Countries i will visit on my journey

Countries i will visit on my journey

Flags of all countries

Flags of all countries

Sunday 22 November 2015

Cycling down Malaysia's east coast

After a few relaxing days on the Perhentians I headed back to Kuala Besut on the east coast of Malaysia. There I stored my new bike I bought in Penang for 70€ in the garage of a friendly local guy.
My goal: Cycle down the east coast all the way down to Singapore
Why? Well, guess I simply wanted to do something, which not every other tourist/backpacker does!!

First I had to attach all my luggage to the bike properly and as cheap as possible.
My friend Willi from Austria gave me some good tips and ideas:
First on the bike rack I fixed two broom sticks as "stabilisers". Then I put the big18kg backpack on the bike rack and tightened it with a belt on the rack and broom sticks. Finally on top I strapped my 5kg day pack. And then I was ready to go!!

Did quiet well the first three days without any issues and so I was able to cycle already 280km.
On the third day I reached the small laid back town Cherating on the east coast.
I got a flat on the front wheel of my bike a few meters before I reached the accommodation. So I pushed it the last meters to the home stay.
Stayed in Cherating for four days in a very cool and cheap bungalow and relaxed my tired legs from cycling.

Well, the first day I did... On the other days I went kite surfing on Cherating's coast.
On the beach Kam and Gabi (Malaysian/Swiss couple) opened a Kite/Surf-school called Kam's Surf Shack, where I rented the material. The two were super friendly and I had a great time there. Although the wind was not really ideal for kite surfing (to less wind!!).

One day I visited also the turtle sanctuary close to town. There injured or small sea turtles are feed to grow up before they are released into the ocean.
I was lucky and could watch a couple of small baby sea turtles being released. The small babies were racing from the beach to the ocean...

After four days I left Cherating to continue cycling down the coast. Cycled on gravel road for hours with my shit-bike without suspension. On the same day the rim of the back wheel broke too.
It was in the middle of nowhere but luckily I found a car mechanic shop on the way. The guys there were super friendly and called a friend of them who brought me the new rim for my bike...

On the next two days there was really strong headwind while I cycled along the coast. It slowed me down very badly and was super exhausting too. There was even a point where I shouted out loud my desperation and cursed the fu^^ing monsoon season in South-East-Asia... ;-)
During this two days I met the only other bicycler on the whole trip. His name was Bob from California but he was heading the other direction from Singapore to Bangkok.
 
One day some monkeys on the roadside attacked me, while I was passing by with my bike. Luckily I managed to escape these group of freaking bastards. They were not really big at all but very aggressive with sharp claws and fangs. Never saw such apes before and I wonder what they eat normally. Do not seem to me that they are really into eating Bananas... ;-)
 
After the strong headwind it started raining heavily while I made my way inland through the Malaysian jungle to reach Singapore. My clothes were totally soaked. But rather be wet of the rain than sweating your shirt wet, I said to me.
On the road through the jungle I saw lots of road-signs telling you to be aware of elephants crossing the street. Later I found out that also tigers live in that Jungle. But I never saw one and neither any elephants.
Guess in the end I was lucky with the rain: It was not so hot and humid as usual and I made no unwanted acquaintance with any of these wild jungle animals... ;-)

After 8 days of cycling more than 700km I finally reached Singapore.
No flat wheel, broken rim, heavy headwind, monkey-attacks nor heavy monsoon rain, elephants and tigers or crappy roads could stop me from reaching my goal...
Was a little bit proud of myself on that day and took a few very cool pictures... ;-)

At the hostel I donated my crappy bike and all the bike equipment. After 2 days of just relaxing I went to the airport, said goodbye to South-East-Asia and took the plane to my last destination on my trip around the world: Sri Lanka

Saturday 14 November 2015

On the Perhentian islands

Once arrived in Malaysia I spent some boring days in Penang on the west coast. I had to cure because I was still a little bit ill. But the haze from the currently burning jungle on Sumatra (Indonesia) made it even worse. So I packed my stuff and took a night bus to the east coast of Malaysia.
From Kuala Besut I took a boat to the Perhentian islands. Known as a paradise for scuba diving and snorkeling and also good for just relaxing, these two islands are just 30min away from the mainland
by boat.

Found a cheap place to stay where I could pitch up my tent. Actually it was in the garden of a Malaysian guy who rents bungalows. He calls himself "Sunny" and is a very friendly and nice guy!
The first day on the island I did pretty much nothing but lying on the beach while reading a book...
 
On the next day I went for a snorkeling tour together with three local girls. The weather on that day was sunny and very hot. We were on one of this fu^^ing small fisher-boats without a roof to protect us against the burning sun. So we got grilled during the day and at the end of the day my back and face had changed the colour to a darkish red.
But the snorkeling was nice, went to turtle-bay and shark-bay and a few other bays. Guess what we saw: Yes!! Sea-turtles and sharks (small one of course, maybe 2m long) and of course lots of fishes.
Even saw lots of Nemos in their Amnemo..., ähhmm Amnemon..., no wait Amnemonemomne..? :-)


Another day I rented a Kayak to paddle around the island. But after 1hour paddling the sun burned through the morning clouds and it got super hot. So I headed to the next beach to find some shadow under trees close to the shore.
The beach was very nice and  remote, nobody there except me. Spent there 3 hours and had enough time to think about my next steps on my trip around the world and a few other things... :-)
Later that day Sunny told me it was the Adam-&-Eva-beach I stayed at. Well, I was there but unfortunately I could not find my "Eva"... :-)

On the other days I was really lazy. Chilled at the beach, read a book, went for a swim and drank lots of coconuts.
After 5 days in paradise I left the Perhentians and went back to the mainland to start my really crazy bicycling-trip to Singapore along the east coast of Malaysia... :-)