Going for a ride, Malaysian style

Petronas Towers- Quite stunning at night

I quickly applied for an Indian Visa which takes 5 working days (I would highlight that the consul on Jln Duta is NOT where you apply for visas, go instead to 44 Jln Ampang, fairly near the twin towers (see above- you really can't miss them)).

Now that I have my bike back, I decided to go explore some of the east side of Malaysia for a few days and took off to check it out.

And then it rained. Really rained....

Once the lightening storm cleared up, I rode on up to Fraser Hill where you need to time it right as due to the single track road going up the hill, the trafic only flows one way according to the time of day. The cheapest accommodation I can find there is basically my entire daily budget so after a quick look around, I head back down and stop at a place called Raub and get a basic room for 55Rm. I get chatting to a local while I'm waiting on some food later that night who insists I must be couragous and very rich to ride around the world. I guess he's correct though I don't know about the couragous part, I think you just have to get on with it and deal with whaterver troubles you face really. Later on, I convince the hotel night watchman that I need to keep my bike inside the hotel but he takes some convincing as he really can't see the point. However as far as I'm concerned, no bike equals no trip.

I discover my new favourite breakfast the following day, Malaysian iced coffee with freshly fried Roti bread and curry dip (Roti Canai)- delicious for about 30 pence. I also have my first near breakdown today though it is easily sorted. Overtaking a bus my throttle jammed on which is always entertaining. On inspection, one of the throttle cable locking nuts has simply loosened itself and come off, catching on the cable and a quick roadside repair follows though as it was only fingertight, it soon came loose again and had to pull over at a garage to get some shade to work properly. While mustering up the enthusiasm to pull the bike apart in the midday heat, I witnessed something both amusing and quite scary. A Caltex fuel truck was filling one of the garages underground tanks when suddenly one of the garage employees starts shouting at the driver. The tank is clearly now full as gallons of petrol are now gushing out an overflow valve in the forecourt hardstanding. The indian driver casually inspects this mini fountain and closes the tap though by now cars arriving at the garage are now driving over the little stream of pertol. After a bit more arm waving, someone finally places a few traffic cones around the spillage to prevent the whole place going up like a fireball. I retire to the furthest possible corner of the garage and carry out my repairs. If this had happended in the UK, I can imagine the proceedure might have been a little different.

It's similar to the traffic here. As soon as I started riding, that familiar sting of diesel fumes hits your eyes and you just have to get on with it. I feel as though I should be used to the feeling that every driver wants me dead but its been 8 months since I was last properly riding and even that was North America. For anything remotely resembling this, I'd need to go back a year when I was in Mexico. I have a couple of mini road rage moment where cars sit approximately 1-2" off my back wheel and then overtake, finishing off the manoeuvre by trying to take out my front wheel as they pull back in. And so it goes on. I get to thinking that in the UK, I believe the standard RR proceedure is to pull the offending driver through his car window and then stab him through the heart before cheerfully driving off. I believe that this technique really wouldn't work here as you'd have to maim a lot of drivers before you got any form of satisfaction. Rather than following lane marking, the traffic is rather like water, merely taking the easiest path. However, I know this is nothing on how India will be so guess its a good re-introdution into riding like a maniac again for me.

I made it as far north as the outskirts of Kota Baru before I couldn't take the build up of traffic any longer and instead turned east to the coast, finaly ending up in Kuala Besar, the gateway to the Perhintian Islands as I found out (I'm not traveling with a guidbook this time). Once I'd found a cheap but clean place to stay, I took a walk in the early evening and saw two familiar figures- Ali and Liz whom I'd met on Tioman had been on one of the islands for about a week and were now heading back to KL. Getting some accommodation tips from them, we wandered around the night market food stalls where I eventually ate after my friends departed.

Deep fried chicken feet anyone?