Malaysia - Melaka to Penang by Bike (via Pantai Pedang, Port Dickson, Morib, Klang, Kuala Selangor, Teluk Intan, Sitiawan, Taiping and Nibung Tebal)

We managed to cycle out of KL to the bus station and although it wasn't easy we arrived in one piece. We managed to get our bikes on the bus, even though the bus driver was very grumpy and at first said we couldn't put them on, even though nobody else had any luggage to store. What a plonker.

We had 2 days in Malaka and we had a lovely time pottering around and seeing the sights.

Then we got back on the bikes and started our cycle ride up the west coast. This consisted of 10 days of cycling and on the whole it was pretty dull as much of it was through palm oil plantations or urban/industrial areas. We had a lot of rain and cool weather, which made it more bearable and we also did our first 105km day since NZ.

Here's the memorable parts:

In Klang I woke up with a cockroach on my leg (yuk!).

In Kuala Selangor we walked up a hill to see the cute leaf-eating monkeys and spent time 'hanging out' with them.

We don't know why the babies our ginger?

In Teluk Intan we saw the clock tower that was built in 1885 and leans a bit (not as much as the tower in Pisa).

In Sitiawan we had a rat in our room (gross!)

In Taiping we had a couple of days recharging our batteries, looking at the once-beautiful but now faded buildings and eating a lot of delicious food.

So as you can see there weren't many highlights!!

However, then we stayed with David for 2 nights in Nibung Tebal and things changed. David is quite famous in the cycling world; he took up cycling 7 years ago for health reasons and also opened his house up to fellow cyclists. He's cycled all over the world and has also hosted people from all over the world. He's a very inspirational man.

We had 2 fun-packed, very busy days with David and he took us to many places in the local area and opened our eyes to what's going on in rural Malaysia.

Below is a beautiful kingfisher:

We visited a Dragon fruit farm - delicious.

We visited many Toddy plantations. Toddy is a white alcoholic drink made by tying up the unopened flower of a coconut palm tree. It takes 15 days for the liquid to ferment and you should drink it within 4 hours. Here's Nic climbing the cocunut tree:

Here's me with David trying some toddy:

Here's some Toddy drinkers who befriended us:

In the evening we went on a river trip to see the Fire Flies - they look like fairy lights.

The following day we went to a pottery:

then we went to a factory that makes salted/century eggs. First they size the eggs with this machine:

Then they cover them in salted mud:

and then they cover them in rice husk ash. You then wait 2 weeks and eat them (if you dare!)

We also went to a charcoal making factory:

and we went to cool off in the mangroves:

We also, went for more Toddy and saw lots of dogs and puppies. The dogs here are so desperate for a bit of love, it's heart-breaking.

On our last night we met up with some of David's lovely friends and had a very enjoyable evening:

The following day David very kindly cycled with us to Butterworth and we got the ferry over to Georgetown, Penang. It felt weird to be back there without my Mum and Dad.

Here's me and David on the ferry:

David then left us and he cycled back home. THANK YOU DAVID for everything.

We spent a few days in Georgetown and met up with our Aussie friends Kat and Hamish and it was great to see them again and hang out with them.

We discovered that the ferry to Medan, Sumatra (our next destination) no longer operates, so we decided to leave the bikes behind and fly instead.

We flew out of Malaysia on 24th July. Indonesia here we come!

Malaysia - Penang and then back to KL

We arrived in Penang, an island off the north west coast of Peninsula Malaysia and checked into the great apartment that Dad had booked for us in Georgetown. We had planned to stay here for 4 nights but we ended up staying for 10.

Dad went to a private hospital, which was conveniently located about a 5 minute walk from the apartment (we could actually see the hospital from our balcony) and they said that they could arrange an MRI scan for the same day and that they would keep him in the hospital overnight. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Dad ended us having key-hole surgery on his right knee and was in hospital for a week. When he came out he had a few days with us in the apartment and we hired a wheelchair so he could go out. Luckily, after a lot of hassle with the insurance company, they told us that they would pay for all of the medical bills and they arranged for them to get back to the UK. They ended up flying from Penang to KL and then they got their original flights home but Dad got upgraded to Business Class. So all in all it was rather a disastrous holiday.

I also went to see a doctor in Penang and received the happy news that my corneal ulcer had healed. I think I'll be sticking to glasses until we get out of the tropics though, just to be on the safe side!

In between hospital visits Nic, Mum and I did manage to see some sights.

Here's me and Mum at Fort Cornwallis, which was built when Captain Francis Light first landed in Penang. The brolly is for the sun not the rain:



They have many lovely buildings in Georgetown; this is the Town Hall:


We went to the museum and saw the Rolls Royce that had belonged to Sir Henry Gurney, the former British High Commissioner who was shot dead. The Rolls ended up with 32 bullet holes!



Due to the important Gurneys who lived here, we now have our own road, hotels, shopping mall and food stalls. This is the mall:



This is a shot of Gurney Drive:




The 3 of us went for a drive around the island and took in some sights, here's Mum at a fruit stall in Balik Pulau sniffing some very smelly Durian fruit.


We also went to the amazing Kek Lok Si Temple (temple of supreme bliss). It's built on the hillside and looks amazing from the road below. It has a 30 metre high bronze statue of Kuan Yin:


These fellas wanted their photo taken with Nic???







This pagoda is 7 storeys high and you can walk up it to get amazing views of Georgetown:








This is the hospital were poor Dad spent most of his holiday:



The 3 of us had another outing to see some of the wonderful temples in Georgetown. This is Khoo Kongsi, the most renowned of Penang's Hokkien clanhhouses.




The man below apparently eats ghost!


We're not sure what this man is doing?


This is Han Jing Ancestral temple:

These guys were flogging Durian, the whole temple stunk of it (think cheesy feet smell!)



I think these two may have drunk enough!!


We had lunch and then got Dad some take-away. Here's Mum with his bag of iced-coffee:


On our last night we had a lovely dinner in the very posh East Oriental Hotel. A fitting end to our strange holiday.


Yesterday Mum and Dad started their trip home and Nic and I drove the 5 hours back to the hotel in KL. It was so sad to say goodbye. I miss them very much.

Now it's the two of us again and tomorrow we're going to cycle out of KL (should be fun!) to the bus station so we can get a bus to Melaka and then we plan to cycle up the west coast back to Penang! I think it might take us more than 5 hours on the bikes!

Malaysia - KL to Penang by car

We arrived at Kuala Lumpur bus station at 4.30 am and then cycled to the hotel. One good thing about arriving in the middle of the night is being able to cycle on empty dual-carriageways that during the day you wouldn't want to go any where near on a bike!

We arrived at the hotel at 5.30am and thank god the night receptionist let us in and told us that they had a room available. So we got to check in 8 hours early! We went to bed to get some much-needed sleep and then waited for my Mum and Dad to arrive. We got a phone call from Dad who said that they had made it to a bar around the corner and that is where we had our tearful reunion. It was so wonderful to see them.

That afternoon I went to an eye centre and found out that I had a corneal ulcer on my right eye. Oh dear! Luckily it was treatable with anti-biotic drops and the doc told me to go back and see her in 2 days.

Also, whilst we were in KL my Dad injured his knee and it was really painful for him to walk. He went to the hospital but they just gave him really strong painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication.

We did manage to have a few outings, including a party at friend of a friend's. Dad was asked to do some magic tricks and everyone enjoyed the performance. We met some nice ex-pats and the evening ended with free drinks at posh bar until 3am.


Whilst in KL we left Dad in the apartment and visited the Bird Park. We had a really lovely time there. Here are 2 visitors having a crazy bird-experience! I like the way she's hugging the hornbill; I guess he likes it!


A Hornbill feeding it's chick:


They had adorable chicks and ducklings. Aaaaa.




We left KL and in our hire car we drove to an Elephant Sanctuary. Poor Dad waited for us whilst we went off and fed, rode on and washed elephants. Their habitat is being removed and so this place is sadly necessary.

Here's one ellie having fun at bath time:


Mum with a couple of baby ellies:


Nic got the opportunity to help wash 2 baby ellies; due to my eye problem I couldn't help but it was fun to watch and take photos:




Our first ever ellie ride:


Nic, our sole driver, drove us up to Fraser Hill, which is about 1500 metres above sea-level and therefore quite chilly. This is the view from the apartment:



Here's Nic relaxing in our enormous, but rather dated apartment:



The following day Nic drove us back down the hill, along the highway and then all the way up to the Cameron Highlands. More very twisty steep roads with great views. Cameron Highlands is very touristy and there are huge resorts. We found a small hotel to stay in and had 2 nights there.

Nic, Mum and I had a trip to a tea plantation:


The following day we had a drive up the highest tarmaced road on Peninsula Malaysia which had more great views:



We left Cameron Highlands and drove to Penang, where it all went a bit pear-shaped!