69 km

Today we were riding through rolling hills sometimes covered in patches of jungle, though mostly through palm-oil plantations. As we were coming down through a hilly jungle area we saw some animals crossing the road ahead. As we got closer, we realized they were monkeys. Monkeys! They scattered to the side and we stopped and saw that they were on either side. They kept a pretty good distance, and when Dave took out his camera they seemed to get shy all of a sudden. None of them wanted to get close enough for a shot, and Dave doesn’t have his zoom lens on this trip. So we had to be content with watching them sit and stare at us and crash and swing through the jungle. Later we saw huge wild pigs run across the road. I didn’t really want to get close to them, they seemed like they would barge right through whether a bike was passing or not.

We got to Sedili Kechil faster than we thought; we had expected to ride about 90k. That was good, since it was so hot and the heat made the kilometers feel like miles. We decided we’d have to start getting up early and ride as the sun comes up, otherwise the heat would make it much less enjoyable.

We stopped at a small market and drank a liter of (cold!) juice, then went back in for ice cream. It was so hot! So humid! It felt hotter than Singapore, so we were glad to have had a few days there to adjust before riding.

We stopped in at the Sedili Country Resort to have a look around. There were rustic cabins for 90 Ringgit (about US $30) and camping available for 22 Ringgit. The owner, who introduced herself as Jackie, and her adopted son of about 4, Zackie, were full of life and smiles as they showed us around. We chose to camp, as there was a beautiful park-like center to the place with ocean views and breezes. It was still the off-season, so the restaurant was not running like usual, but Jackie kindly offered to drive us back to the little market to buy stuff for dinner and she would cook for us. How nice! The four of us jumped in her truck.

We bought some fish and green beans, and Jackie said she had rice. We went back to the resort and set up camp and took showers, then joined Jackie in the kitchen. She showed us how to prepare the fish and beans, explaining as she directed us to help and she cooked. The meal was fantastic, and we sat and talked in the outdoor dining area until late. We discovered that Jackie is a Malaysian princess, and Zackie is her 20th child, most of them having been adopted. Zackie called us auntie and uncle, wanted to tell us everything, and wanted to camp outside with us. We heard stories of their lives in this beautiful place, as well as heard some advice for the road ahead. It was an unexpected and wonderful evening.

Zackie says hi!

That night we slept under a nearly full moon to the distant sounds of the ocean waves.

Recipe:

Fish
Clean and de-scale the fish
In a blender, mix a few cloves of garlic, some chillies, a handful of turmeric and some salt.
In a large bowl, coat and mix the fish with the paste and let sit for a while.
In a large wok, heat up some oil to very hot. With tongs, drop the fish in and do not turn the oil down. Jackie says the hotter the oil, the less it is soaked up by the fish and the crispier it will be.

Beans
Wash and snap the beans to remove the string
Cut the beans diagonally to 1-2 inches length
In a mortar (or food processor) pound/mix some onion, garlic, chillies, prawn paste, salt
Heat the mixture in some oil, stirring a bit, then drop in the beans
Cook a couple of minutes, then add coconut milk. (Jackie made it fresh from coconut, but I’m sure a can would do)

Serve fish and beans with rice.