Day 31 (1st Mar 2013)

Day 31 / 1st March 2013

Slim River to Kuala Lumpur

The ride in to KL was much more difficult than we had expected. By afternoon we had covered close to 90 kms and we had estimated the ride to be about 115km. We lost our way and suddenly found ourselves on the expressway E1, within 15 minutes a police cruiser came by with flashing lights and asked us to stop. The policemen politely told us that cycles were not allowed and that they would escort us to the next exit. So, we got VIP treatment, cycling ahead while the police cruiser followed with flashing lights :-) Before we exited, they stopped and gave us general directions.
We entered the outskirts of KL and caught sight of the gleaming Petronas |Twin towers.

Day 30 (28th Feb 2013)

Day 30 / 28th Feb 2013

Kanthan Baru to Slim River

Yesterday we did 154 kms. On this trip, most of the days we have been doing 100+ kms, as the distance we had chosen and the time we had allotted was pretty tight. The roads are mostly flat but weather is hot and humid. Our advantage is we are riding light. We could ride light as weather in all these countries is warm barring north Vietnam, we are eating out as food is reasonably cheap and available at every nook and corner, we are not camping. So we have very little clothes to carry, no food at all neither the camping gear. After a month on the road we feel nothing at all after a 100+ kms ride. The problem is the heat and high humidity. It becomes virtually impossible to ride between 12.30 to 3.00 in the afternoon.

Today we started at 7 am. In Malaysia the time is GMT +8:00 where as it is GMT +7:00 in Thailand though both the countries are at same longitude. So even at 7 am it is dark these days and we cannot start earlier than 7:00. We had stayed just 18 kms before Ipoh and at these early hours all the roads were busy with people going for work. Within no time we reached Ipoh, which is a big city. We bypassed it and took a road to Kuala Lumpur, but whatever we saw of Ipoh was impressive. Good broad roads, nice buildings, especially the area which has golf course was very nice. After crossing Ipoh we stopped for breakfast.The people at the food stall were friendly and generally every were in Malaysia when people ask us where we come from and we answer Pune, near Mumbai, they are pleased and always ask about bollywood and about Shahrookh Khan. They like to watch hindi movies and love Shahrookh.

By lunch time we had covered 96 kms and then it started raining. We stopped for a while in a shade, then as rain subsided started off again. At km 114 we completed 2000 kms of our cycle ride. So we stopped, clicked photographs, and celebrated the completion of 2000 kms by eating hand full of dry fruits.

At km 128 we saw a sign of home stay and as there were all the signs of heavy downpour, decided to stop for the night. The concept "Home Stay" seems different here. People rent out there furnished houses for theweek end. Our home was nice, but it lacked the cultural experience that we get in home stays at Ladakh. The landlord got us bottled water, fish curry and rice for dinner. Kedar said the fish was not at all 'fishy' :-)
At one of our tea stops we met a girl who volunteered to be our translator as the folks at the stall were finding it difficult to understand that we needed water with ice. She was studying Chemical Engineering as her father wanted her to be an engineer, she was the eldest among 6 sisters and 3 brothers. Her father had worked in the army till his retirement and was now a farmer with just about an acre of land. She was expected to support her siblings through school and college. She was also complaining that preference was given to boys when it came to jobs. We told her that since we all had much smaller families it was much easier to plan and the expenses were much lower. 

Day 29 (27th Feb 2013)

Day 29 / 27th Feb

George Town to Kanthan Baru

The distance from George Town to Kaula Lumpur is about 370 kms. We had 3 days to cover it as we had decided to reach Kuala Lumpur on 1st March. We started at 7 am in the morning and went to the ferry. There was already a queue of vehicles but we could get on to the first ferry. To our surprise the return ferry is free of cost. It took about 15 minutes for the ferry to cross over to Butterworth. We found it difficult to get out of Butterworth as the road signs were confusing. Finally got on to road no 1 which goes to Ipoh and further to Kuala Lumpur. After a light breakfast and 'Teh Ice' stops we stopped for lunch at 1.30 . We had covered 96 kms by that time but going got difficult as it became very hot. We had lunch and rested till 2.30, then got going again. By 5 we had covered 154 kms and Ipoh was another 18 kms away, but it started raining so we decided to call it a day. It has been raining fairly consistently since we entered Malaysia. Normally, clouds start gathering around 4 and it gets very dark, thunder and lightning start around 5 and it starts raining soon after.

Day 28 (26th Feb 2013)

Day 28 / 26th Feb

George Town / Pinang 

We had been hearing about Georgetown since we entered Malaysia. It is considered as the best city to settle in Malaysia and 8th best in the world. Georgetown is situated on a island in Pinang province.This is a small island and there is a 90 km route around the island. We decided to take it as it is considered the most beautiful cycling route in Malaysia. We consulted our hotel manager, took a map from him and took off. 

The route went through parts of city first, which is beautiful, reminded us of posh areas in Mumbai like Napean |Sea |Rd, Pali Hill....Then it went along the sea on on side and dense forest on the other for a while. After about 20 kms we turned inland and the road started climbing on a mountain (Penang Hill). The weather was cloudy , the incline was gentle and there was dense forest around with flowing streams. It surely was a dream ride. We came back to George town late afternoon and then went exploring little India. 

One really feels like you are walking in India but more like a small town in Tamilnadu. There are saree shops, music shops with hindi or tamil music playing on loud speakers, people wearing loongies, temples and yes, Indian restaurants. We went in to an Indian restaurant and had hot Chapaties with Cabbage subji. enjoyed it.

Day 27 (25th Feb 2013)

Day 27 / 25th Feb

Alor Star to George Town

Started at 7.45, took Road 1 to Butterworth, this road goes almost parallel to E1 express way, two wheelers not permitted on it. We were desperately looking for a bank to change USD to Ringgits, after a few hits came to know that foreign currency was exchanged only in May Bank. Most of the shops open around 10.30. When a 'May Bank' was located the lady very sweetly said go to the main branch at central square :-(

Finally we located one Hassan Exchange at central square, he did not ask for any documents and very promptly exchanged USD, Thai Baht, me n Kedar got ourselves new sim cards also. We were searching for the ferry and it started raining a bit, we had stopped in the shade of a building, one man approached us and enquired about who...where....etc in good english. He was also a cycling enthusiast and taught english at girls convent by profession, he had an Indian origin but didn't know when his ancestors came to Malaysia. Mr. Nandakumar Arokiam. He suggested that we should not only go to Georgetown which is just across Butterworth about 25 minutes by ferry but also stay there for a couple of days in the very least. He said we must take a round trip around island which is a bout 90 kms and is a beautiful ride that every cyclist will surely enjoy. So with this input we went and took a ferry. Ferry here is a fancy thing with two decks and mechanized jetty to adjust the level as per the tide. The cost for cycle was 1.40 Ringget.

We reached Georgetown, searched and found a hotel near an area called Little India. The name of the hotel was Star Hotel and the lane in which it was situated was Love lane. It was no way near any star hotel nor the lane was anything to do with the love, at least that we know of.

Freshened up washed a lot of clothes and headed out for dinner.