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

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... :-)

Last days in Indonesia

My last days in Indonesia I spent in Yogyakarta (or simple Yogya) and the laid back town Pangandaran on the south coast of  Java.

Yogyakarta:
Yogya is a big city in the centre of Java an is a perfect base to visit the famous Hindu temple "Prambanan" as well as the Buddhist temple "Borobudur".
Long time ago the sultan of Indonesia also established the "Sultan's palace" here in Yogya. In 1946 the city was also the capital of the newly declared Republic of Indonesia and the Sultan's palace was the unofficial headquarters.
Nowadays the capital of the Republic of Indonesia is Jakarta but still the current sultan of Yogya remains an influential politician and important person for the city.
The palace is open for public and can be visited. It is a masterpiece of Indonesian architecture and little had changed since it was built a few hundred years ago.
Unfortunately the time I was in Yogya there were Islamic holidays and the whole palace was closed for tourists...

So instead I hired a bicycle and went to Prambanan. This is the famous Hindu temple compound which basically consists of three rock-shaped main temples + 3 smaller temples. All of them in an inner courtyard. They are surrounded by 224 minor temples, which lie now in ruins due to a heavy earthquake in the last century.
The three main temples are dedicated to the main Hindu gods Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. The smaller three are the temples of the gods "vehicles". Hamsa, the swan for Shiva; Nandi, the bull for Brahma and Garuda, the sunbird for Vishnu.

It was quite impressive to walk through the temple compound. You can also visit the main temples from inside where you will find a statue of the corresponding god.
The Indonesian government started the restoration of the destroyed minor temples a few years ago. The worker are doing an amazing job but still there will be a lot of work need to be done to restore all 224 minor temples...
And to be honest walking through the ruins of the temples was also quite a nice experience... :-)
If anybody knows Disney's Jungle Book, the temple complex reminded me a lot to ape King Lui's temple- home in the jungle... ;-)

The next day I went together with a Czech couple (Vladislav & Misa) to Borobudur, the largest Buddhist monument in the southern hemisphere.
It is basically a main temple, which is 35m high and covers an area of 200 square meters. The different terraces of the temple should represent the levels of enlightenment. Below is the "chaos of the world" and above is "Nirvana", represented by a huge empty stupa.

I personally was a little bit disappointed by Borobudur. It was totally crowded and the temple itself had not so much to offer than Prambanan the day before. Vladislav & Misa thought the same and so we made our way back after one hour visiting already.
We spent the afternoon in our home stays own pool, swimming and relaxing as it was really a hot day!! :-)


Pangandaran:
A few days I spent in Pangandaran. This small laid back town on the south coast of Java was a secret tip from a girl I met in the Bromo-Semeru National Park.
Not many tourists came here, that's why the beach there was quite empty except by a few locals. I went surfing and played Volleyball with the locals during the evening hours on the beach.

Pangandaran is also the perfect base to make tours to the "Green valley" and the "Green canyon".
I did both on a day tour. In the "Green valley" we first walked through the jungle to the origin of a river. We went for a swim there and then followed the river downstream through the "Green valley", jumping from high rocks and waterfalls into natural pools.
We really had a great time, although the water was getting pretty cold after 2 hours of swimming, jumping and diving.

The "Green canyon" started with a boat-tour upstream, where we afterwards did basically the same like in the valley. But this time we had high rock walls to our left and right of the river with lots of vegetation like trees and plants on the steep walls and on top.
Guess that's why it called "Green canyon"... :-)
We had really a great time and after the canyon we went back with our motor scooters to Pangandaran, which was also quite an adventure!! ;-)

After Pangandaran I went to Jakarta by train to catch a flight to Sumatra. There I planned to see the Orang-Utans in Bukit Lawang, a small town in the Jungle.
But once I was there I got totally ill (fever and headache). So I had to stay in bed for 2 days and
after that I had to go back to the airport to fly to Malaysia as my 30-days visa was expired. I had no chance to see the apes, but hey I believe there is always a second chance in your life!! :-)