, and traffic was relatively light and polite. The skies continued to darken, and the clouds sure looked like thunder.

The turnoff for the Cameron Highlands was at a town called Tapah, but before we could make it there, the sky exploded. First the wind rose, and then the big, cold raindrops began to fall. I've ridden through enough rainstorms to know that this one was gonna be rough. We pulled over, covered our daypacks, pulled our rubber gloves over our riding gloves, zipped all our vents, and continued riding north. Over the next ten miles or so, the rain continued to intensify, and the wind became very gusty. We were now riding through two to three-inch deep puddles on the shoulder of the highway and decided to duck under the next overpass we came to. Malaysia is a very civilized country in that at nearly every overpass, there is a directional sign with a picture of a motorcycle and an umbrella that directs you to the special motorbike parking area under the overpass. Once you pull under the overpass, there is a small opening in the guardrail that is just wide enough for a motorcycle to slip through and into a small parking area where you can shelter from the rain. We have also seen specially constructed motorcycle rain shelters along stretches of the highway without overpasses. We decided to take shelter, not so much from the rain, but from the wind. We were getting tossed around, and that combined with the standing water made it seem prudent to wait for the rain and wind to lighten. While we waited, we looked out over the mountains and could see that the Cameron Highlands area was completely engulfed in clouds and mist. A check of the GPS showed that the road from Tapah to Tana Ratah contained approximately elebenty billion corners. Somehow, that road plus the weather just didn't add up for us. We talked about it and decided that since both of us really wanted to take a break for a few days, we would head back to our second home in George Town.

After 20 or 30 minutes, the rain and wind let up enough for us to ride safely again, so we hopped back on the bikes and rode into the rain. It rained on and off for the next hour or so as we made our way north through Ipoh, but we hardly noticed since the scenery was drop-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, our camera was hidden away from the rain, so we didn't get any pictures, but the scenery was amazing. The light through the roiling clouds illuminated the dark green mountains around us, while the fog and mist snaked around the nearby peaks. Eventually, we rode back into the sun, and it was only then that we noticed how chilly it had gotten. By the time we reached the bridge to Penang, we were almost completely dry except for our boots. We paid the toll and rode onto the four-mile long bridge. Unlike when we crossed a few days ago, the wind was blowing hard today, and traffic was fairly heavy. It was a bit disconcerting for us but apparently not for the other riders around us, who zipped by casually, with only their right hands on the bars, while we nervously kept both hands firmly on the controls.

Once on the island, we found ourselves in the midst of rush hour since it was nearly 6:00 pm. We joined the other motorbikes in the designated motorcycle lane and made our way into George Town. Soon, we were back at the Star Lodge, where we got a room for the next five nights. We dumped our gear in the familiar surroundings and walked out to our favorite dim sum place, which was inexplicably, closed. Bummer, but not really. There is so much good food here that it's easy to find another favorite. Instead we tried a new place for wonton mee and then stopped at the grocery store to pick up fruit and kitten chow. On the way back to the room, we fed and played with three kittens we had seen on our outbound walk. It's good to be home.


270 miles in 8 hours. Bikes are running good. Re reports that the front tire is stiff, but it handled the standing water well.

The next six days have no real motorcycle content, we're just taking it easy in George Town. Our goal is to relax, eat, see some movies, and hopefully, figure out where this trip is going from here. George Town is the place where the wheels came off our trip two years ago, and it looks like it will be where our wheels stop rolling for a while this time. We have definitively crossed Australia off our list, so we need to figure out whether Indonesia is still on our itinerary, and if not, how we are going to fill our time between now and returning to the US.

3/27

We were determined to do as little as possible today, so with that in mind, we had a takeaway breakfast of roti canai from Yasmeen, and then we spent the morning in the room doing this and that. For lunch, we had some delicious Hainanese chicken and rice at a good place on Lebuh Chulia. The funny story about this place, is that when we first arrived in George Town on our last trip, it was raining, so I stayed with our packs under the overhang of this restaurant while Re found us a room. Like many of the restaurants here, it is only open for lunch and was closed at the time. While I sat, a man whose eyes didn't look quite right came out the door and squatted down next to me without saying anything. He was peeling an orange and offered me half, which I accepted. He didn't speak much English, but he asked what I was doing there. I explained that Re was looking for a room, and I was staying out of the rain. I asked if that was okay, and he said it was and then asked where we'd come from. I told him we had just arrived from Hat Yai in Thailand, and his eyes lit up. He told me that he really enjoys living in Malaysia, but that he likes to visit Hat Yai whenever he can. I asked why he likes Hat Yai so much, and he said it was because two things were cheap in Thailand: “drinking and ****ing.” I had no idea how to respond to this, so I just nodded my head knowingly. With that, he stood up and walked back into the depths of the restaurant. A few weeks later, we went there for chicken and rice, and he smiled when he recognized me there. He didn't seem to remember me this time, but we'll always have that afternoon in the rain.

After lunch, we walked over to Prangin Mall to see “The Hunger Games” at the theater on the fifth floor. I had never heard of the movie or the books it's apparently based on, but we enjoyed it, especially for 2.33 USD each. Later that night, we went out for dim sum. Re posted some of her writing to our blog, and then we went to the corner bar for a nightcap.

3/28

Another breakfast from Yasmeen, and then we worked on ride reports pretty much, all day. We broke for lunch around 12:00 and went to Sri Ananda Bahwan for another delicious banana leaf thali. For dinner, we had wonton mee from our favorite hawker stall and then ice cream for dessert.

3/29

Instead of getting Yasmeen for takeaway, I actually dragged my butt out of the room and down to Yasmeen for breakfast at one of the sidewalk tables. Back at the room, we worked on a “to do” list for the rest of the week. Later, Re worked on some blogposts, while I researched teaching English in China and Taiwan. We decided to try someplace new for lunch that was recommended for their roast duck and rice.



We found Jit Seng Duck Rice on the ground floor of the Star Hotel, and sat down for a slightly expensive, but amazingly delicious lunch of duck, pork, and rice. We were each brought a plate of rice and small bowls of hot sauce, and then a heaping plate of sliced cucumbers, crispy and succulent roast pork, and a huge amount of arguably the best duck I have ever had. I'd guesstimate that between the duck and pork, there was at least 12 ounces of meat. We stuffed ourselves on the deliciousness, and the bill came to a rather hefty 8 USD, including drinks. This would be amazingly cheap in the US, but considering that Hainanese chicken and rice is usually around 4 USD including drinks, this was a bit pricey, but worth every penny.

We then walked back to the room to continue with our writing and research. As the afternoon wore on, I got a very bad headache and had a problem with the vision in my left eye. I took some paracetamol, and it seemed to get better. Later, for dinner, we had a couple of different noodle and shrimp dishes from one of the hawker stalls on Lebuh Chulia and then some “pancakes” with a red bean filling and chrysanthemum and honey tea for dessert. Back in the room, I read while Re did some more writing, and then we walked out for a nightcap.

3/30

I woke up feeling really bad this morning. I had a vicious headache, waves of nausea, and my eyes didn't seem to be working right. When I turned my head, it felt like my vision wasn't keeping pace, kind of like if you've had too many s, they weren't tracking correctly. I stayed in bed while Re went out to get roti, and I laid back down after breakfast too. I felt better around lunchtime, so we went out for Hainanese chicken and rice again. Back in the room, we finally put pen to paper and wrote down some possible scenarios for either teaching overseas or returning to the US.



Mid-afternoon, my headache returned, so I laid down while Re walked to the old cemetery to do some sketching. When she returned, I was again feeling some better, so we worked a bit more on future plans. We were both feeling the call of the Big Mac, so we went to McDonald's for dinner and stopped to pick up some more fruit before returning to the room to read.

3/31

Third verse, same as the first. Roti from Yasmeen, and then, we actually made a few decisions. We've decided that we can't decide what we will be doing after this trip, but we have decided that we are not going to Indonesia, that we will try to make the family reunion in North Carolina on July 7th, that whenever we ship the bikes, it will be from KL, and that we will be returning to Thailand for some quality beach time soon. Late in the morning, we decided to do a little shopping and then had a nice lunch of curry mee at a hawker stall. Later in the afternoon, we made the very huge mistake of going back to the movie theater to see “Wrath of the Titans.” I cannot stress how badly this movie sucked. If there was a plot, I have no idea what it was. After the movie was over, Re said that it had less plot than a porno. There was no acting, and we both decided that we want our two hours back.



After the movie, we went to Kapitan for chicken biryani and then walked to the esplanade for a dish of “special ABC.”



ABC is a local dessert made of shaved ice, red beans, sweet corn, red and green jello of some sort, palm sugar syrup, and evaporated milk. What makes it “special,” is the addition of a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. It sounds weird, and it is. The first time I had it, I was skeptical, but it's actually pretty good.

4/1

I received a distressing email overnight that my nephew was in the hospital due to complications with, heretofore, undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes. He is only 16 years old, and the email said that he was on multiple IVs and not responding. I spoke with my parents on Skype this morning and found out that my nephew was better today and responding to treatment. Still, that's a tough diagnosis for a young person. Fortunately, he has lots of family around him and is a resilient young man.

After a couple of overcast days, the sun was finally out this morning, so after breakfast we walked to the grocery store and picked up fruit and bread and hopped on the bus to the beach. George Town has a very modern and efficient bus system that covers most of the island, but most importantly, it goes to Batu Ferringhi. The buses here are so fancy and modern that many of them are equipped with a wifi hotspot. The ride to Batu Ferringhi takes about an hour, but soon enough, we were on the sand and enjoying the sun. We read for a few hours and generally enjoyed the sand and water before riding back to town in the late afternoon to clean up before dinner. Dim sum again, but this time we tried several new delicious dishes. Leaving the restaurant, we could see dark clouds roiling in the evening sky, occasionally illuminated by lightning, so instead of heading to Little India for dessert, we hurried back to the hotel, expecting the heavens to open at any minute. They never did, at least where we were, so instead, we chatted with some fellow guests on the porch before returning again to the corner bar.

Thanks for putting up some more of your story. I guess I could have gone over to ADV and followed you, but since I started following your trip here it just didn't occur to me. I was just a lurker then, so could not post. Another couple trying to do a RTW 2-up went dark for a while and then it turned out they had wrecked the bike south of the US and although not hurt much themselves, were back in Canada for the time being, and of course Big Al Smith had a couple of wrecks on his ride so I began to wonder if something similar had happened to you guys or if you had called the whole thing off, as it seemed that at times (as with all couples) continuing on to the end of the ride was kind of touch and go. Sorry to hear about your nephew....that is really rotten news and I hope he pulls through.

hello guys, nice to see you back.

What GPS and what maps are you using in South East Asia ?

PS: I like your pant cleaning method, if you ever pass through Denmark, I have a pair that need cleaning ;-))

__________________
Poul
May you enjoy peace and good health !

Nope, we have survived the trip relatively unscathed and are still together! Just celebrated our 23rd Anniversary a few months ago, apparently we're both stubborn. Thanks for the good wishes about my nephew, he seems to be doing OK for now but it certainly has changed many of his future plans. I'll continue posting the rest of the trip since someone is enjoying it!

We are using a Garmin 60CSx and it was a good choice. Cheap,handheld and waterproof and no need for a fancy mount. We used the free maps from OpenStreetMaps.nl. They weren't perfect but the price was right! Other than the major cities, SE Asia is very easy to navigate and could probably be done with paper maps alone, but the GPS made it easier.

If you liked the pants cleaning photo, watch for the upcoming posts from the Thai islands!

We decided that we need to get on the road soon, so tomorrow we ride. The issue is where. After another breakfast of takeaway coffee and roti, we worked on ride reports until lunch. After another great lunch of roast pork and bbq pork and rice at the Sky Hotel, we walked over to Komplex Komtar for ice cream and fruit. Suitably fortified, we returned to the room, where I finished another couple of days of writing. After I was done, I handed the laptop to Re so she could catch up on some blogging. While she wrote, I researched Taiping and the Cameron Highlands, our next two destinations. When Re finished writing, we also started pricing flights back to the States. We don't have a definitive return date yet, but we were interested to see how much it would cost. For dinner, we went to the pure vegetarian branch of Sri Ananda Bahwan and had a really delicious dinner. That it was delicious was not surprising, but the price was. I usually expect vegetarian food to be a little less expensive than non-veg, but dinner cost just as much as it would have for tandoori chicken. After dinner, we wandered through a few of the shops in Little India so Re could search for her favorite Indian soap. The sky was looking threatening, and when the lightning started, we decided to pick up some s and head back to the room for laundry.

Having had our fill of roti, for now at least, Re got some coffee and sliced a pineapple for breakfast. While she was doing that, I started packing the room. In the week we've been here, we seem to have completely unpacked just about everything we own, so today's packing took a while. We finally pulled away from the Star Lodge at around 10:30 am and made our way south to the four-mile long bridge again. Between the calm weather and lack of rush hour traffic, our ride across the bridge was certainly easier than our previous crossing. We once again headed south on the E1 and eventually turned off for Taiping. It was an easy ride today, the weather was warm, but the ride was quick.

We pulled into Taiping and found our hotel from memory, since Taiping is not well covered by the maps in my GPS. We stayed at the Peking Hotel on our last visit to Taiping and again found it pleasant and cheap. We pulled our bikes into the portico out front while we unloaded them and carried our junk to our room. When we returned to the bikes a few minutes later, two postmen were admiring our bikes and talking to the hotel manager. The manager informed us that they would like to buy our bikes and wanted to know where they could get ones like them. We have had more positive reactions to our bikes in Malaysia than just about anywhere else. Many people have asked us where they can get one of their own. It's surprising that even though SYM sells many different models in Malaysia, they do not sell the Symba, or Wowow, here. After declining their offer, we walked out to Bismillah for lunch. We knew from a previous visit that Bismillah has tremendously good chicken biryani and even better coffee. We were happy to find that it was as good as we remembered, even if the restaurant is a little dingy.



After lunch, we walked to the local botanical gardens, here known as the Lake Gardens. The gardens are on the edge of town and apparently used to be a tin mine many years ago. Sometime in the late 1800s, they were turned into public gardens by the colonial rulers of the time.



There wasn't a whole lot blooming when we were there, but many of the trees are very old and spectacular. As we walked, the sky got progressively darker, and the wind picked up. We hadn't really planned on going walking after lunch, so we had foolishly left our rain jackets in the room. When the rain began to sprinkle, we were over a mile away from the hotel. Since these afternoon rains seem to come and go pretty quickly, we decided to seek shelter in one of the many small pavilions that are scattered around the gardens. The rain began gently at first, but eventually turned into a full-fledged downpour. The monsoons that effect the west coast of Malaysia start around this time of the year, and judging by the force of the rain, they must be starting now. We hid out from the weather for an hour or more but spent our time wisely, talking about our future plans. It's appearing more likely that at the end of this trip, we will return to the US and work until we have enough money to relocate overseas on a more permanent basis. The rain eventually stopped, or at least lightened enough that we could make our way back to the hotel.

Back in the hotel, we dried off and then later walked out for a banana leaf meal at Chetty Nad. We had a truly excellent meal here two years ago, but this time, the food wasn't nearly as memorable. In addition, we were also overcharged by about 3 ringgit for our meal. Disappointing. After dinner, we walked back to the Lake Garden district and to the nearby zoo. Our real reason for coming to Taiping this time is to go on the Taiping Zoo's Night Safari. For the Night Safari, the zoo reopens at 8:00 pm, and the habitats of the nocturnal animals are illuminated with light that is supposed to simulate a full moon. It was actually a lot of fun, since we had an opportunity to see many of the animals that are usually snoozing during the day out and about. The tigers were all out roaring, the lionesses were playing hide and seek, the owls were wide awake, and the general effect was kind of spooky. The bad news was, the rain returned when we were abut three-quarters of the way through. The good news was, we brought our rain jackets with us this time. The rain wasn't so heavy that it stopped us from finishing the tour, but we were a bit damp by the time we made it back to the hotel at 11:00 pm.


70 miles in 2.5 hours.

After packing up the bikes, we walked out to the morning market for a delicious breakfast of vegetarian curry mee (a noodle soup with a thick, yellow broth, a couple of kinds of tofu (and sometimes chicken) and bean sprouts) and coffee.Then we made the short ride back out of Taiping, and were once again riding on the shoulder of the E1. Since we'd already ridden this stretch of highway before, it didn't seem quite as new and exciting, but after a couple of hours, we turned east towards Tana Ratah. This, on the other hand, was a fun road. The road twisted and turned as we slowly made our way up the Titiwangsa range (I laugh every time I say Titiwangsa ). The scenery was mountainous and green, with occasional dramatic, bare limestone patches. Along the way, we saw a four ft long monitor lizard trying to cross the road, but he wisely darted back. A short time later, we saw a similar sized lizard that wasn't so fortunate.



As we neared the summit, the hills were suddenly covered with vast tea plantations, miles of strawberry fields, and many greenhouses. Due to the temperate climate provided by the 5,000-plus ft altitude and the abundant rainfall (more on that later) the Cameron Highlands provide much of Malaysia's tea and produce. One of the downsides of the abundance of agriculture is the abundance of trucks. Traffic was a little busy once we neared Tana Ratah, and the roads were filled with dozens of old Land Rover pickups and other, larger trucks.

We arrived in Tana Ratah at around 1:00 pm and soon found a room at the Twin Pines Chalet (which really wasn't much of a chalet, but nice enough). Ronnie from Ipoh, had pm'd us to say that he would be in town today and we should let him know when we arrived. Once we got our bikes unpacked, we sent him a pm and a text, and a few minutes later, he appeared at the Twin Pines. Ronnie is a very cool guy. He not only has a blog about motorcycling in Malaysia, but he is also working on a guidebook to riding here.



Coincidentally, Ronnie's parents were also visiting from their new home in North Carolina, so he brought them along as well. It truly is a small world: though Ronnie's family is from Ipoh, his sister and parents have relocated to Havelock, NC. This was funny to Re and me because our first two-up ride, way back in 1992, was to the Dairy Queen in Havelock. Funny! We all went out to lunch at a place Ronnie recommended, and it was nice to have him along, as he explained some of the finer points of Malaysian food. After a long lunch, they needed to return to Ipoh, so we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet up again soon, hopefully in Ipoh next time.

Re and I decided to walk around the center of town and check out some of the dinner options for later. We had just walked out of one Indian restaurant when we spied two farang on Royal Enfields(?) stopped at the edge of the road. They appeared to be ready to pull out, so Re yelled across the street for them to stop. We introduced ourselves to Toby and Will and admired their Australian plated Enfields. They had just begun their trip from Singapore to London and had just arrived in town. We shared what we knew about accommodations and agreed to meet up for dinner.



After walking around for a while, we returned to the Twin Pines and found the Enfields parked out front. Will is riding a newer, Indian-made 500cc Enfield, while Toby is riding a 1960s 350cc. They bought the bikes in Australia and did a bunch of work to them in preparation for their trip. Their route is planned to be almost entirely overland (Burma being the exception) and is timed to make it over the highest passes through India and Pakistan, before heading into the 'Stans and beyond. It is certainly an ambitious trip, made more ambitious by their choice of mounts, so keep an eye on The Bullet Diaries to see if they make it. After chatting around the bikes, we all went out to dinner at a local Indian joint, where we introduced them to the joys of banana leaf meals. We sat around and talked over some s for most of the evening before calling it a night.


110 miles in about 4 hours. We had a great time today!

It rained overnight, but we awoke to a sunny morning, and after a shower, headed out to look for breakfast. On our way out, we ran into Will and Toby. We discussed our plans for the day before continuing on. As we ambled up the street, we spied our favorite breakfast of roti canai and curry. We stopped for this and coffee before heading back to the room. When we returned, we found Will and Toby hard at work on their bikes. Toby's bike needed a new oil seal around the transmission input shaft, and Will had discovered that the backing plate on his rear brake was warped, and consequently, allowed the brake shoes to twist. Fortunately, they have a comprehensive toolkit and a selection of spares. Toby seemed to be having no problem installing his oil seal, whereas, Will was not having as much luck straightening the backing plate. While he worked on the oil seal, Toby also discovered that the tensioner for his primary drive chain was very worn. Lucky for them, a local Enfield enthusiast (!) had come to meet them yesterday and apparently had a cache of bikes and parts. While we headed for Gunung Brinchang and the mossy forest, Will and Toby were going to check to see if he had either of the needed parts.

Gunung Brinchang is the highest peak in the area, at 6,666 ft, and it was quite a beautiful ride. Once we turned off the main road, the ride got a little more challenging, as the road was quite steep. The last three miles were so steep that we found ourselves in first gear for about two of the three miles, and in a couple of spots, we almost needed an even lower gear. The mossy forest was supposed to be about a mile before the top, but we didn't see it on the way up. At first, the top of the mountain seemed a little disappointing, since all you could see were trees and cell phone towers. Once off the bikes, we saw what looked like a fire lookout tower. When we reached the base of the tower, we could see that it was open to climb. We scaled the four flights of narrow, steep, metal steps to the top.



The view from here was spectacular, out one side we could see the mountains covered in clouds, whereas on the other side were miles of tea plantations. We were soon joined on the tower by a German couple who were touring Malaysia in a rented car. They saw our bikes, and they (or really, he) wanted to know about our trip. We chatted with them for nearly an hour before climbing back down the tower, posing for a few pictures, and heading back down the hill. We looked for the mossy forest again, but didn't see any indication of where it should be. Our brakes got a thorough workout on the way down the hill but made it with flying colors.

Halfway down, there was a sign for the Boh Tea plantation and visitors' center. We pulled into the parking lot, parked under a tree, and walked through tea fields to the visitors' center.



The tea plants were neat to see up close, since they look much like bonsai trees. While they are low and compact, their trunks are surprisingly thick, and most of them were covered in moss. In the visitors' center we watched a short film about tea production, toured the displays of machinery, and walked through the tea processing plant.



The plantation has a beautiful tea room that is cantilevered out over the fields, so we stopped for a cuppa and some shortbread. While we were enjoying our snack, it began to rain gently. We decided to head back to the bikes and tried to beat the rain back to Tana Ratah. No such luck.

Shortly after we pulled out of the parking lot, it began raining in earnest. At the entrance to the plantation, we found a covered parking spot and pulled our bikes in to wait for the rain to stop. The sky grew increasingly dark and the thunder rolled through the hills. After 30 minutes or so, the rain lightened enough that we decided to make another attempt at getting home. We still had another three miles of twisty, narrow road through the plantation before we made it back to the main road, but unfortunately, it began to rain even harder just before the junction.



As we pulled onto the main road, the sky really let loose, so we nipped across the intersection and pulled under the awning of a closed business near a bus stand.



Soon, the rain became truly torrential, and the streets began to flood. After another 15 or 20 minutes waiting on the bikes, we decided to take a seat in the bus shelter since the water around the wheels was getting deeper. Eventually, the rain slackened, and we decided to make a run back to Tana Ratah. We didn't get too wet in the final eight miles, but we were a little chilly by the time we parked the bikes. Our plans to go hiking this afternoon were obviously canceled, so we hung out on the porch and made plans to try hiking tomorrow. After taking a shower, we decided to warm each other up. Later, we went out for dinner and stopped for and cookies, which we enjoyed while doing some writing in the room.


24 slow, wet miles.

Yesterday's rainy ways started up again in the middle of the night. We both woke up several times overnight to the flash of lightning and boom of thunder. The rain drummed on the roof all night and into the morning, so clearly, our plan to get up early and hike in the hills needed to be changed. When the alarm went off, instead of hitting the snooze button, I simply turned it off and snuggled up with Re. Eventually, the rain seemed to lighten, so we finally rolled out of bed. After getting a shower, I pulled up the weather and radar on the laptop and saw that there was plenty of rain in the area and that the chance of rain for the next several days in Tana Ratah was 70% or greater. The major activity in the Cameron Highlands is hiking the many trails through the hills around Tana Ratah. Our fear was that they would be rivers of mud due to all the rain, so we needed a new plan. While we enjoyed another breakfast of roti canai, curry, and coffee, we discussed some alternate plans. We still have our Thai visas that we got in Phnom Penh and decided we would head north for some beach time and to be in Thailand for Songkran (the Thai New Year).

The rain had pretty much stopped by the time we returned to the Twin Pines. Will and Toby were just getting ready to leave for Penang, so we wished them luck and said maybe we'd see them there. While we loaded our bikes, another guest asked us about our trip and we spent about 45 minutes chatting with her and her son. This did delay our start, but miraculously, by the time we hit the road, the sky was nearly blue. We returned to the E1 on the same road we came in on, and it was an even better ride going back down the hill.



What had been an occasionally slow ride up the hill turned into a fourth gear, 45 mph roller coaster ride back down the Titiwangsa (tee hee). Too soon we were back on the E1 riding north, back to Georgetown. We considered bypassing Georgetown and heading straight back to Hat Yai, Thailand, but considering the massive car bombs in Hat Yai and Yala town last week, we decided to stop in Georgetown instead. From Georgetown we can get through the troubled area and as far as Trang in one day, hopefully avoiding any possible unrest.

We crossed the bridge, made our way north into Georgetown, and pulled up in front of the Star Lodge, only to find that they had no A/C rooms. Bummer. Fortunately, the Star Lodge is affiliated with two other guesthouses, and the 75 Backpacker Lodge had a room available. The 75 is nowhere near as nice as the Star, but it was only for one night. Somewhere along the way between the Cameron Highlands and Georgetown, the funnel that hangs from my helmet lock broke. We use the funnel on a nearly daily basis to refuel the bikes, so we need to replace it ASAP. We walked to Mydin, which is Malaysia's version of Big Lots, and sure enough, found a new funnel for about 17 cents. We also picked up some detergent while we were there before stopping at a hawker stall for banana and Milo (like Nestle Quik) milkshakes. Good and good for you! Since dim sum is becoming our new favorite dinner, later that evening, we returned to our usual place for another fantastic meal. Since the dim sum place is halfway to the mall, we continued to McDonald's for an ice cream cone before calling it a night.

185 miles in 5 hours. Because we both find the name, Titiwangsa, so funny, we have decided to rename a certain sexual act in its honor. Henceforth, that activity will be known as, “Doin' The Titiwangsa.”

Breakfast in Georgetown only means one thing: roti canai from Yasmeen. After a good night sleep, Re walked to Yasmeen to find that her roti man had missed her terribly. He wanted to know where she had been and was so happy to see her that he kissed her on both cheeks before making our roti. After breakfast we walked to Little India to a well-stocked motorbike shop, where we picked up another 2.5 x 17 tube to add to the collection and a couple of new spark plugs for good measure. One tube and two NGK plugs for 6 USD, what a bargain! On the way back to the room, we stopped in at the Star Lodge and found that they had a room for us, so we carried our gear to our new room at the Star.

After changing rooms, Re decided she wanted to try a sponge she bought in Nilai that appeared to be a type of “magic eraser” sponge. While the metal cleans up pretty well on our bikes, the white plastic leg shields and side covers are stained, and no amount of scrubbing with a rag seems to make any difference. After wiping the plastic off with a wet rag, Re went over the white bits with the new sponge. The outcome was amazing: the sponge removed nearly all the stains and seemed to work on the chrome too. So now she is riding around on a bike with shiny white bits.

After a shower, it was time for lunch, so we headed for our favorite Hainanese chicken and rice place and another delicious lunch. Re has decided that she needs to find a recipe for Hainanese chicken since it is impossibly juicy but still has a crisp skin. After lunch we returned to Mydin to get the toothpaste we forgot yesterday and to look for more sunscreen before we head to the beach. We found toothpaste but no sunscreen at Mydin, so we continued on to Komplex Komtar, where we searched the pharmacies but left empty-handed. They did have sunscreen, but it was extremely expensive: a five ounce tube of SPF30 was between 9 and 10 USD. Ouch! After picking up a watermelon and a pineapple, we returned to the guesthouse to work on some travel plans and relax. Later that evening, we went out to the hawker stalls for wonton mee and fresh juice. After walking around Chinatown and having some tea, we headed back to the Star so I could Skype with my parents. We ended the evening with a nightcap at the corner bar.

Since we had a spare day before we had to leave for Thailand, we decided to stay in G-town one more day to do some shopping and eating. You know the drill by now: roti from Yasmeen and their delicious coffee, too. A quick shower and then we walked up to the pharmacy to look for a wrist brace for Re. Since somewhere in India, she has had an on again, off again problem with her middle finger on her throttle hand. She has knuckle pain when she rides, and it cramps and locks in a circle when she's off the bike. She researched it on the internet a while ago, and found out it's referred to as “trigger finger,” and it's just a form of tendonitis. The recommended treatment is to wear a wrist brace upside down at night to keep the fingers straight and to take anti-inflammatories and put ice on it. Ice is hard to come by, so we've tried substituting cold bottles, but it's been acting up lately, so we're on the hunt for a wrist brace. Both pharmacies that we know of were closed today, perhaps because it's Sunday, so we once again walked over to Komtar and wandered through the drugstores there. Re did find a wrist brace and then went in search of a tank top. Both of us are getting awfully tired of the same three shirts so Re decided to buy something sexier and made out of cotton. She eventually found a couple of flattering ones and bought them.

After returning to the room to drop off our purchases, we went out in search of lunch. We walked to the Sky Hotel to get some delicious pork and rice. It turned out that everybody else had the very same idea today, since there were no tables and a very long line at the counter. We debated waiting around, but instead, walked across the street for more Hainanese chicken and rice. It was an exceptionally hot day, so we went back to the room, flipped open the laptop, and did some research as to which Thai islands we could take our motorbikes to. We lazed away the rest of the afternoon before finally walking out to dinner at around 6:00.

On our way to dinner, we spied two familiar Royal Enfields parked in front of a guesthouse on Lebuh Chulia. After two days in Batu Ferringhi, Will and Toby apparently came into Georgetown so they could hit the Thai embassy for their visas first thing in the morning. When we found them, they were chatting with a German couple who have just completed their one year motorcycle and scooter journey from Germany to Malaysia. We didn't get their names since they had to leave shortly after we arrived, but he rode a 650 Honda of some sort, and she rode a 300cc step-through scooter of some sort. Tomorrow morning, they take their bikes to the port to send them by ship back to Europe. It was too bad that we didn't get to talk to them more, because it sounds like they had quite an adventure as well. Will and Toby were also in good spirits, since some friends of theirs had brought a few items the forgot in Australia, and they met them in Batu Ferringhi. Both of them raved about the food in Georgetown and said the one thing they wanted to eat that they hadn't gotten yet was dim sum. Even though we just had dim sum two nights ago, it's never too soon for more. We said we'd show them the way, so they went to grab their jackets.

They returned with their jackets and two girls they just met in the lobby who also wanted to go for dim sum. One girl introduced herself as Celine, from France, and even though Will asked the other girl, who was from Belgium, to repeat her name three times, I don't think any of us ever understood what her name was. We all walked to the dim sum restaurant and found that it was packed. There was only one small table open, so we all crowded around it. Since Re and I were familiar with many of the dishes, we were elected to pick for everyone. Given our limited table space, we did it in three rounds, and all ate til we didn't want any more. The food was really good, and the company was even better, since both of the women had also been traveling for many months now. We finished off our meal with a round of egg tarts and one more pot of tea before paying the bill. Dim sum for six with dessert and five pots of tea came to a grand total of 50 ringgit (17 USD). I love Malaysia.

We had told Will and Toby about the corner bar before they invited the girls along to dinner, but we weren't really sure that they would want to go. We decided to leave it up to them, so I described it as best I could, including the rats occasionally scurrying along the sidewalks. I think they were lured by the promise of cheap and didn't really believe us about the rats, so they opted to come along. We found a table and some chairs and spent the rest of the night talking about travel and many other subjects. One of us finally noticed that it was 1:00 am, and since we are supposed to be riding 200 miles and crossing into Thailand tomorrow, Re and I decided to call it a night. It was a great evening. Hopefully tomorrow morning isn't too ugly.

It was an early morning after a relatively short night, but fortunately, neither of us was any worse for the wear after last night's festivities. While I began packing up the room, Re again, headed out to pick up breakfast. At Yasmeen, Re had to break the bad news to her new boyfriend/roti chef , Mohammad, that she would be going to Thailand for several weeks. He was apparently a bit upset and wanted to know when she would be back. As she left, he kissed her on both cheeks and said he will cry until she returns. Some guys might be jealous, but I am not worried at all. You see, there's this love that can never be. For many, many years ago, Re found her one true love: pork. And since Mohammad is Muslim, I'm safe (for now). After breakfast, we continued packing the bikes for what we hoped would be an early start, but once again, this plan was derailed by a friendly person who was interested in our bikes and trip. This morning, it was an Australian gentleman who spied us loading up and wanted to know more. Consequently, we didn't end up boarding the ferry until about 10:00 am.

Once we exited the ferry, the ride to the Thai border was warm and fast. Before we crossed back into Thailand, we filled up our tanks and both jerrycans with inexpensive, Malaysian fuel. We are going to miss being able to buy 15 liters of fuel for 10 USD. Sigh. The border formalities were easy, quick, and free (since we already had our visas). The only problem was that our temporary import permit for the bikes is only valid for one month. I had read on HUBB that the TIP should be valid for as long as your visa, but after speaking with several Customs officials, that is apparently incorrect. I was told that if we need more time, I should be able to get it extended at another Customs post. I don't imagine we'll be in Thailand for more than 30 days, but you never know. Immediately after we crossed into Thailand, we stopped for lunch at the convenient (and more importantly, air-conditioned) McDonald's at the border. After lunch, we continued our ride to Trang, where we spent the night. The afternoon ride went by fairly quickly and easily, but it was interesting to note the differences between Malaysia and Thailand as we rode. Malaysia seems like a much more western country than Thailand. Whereas the roads in Malaysia are excellent and well signed, the roads in Thailand are a little more basic (but still very good). In Malaysia, most people seem to have adopted western-style clothing, while in Thailand, there's still plenty of western-style clothing, you still see a wide variety of traditional dress as well. Another thing you see a lot in Thailand is little motorbikes with sidecars. They are everywhere and are used for deliveries, taxis, and as mobile restaurants. Conversely, I can only recall seeing one of these combinations in Malaysia, and it displayed a handicapped sticker.

There are many other differences, but these were the few that struck me on the ride today. We arrived in Trang at around 6:00 pm and were fortunately, able to remember our way to the hotel where we stayed two years ago. My GPS doesn't cover Trang very well and was of limited help. One of the reasons we did not want to return to Trang is that there are few decent, inexpensive places to stay, and the one we stayed at last time was more than a little dingy. But, the price was right, so we returned to the Ko Teng Hotel once again. What a difference two years makes! The prices were still cheap, but they painted and did some other work to the rooms, and it was much nicer this time. As a bonus, they allowed us to pull our bikes into their cavernous lobby overnight. After unloading the bikes, we walked up to the night market, where we bought salads, fried chicken, sticky rice, grilled pork, and Thai iced teas. We sat on the steps of some government building and ate our yummy food. For dessert, we bought some sort of thick pancake filled with shredded coconut and coconut jam. It was hot off the griddle and delicious. On the way back to the room, we picked up some cheap Changs.

225 miles in about 8 hours. So far, we have spent 74 days in southeast Asia and have spent 3666 USD, for a daily average of 49.50 USD. This number seems high, but crossing into Laos cost 130 bucks, Cambodia was 45 USD, and our 60-day Thai visas were 80 USD. These expenses alone add 3 dollars a day to our average cost.