Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category

Day 297. 85km. Taiping – Ipoh

Posted: January 22, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
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A day of big roads, Indian food and wall murals. The clouds were out and a tailwind at the end of the day made for easy sailing. A filling of food and wall murals sees me now fit for the 1500m climb tomorrow up into the less hot heights of the Cameron Highlands.

Wall mural, Ipoh

Wall mural, Ipoh

Wall mural, Ipoh

Wall mural, Ipoh

Wall mural, Ipoh

Wall mural, Ipoh

Malaysia is amazingly multicultural. Indian, Chinese, Malay all mixed together. Food, a diversity of scripts (southern Indian and Chinese as well as the latin script) make it feel like a welcoming place.

Day 296. 99km. Georgetown – Taiping

Posted: January 21, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
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Traffic lights. They have not been much of my life on this trip. I was rarely in towns and mostly on the open road – they were unimportant. Today, avoiding the freeways, I took the only roads that existed – major secondary roads with regular traffic lights. A red light means the sweat pours down as I wait for it to change in the blaring sun. Red is a very appropriate colour.

Street art, Georgetown

Street art, Georgetown

I woke up today knowing that I was going to leave Georgetown without spending an extra day. It was hot, lots of tourists, and the old English colonial feeling could be experienced by a short random cycle through the small alleyways.

Street art, Georgetown

Street art, Georgetown

Leaving Georgetown was an exercise of avoiding the freeways by sticking to the 8-lane non-freeways, sometimes zigzagging back and forth from one side of the freeway to the other. With the non-existant emergency lane, and lots of trucks, it was not such a relaxing ride. The noise prevented me from listening to my audible book. No danger of not hearing an oncoming truck. In all this concentration, I missed my 26000km mark.

26000km

26000km

After a while the road got more rural, and the last part into Taiping was pleasant again.

Rural road

Rural road

Tomorrow to Ipoh at the base of the climb up into the Cameron Heights.

Street art, Georgetown

Street art, Georgetown

Day 295. 135km. Kuala Perlis – Georgetown

Posted: January 21, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
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‘You can catch a boat.’
The Zimbabwean cyclist I met at the crossroads was a saviour. I was about to start a planned 20km detour on main roads because of one 200m stretch of water. No ferries marked on the map. He’d just caught a water taxi in the village 5km away– and that is what I did too. A daylight arrival in Georgetown was the result.

The ferry to Georgetown

The ferry to Georgetown

The weather is hot. And muggy. I’m constantly mopping the sweat off my brow, and when I stop, and the breeze from cycling stops, it pours down like a waterfall. The roads were flat today – tiny roads mostly along the coast and through farmland. Very pleasant – but just hot.

A quiet road

A quiet road

River boats

River boats

Quiet road

Quiet road

Georgetown is quite big. In Little India I cycled through Bollywood music coming from all directions. Lots of backpackers in this tourist centre of Malaysia.

Day 294. 121km. Thung Wa – Kuala Perlis

Posted: January 19, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia, Thailand
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The motorbike guy opened the sack and pulled out a glass jar. Some white fabric was stuffed in the top, and at the bottom a black shiny object. ‘A cobra’, he said. ‘I found it just over there.’ I could see the cobra breathing inside the jar – it’s abdomen expanding and contracting. Maybe I shouldn’t camp here..

Danger

Danger

In Malaysia the monkeys are walking across the power lines crossing the road, the giant lizards are scurrying off into the bushes as I pass, and the cobras are being caught in glass jars. I saw a big brown shiny snake slithering across the road – I almost ran it over. Although the landscape is more open with wider fields, it is seething with life. I am really in the tropics.

The border with Thailand is a ridge of mountains that pops up out of nothing – and it is steep. In the muggy heat of the middle of the day, the sweat was pouring off me as I inched up the pass. At the top, behind the tall grass and the trees, I caught glimpses of a beautiful plain with kaarst peaks rising vertically out of the flatness.

View over the plains

View over the plains

A rest day yesterday with a cyclist friend from Facebook – Terje, saw us paddle into the dark in Chet Cod Cave. It was dark. Shining the light to the cavern ceiling, we say the rows of bats hanging upside-down. It seemed to be raining – something from the bats maybe. 🙂

Day 293. 112km. Kantang – Thung Wa

Posted: January 17, 2016 in Cycling, Thailand
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Today it rained – and it was refreshing. I met a cyclist heading north and it seems I’m entering a new weather region – one of short, torrential downpours – like the ones I know from Kuala Lumpur.

Downpour

Downpour

I met up with Terje – a guy from various cycling Facebook groups. He has had an amazing life travelling the world, and has a lot of stories to tell – from everywhere on the planet. Tomorrow will be a day of kayaking and caving before crossing over the border to Malaysia the following day.

Bone voyage

Bone voyage

Day 292. 31km. Koh Lanta – Kantang

Posted: January 16, 2016 in Cycling, Thailand
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I breathed a sigh of relief when I stepped off the boat and onto my bike. Peace. Away from the masses on the tourist drag. Just the empty road, locals, people waving and the countryside. I didn’t get too far though, the boat was late and slow, only leaving a few hours for cycling. It’s good to be back on the road again.

Clean air technology

Clean air technology

I’m meeting up with a fellow cyclist from Facebook tomorrow for a bit of cave kayaking before plunging over the border into Malaysia.

View from the boat

View from the boat

Tsunami signs

Tsunami signs

Day 291. 118km. Ban Chongplee – Koh Lanta

Posted: January 13, 2016 in Cycling, Thailand, Uncategorized
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Another sprint, Metallica blaring in my ears, and then all I could hear was the call to prayer. The local mosque was calling out to its followers. Slowly the religious landscape has been changing as I travel south. I am approaching the second large muslim region of the planet – Malaysia and Indonesia – my home for the next months.

Ao Nang beach

Ao Nang beach

I have seen more women with hijabs, many fluttering in the wind as they pass me on their motorbikes. I have seen more halal restaurants, and I have seen more mosques. The variation in the world seen slowly from the eyes of a cyclist.

I left my warmshower host, Andrey, early and did a little detour to Ao Nang beach. It seems there littering is allowed for 21 hours each day.

Littering allowed

Littering allowed

The rest of the morning was spent in Krabi replacing my broken bike computer. I couldn’t find one with an altimeter, but, I guess I’ve already done most of the mountains.. ☺ Getting to Koh Lanta – my planned destination – became another race as I only left Krabi at 13.00. Head down, music on, on the freeway, I couldn’t enter the zone today. The headwind saw to that.

Tomorrow I’m off on a snorkelling trip to Koh Rok where I will spend the night in my tent on the beach by my little self. An evening snorkel in the clear blue waters as I watch the sunset is rather appealing to me at this moment. No blog entry tomorrow.

Day 290. 46km. Koh Yao Noi – Ban Chongplee

Posted: January 12, 2016 in Cycling, Thailand
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I almost cried for the beauty today. Turquoise, still water studded with rock pinnacles on the horizon. Then security guards with batons, broken bike computer cables, missing pannier screws and broken helmet buckles added to my low blood-sugar levels, putting a dampener on a day which unfolded in a glorious paradise backdrop.

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

Many people I have spoken with said I must make the detour to Koh Yao Noi. I am glad I did. The views are absolutely amazing.

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

I had a few hours, so I decided to visit one of the beaches at the end of a dirt road. I chose the one leading to Paradise Resort. This is a very very steep and dusty road through the jungle. Quite pleasant, but I was looking forward to sipping a smoothie on the beach at the end. Not to be.

No Trespassing! Paradise Resort at Koh Yao Noi.

No Trespassing! Paradise Resort at Koh Yao Noi.

No passing through here

No passing through here

The guard was armed with a script in English, insisting that due to security, all visitors had to register 48 hours in advance. A bomb going off was mimed to explain the security risk. The guard was also armed with a baton. (Don’t worry – he was only doing his job. When I backed off, he put the baton away.) I walked the steep public footpath to the nearby rock-climbing area, and to the other edge of the private resort.

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

A note to the owners of Paradise Resort on Koh Yao Noi. Please put a sign at the start of the dead-end road informing people of your policy of no unregistered visitors. This can reduce the frustration had by all.

Thanks to Andrey, my lovely warm showers host in Krabi. The night is still young, but I’m looking forward to exchanging stories!

But first, one more photo from beautiful Koh Yao Noi.

Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi

New cycle video: Xiahe (China) – Luang Namtha (Laos)

Posted: January 12, 2016 in China, Cycling, Laos
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My arrival in Luang Namtha sees the end of my delayed posts of my cycle trip through China. Like for the rest of my trip, I have put together a little video. This video is of the section from Xiahe to Luang Namtha. I hope you like it!

Day 244. 38km. Na Teuy – Luang Namtha

Posted: January 11, 2016 in Cycling, Laos
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The end was in sight, and was reached today. Arrival in my place of rest was wonderful. Afternoon sleeps. Banana smoothies. Finalising my video. Listening to podcasts in bed. Everything the heart desires. The simple pleasures of a completely exhausted cyclist!

Fields near Luang Namtha

Fields near Luang Namtha

Three days of relaxation until Mark arrives. Several rounds of the three pizzas for the price of two deal at the local fast food place, and drinking lots of banana smoothies.

After having recovered somewhat, a kayak trip through the dense jungle did the trick. Such rich green, pouring down the steep river banks. Long roots hanging down from the heavens into the water, as we navigated through the cool water as it eased around the rocks, down the valley. Butterflies – blue ones and yellow ones. Dragonflies of all colours. Birds. A beautiful cacophony of nature.

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