Today we slept in until 8:30 then went out in search of breakfast. We had pancakes topped with fruit, and coffee for Dave, tea for me, at the restaurant attached to our guest house. But the portions were small, and we decided to hunt out a cheaper, locals’ restaurant. We found a place hopping with people just down the road, a typical Malaysian outdoor restaurant (all but just a couple of the places we’ve eaten at have been outside in the breeze). We had breakfast number two: nasi lemak (rice, egg, chilli sauce, mini fish). Finally we felt fairly full. We went back to the room to relax and read.

Later in the afternoon we walked down to the beach to swim. This was a very different experience from Pulau Tioman because it was all sand with no reef, and had more waves. We swam out in the warm water and played in the waves. The swimming is good for my shoulder, stretching and exercising it differently than how I use it on the bike all day.

Which reminds me. A few people have emailed and asked about my shoulder. I should give an update. It’s working well most of the time, but starts to ache a little after about 60 km. I stretch it out and it will feel better for a while. The day we biked (and pushed) up that insanely steep path on Pulau Tioman it really hurt, but it was just fine after a couple of days. The only way to cause bones, ligaments, and muscles to get denser and stronger is to push them just a bit harder than they’re used to. They’ll respond by beefing up. I feel like the stretched and torn ligaments in my shoulder are getting stronger, and even though my shoulder looks whacked, it’s working well. I can even sometimes sleep for a short bit on that side, which is my favorite side to sleep on.

97km

We had a nice room in Pekan at the Chief’s Guest House, which was recommended by a local. We’d looked at a couple of other “hotels” but they were really disgusting and probably just brothels. I was grossed out after looking at them, so we were so pleased when we saw the Chief’s Guest House. It’s spacious and clean with shiny hardwood floors and nice bathroom for 55 RM ($17 US). This place would probably cost at least a hundred in the US, probably more.

We had a hot pot and coffee in the room, so we decided to eat our own little snack in the room before heading out early. Then we stopped after about an hour of riding for breakfast: Nasi Lemak, or rice, fried egg and chili paste with a few mini fish. We also shared five small fried yummy goodies set out on platters. They looked like donuts, but were more dense and chewy inside, I’m guessing made with rice flour. They had different fillings or coatings, most had some coconut in or on them. These were so good! Then we rode on.

After about 48 km we got to Kuantan, even though our guide book said it would be 35. The distance is not marked between all cities on our big Malaysia map, so often we are guessing. Kuantan was our biggest Malaysian city so far. We got more money from an ATM and finally exchanged our remaining Singapore dollars. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant.

Here’s the thing about the restaurants and food in Malaysia. Chicken is vegetarian. I am not kidding. They put chicken in everything, sneak it in there like they think you need it or they’re trying to clean out the kitchen. They call a dish vegetarian but it will come with chicken. You can even ask for no chicken, no meat (in English and in Malay) and they will nod their heads, repeat it back to you and still the dish will come with chicken. I’m OK with this, but Dave is really a vegetarian, has been for at least 15 years, and he does not want to eat chicken.

The riding was hectic today. Most of the way there was road construction with narrow shoulders, lots of traffic and many semi trucks. It was noisy and busy and that really wears me out. Not to mention the ever-present headwind. I was tired and sore by the time we got to Cherating, but it was OK because we planned for a rest day here tomorrow. This is a quiet little beach town with very few tourists and we expect a good rest.

97 km

After we left the internet cafe we made a quick stop at a grocery. I went in to buy bread for the next day and Dave waited outside with the bikes. When I came back out, of course he was eating. He’s a rather large fan of eating when we’re on tour, never seems to get full. So anyway, Dave was sitting down in front of this little cart eating, with an excited Malaysian man chattering away with him. The man was all excited and light on his feet, sort of dancing around while talking. I came up to them and Dave handed me a puffy bread thing, saying to take a bite. It was a puffy little bite of heaven! It’s called Pau Pau Lai Lai, and it’s steamed bread with filling, either sweet or savory. Dave had bought a sardine one and a coconut one. Then the guy started bringing out more for us to try, saying he was giving them to us for free. He really wanted us to know about this yummy treat, because he said we’d be seeing it all throughout our trip. I guess he and Dave had quite a chat while I was roaming the entire grocery store looking for the elusive bread.

After talking with him some more, Dave asked if he could take his picture and he proudly posed by his cart. He has seven kids and a wife, so he works from 7:00 am to 3:00 am selling the bread while his wife bakes them at home. That’s seven in the morning, through the day and night, to three in the morning. When he spoke of his family and his desire to work and support them he got very serious. Then soon enough he was laughing and talking again, and wishing us the best of travels. He asked if we would send him a post card from the U.S. when we returned, so he wrote his address for us and we will.

(Updated to add: Dave lost a week’s worth of pictures on a flash card that went bad and this was on it. We’re so sad we can’t show you this guys joyous face.)

90km

It was raining hard when the alarm went off this morning, so we snoozed for a bit before getting up. We went out for breakfast (a different restaurant than last night) and got on the road at about 9:00. It was still sprinkling off and on during the morning, but it was warm enough to feel good.

We heard a lot of monkeys in the trees today early on the ride, and even saw two monkeys riding in the back of a truck! They were hanging on to the bars that hold up the tarp covering, acting like it’s no big deal. I really wonder why that guy has two monkeys in his truck.

The headwinds picked up this afternoon, and we slowed down a bit, but still got to Pekan and had a room by 3:30. That’s a good ending time. We have time to wash up, wash our clothes, write a bit in the old journal and get out for dinner. We’ll look for internet after dinner and if we’re lucky, you’ll see this post soon afterward.

72 km

The ferry picked us up at our dock at 7:30, and after many stops at other docks on the island, we arrived in Mersing around 10:30. We ate breakfast and bought some lunch snacks and headed out at about noon.

The ride was very nice, with light rain a couple times throughout the day and always a breeze. We are facing a headwind every day we head North up the coast, but it’s not too bad when we’re inland a ways and the trees block some of it. We also had lots of hellos, thumbs up and smiles today.

We found a nice hotel in Kuala Rompin for RM35 with air conditioning and a sizable room at the Hotel Kenkana. There are only two budget hotels in town, the other is in the same row of buildings with a larger sign but we didn’t even check in there when we saw this room. The other option is the beach resort, a pretty nice hotel with rooms starting at RM 140. The rooms were nice but we want to stay on a budget unless we have good reason to splurge.

We had dinner next to the hotel on the corner, a typical Malaysian-looking place. We had a nice waiter who answered a couple of our questions about food (and we are finally getting a good variety of things we can order, all super yummy!). Once we ordered Dave noticed there were Osama Bin Laden portraits everywhere. Yes, they were on all the walls, all sizes and poses. These guys were real fans. Uh, wow. That’s probably why, when the waiter asked with a smile where we were from and we answered, he sort of got a blank expression and said “America,” and then walked back to the kitchen. Then I looked around a bit. I was the only woman, and all the men looked very conservative, with hats and everything. They were all busy talking over coffee. But then everyone started getting up to go and all the restaurant staff were putting up chairs, sweeping, cleaning counters and all that. It was just before 7:00 pm. All the places we’ve been to so far are open and bustling until we head back to our hotel for bed and probably long after. This was weird. When the food came, it was good. But we ate quickly because we were the last people left and they were practically mopping us into a corner. OK, folks, we’re leaving!

A note about the people: Malaysia is a Muslim country. We have seen covered and uncovered women, we have seen traditionally dressed men in those little hats and others in Hawaiian shirts. But all of them, so far, have been nothing but kind and friendly. Certainly we’ll see more places like this restaurant, but one-on-one, people treat us really well here.

Today we slept in, read our books through a rain storm, then after eating we went for a swim. This time, we walked down to the pier on the North end of our cove and jumped in there, and swam South to the sandy beach we’ve been getting in and out of.

We covered quite a distance and were in there a long while. It was the most spectacular swimming so far. We saw more kinds of coral and many more fish than before. All different shapes and sizes of fish were darting in and around the coral patches, and we also swam through large schools of tiny fish flashing left and right and all around us. It was amazing. We would point neato things out to each other and dive down to inspect underneath overhanging coral together.

Dave pointed out the first spectacular find: a stingray! It was irridescent, grey/lavendar with blue spots. It was hiding under overhanging coral, but didn’t scare off when we kept going down to look at him. Then I was under the surface looking around and saw a turtle. I shouted, “TURTLE! TURTLE!” and Dave came over to see it too. We held hands and followed as it gracefully and efficiently swam near the bottom. It was heading into the current, the opposite of the way we came, and it was hard to keep up with it. He looked up and back at us a few times, but didn’t seem to mind us tagging along. The shell alone was at least two feet long, so it was pretty big. We were so close we could have made the effort to touch it, but we didn’t want to disturb it. After a while we came up and decided to head back the way we were going. A few minutes later I was under again when I saw a huge fish swim right by! I called to Dave and he barely saw it too. Later we found out from a local that it was a Parrot fish. He told us they are very friendly to divers and won’t hurt people. He did say, though, that if you are under and you die, that about two or three days later they will come back and nibble the bones clean.

We ate an early dinner, then went back out for dessert and juice. Every place here serves fresh-squeezed juice that’s more like a smoothie than just juice. It all tastes amazing, and we have to have some at every dinner.

We’ve decided tomorrow morning we’ll take the morning ferry back to Mersing and head up the coast further.

We woke early this morning to go swimming and had a great time skimming the coral. We see so many different kinds of fish and coral it’s just amazing. All this right under the surface, not very far from shore. We swam for a while, then got out to shower and have a snack. We then decided we’d cycle to the other side of the island. This island is not flat, it’s a big mountain poking out of the ocean. It’s covered in jungle and quite steep. But the guide book showed a path to the other side and we thought we could do it. There is a sidewalk-like path that connects most of the villages on the West side of the island. The main transportation here within and between these villages is scooters, motorcycles and three-wheeled scooters with cargo space. A few people ride bikes. The book made it seem like this kind of path would take us up and over to the other side, so off we went. Looked and looked, exploring each path that went off to the West. We found the electricity plant, the houses where locals live, the school, even a narrow jungle trail that seemed to go in the right direction but was not bikeable. But we couldn’t find that path! We stopped at a bakery to ask directions (and get some ice cream, a donut, and corn pudding) and finally someone came out and told us to head South on the main path and turn at the top of the hill to the left. He said it was steep. Steep! He made exaggerated steep motions with his hand. He looked at our bikes. Steep!

We finished our snacks and headed South. We found the left turn at the top of the hill. We saw it the day before when we were tooling around checking out the villages. We thought that was a driveway or something, because nobody makes roads that steep. Steep!

We switched down into our easiest granny gears and put our heads down and went up. We grunted. We swerved from side to side. And finally, I had to stop. And rest. Steep! Oh my, this is really something. “Who would do this on a bicycle?” I kept thinking. I started again and caught up to Dave resting. We started again. I couldn’t keep that up any longer, the effort just to keep going was making me go anaerobic. The muscles were burning, my lungs were screaming. STEEP!

Dave kept on turning those cranks while I pushes. There is no way I could have done this with my panniers on the bike. We stopped again at some point and I said I needed a few minutes. I was absolutely drenched in sweat, couldn’t catch my breath, and I kept thinking, “What are we DOING going up this steep hill in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY? Who does this? Why?” But then we heard some crashing in the trees and we looked up. Monkeys! Lots of them! We watched as they scrambled around and made their way down the hill and across our view from tree to tree. They were so graceful yet they were crashing and thrashing through those trees. They would stop and nibble on things along the way, chat to each other a bit, and then move on. What a privilege to have seen that. We had caught our breath, so we got on the bikes again and pushed forward. On and on we went like this, pedal for a bit, push over washed out areas or too-steep areas (I did way more pushing than Dave, sheesh.), resting and then doing it again. Finally we made it to the top. But by then I wasn’t at all interested in going down to the other beach, swimming, and then coming back up this nasty, hot, sweaty hill. No! I told Dave to feel free and keep going, really I don’t mind, just give me the key. But he said let’s just see how it looks on the other side, maybe it’s not so steep. So we rode down a tiny little bit, came around a corner and saw that it was steep. We looked at each other and said, yeah, let’s turn around.

So, yes, we did all of that and didn’t finish the goal. We turned around. I think any sane person would have done so way sooner. Going down was kind of scary because of the steepness. My hands were cramping from holding the brake so hard. But before we knew it we were back at that turn off the main path. I mean, really really quickly. We didn’t even go that FAR. It just felt like it. Dave took several readings on the way down with his compass, which has an inclinometer. He determined that the grade of the road was between 15-20%. Mostly on the upper end of that.

When we got back to the cabin we changed into our suits and went for another swim to cool off. It was late in the afternoon, but it was still warm and the water was clear and there were many fish to keep us entertained. We swam for quite a while, and when we were done we were ready for a big dinner. Quite a day.

94 km

We decided we wanted to take the ferry to Pulau Tioman, one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world. It is the tail-end of the monsoon season, so it’s not generally recommended to make the trip, but we wanted to relax for a couple of days and swim in the ocean. So, we bought tickets.

We ate breakfast and then came back to the ferry dock. The boat came in and it looked big enough. They loaded our bikes on the top deck on the front. We stepped down inside the boat and were pleased to see comfortable seats and feel cool air conditioning. As we started I got pretty excited, because the only other boat I’ve been on is a ski boat on a lake and the big car ferries in the Puget Sound. Pretty tame stuff. This was going out on the OCEAN. Wow. The ride was pretty tame because the boat was of a pretty good size, but I was still nervous–mostly about the bikes. I couldn’t see how they would stay up there with all the pounding and swaying. The whole ride took about two hours, and I was relieved to get off. I didn’t get sick, and it was fun at times, but I had a hard time relaxing. Maybe the ride back will be better, though it will be later in the day and likely be rougher.

We found a little cabin (called a chalet here) for 15RM and then went swimming. OH MY GOODNESS, we went swimming in the ocean with goggles. Why didn’t I think of this before? Goggles make all the difference. We swam and swam, looking down and diving down to see all the coral and fish. It was amazing. The visibility was better than we had hoped for with this being monsoon season.

We slept under a fan, with the sea air blowing through the cabin over us and the sound of the tide bringing the sea even closer to us.

98 km

We woke fairly early and were on the road at 7:00. It was cool and breezy, and felt so much better than any time the day before. We had cycled 35 km before noon, when it started getting hot and humid. Most of the day’s ride was through rolling hills of palm oil plantations. Almost no real jungle was left. In several places we saw newly-cleared hillsides looking stark against the surrounding green, and rows of baby palm trees lined each terrace. It made us think of those monkeys we saw the day before. How long until they have no place left to swing and play and eat? We also noticed a stark difference between the little patches of jungle and the plantations: one radiated with sounds of birds and other animals and the other was silent.

We arrived in Mersing and found a cheap hotel for 30 RM (Malaysian Ringgit), about ten US dollars. There were several in this price bracket, though the ones in our guide book were closed at the time. No big deal, you come to expect the same things soon enough when you’re traveling on a budget: small room, and an all-in-one bathroom that has the shower coming out of the wall right in the middle of the wee room. Sometimes you have a bucket to flush the toilet. The places we’ve seen so far are clean and tidy, but this kind of bathroom takes a little adjustment. We could obviously pay more for a little better room, but even paying twice or three times as much gets you the same sort of room, just a nicer looking one.

We ate dinner and discussed the options ahead of us: continue to head North on the coast or take a ferry out to Pulau Tioman. We knew we didn’t want to stay in Mersing, a busy, noisy little city.

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.