Nuts on Bents Blog

Not far out of Butterworth we were advised by various people to take the motorway rather than the busy and narrow highway to Ipoh. We followed the advice, and ignoring the all too clear ‘No bicycle’ signs went past the tolls with no problems – in fact the police waved at us and took photos! (not mugshots!). The motorway was new, nice and wide clean hard-shoulders, and lined with lawns and bougeainvillaes!!!! Unbelievable. Over the next two days we saw several policemen who just waved at us and smiled. Probably the novelty of our bicycles prevented us from being escorted off!! One other advantage of taking the motorway was cutting out about 30km from the route as it was more direct.

From Ipoh we headed down south about 10km, to take the newly built highway across the mountains to the east coast. Luckily for us the road passed through a beauty spot up on the mountains known as the Cameron Highlands – a colonial hill station famous for its rolling hills, tea plantations, jungle trails, and cool climate. Named after William Cameron, a government surveyor who stumbled across the area in 1885 during a mapping expedition, the Highlands are very popular with the Kuala Lumpur crowd wanting to escape from the heat of the city, and the odd foreign tourist like us.

The new road was well surfaced, fairly quiet, and although rising steadily from sea level to 1500m over 40km or so, not too steep. We came off the main road near the village of Kampung Raja (no accommodation), and then cycled further uphill another 15km or so to the town of Brinchang – one of the three main resorts in the area. The hotels here are uniformly overpriced – after much searching we found a nice new apartment for a reasonable rate. We were slightly worried that it had no air conditioning – but the hotel manager assured us that it wouldn’t be necessary since the temperatures dropped sharply at night. She was right – it was great to sleep with the window open and cool fresh air coming in, instead of the drone and artificial coolness of the a/c unit!

We took a couple of days to explore the area – alas no motorbikes were available (since all tourists come in their own car or with tours) so we signed up for a basic sightseeing tour. Cameron Highlands is as quintessentially English as you get – the weather is typical of an English summer, the landscape lush and green, and even the odd scone and afternoon tea thrown in here and there. As well as being a popular tourist spot, it also produces much of Malaysia and Singapore’s tea, strawberries, tomatoes, and other vegetables and fruits too delicate to be grown in the tropical lowlands. All the locals drive battered old land rovers – never seen so many in one place before! Handy to carry the produce and negotiate the steep dirt tracks up the mountain sides…

Our sightseeing tour took us to a cactus farm, also growing various types of flowers (mainly of the English variety – such as busy lizzies and roses – which we take for granted but to the locals it is a novelty), and other fruits and vegetables not seen elsewhere in Malaysia. We were then taken to a bee farm and sampled the lovely honey, and a pick-your-own strawberry farm. Next we were driven to a tea plantation, rolling hills covered by tea plants with narrow corridors at regular distances to allow hand-picking labourers access.

The next day we set off to get to the top of the highest summit in the region (Gunnung Brinchang) which promised fantastic scenery. The taxi rates to the top were exorbitant – so we took the narrow and steep jungle trail up the side of the mountain, and got to the summit at 2100m after an hour’s climbing. The views were spectacular, though marred with low clouds sweeping over the hills all around us, illuminated by the rays of the sun.

The next afternoon we boarded the speed ferry from Langkawi to Georgetown, on Penang Island further south. Georgetown is Malaysia’s second largest city, a fast-moving place with a confusing amalgamation of its traditional Chinese heritage and smart brand new high rises dotted around the expensive colonial mansions. It was once the busiest sea port in the area and the first British settlement in the Malay peninsula. But the founding of Singapore in 1819 was the beginning of the end for Georgetown’s sea trade. Nowadays it is of little strategic significance, but a very interesting and prosperous town nevertheless. In the old quarters of the town the streets are lined with Chinese shophouses with bright red Chinese lettering, three wheeled cycle rickshaws ferrying passengers around.

We checked into a nice Chinese hotel, and the next day hired a scooter and went exploring around the island. Our first stop was a butterfly farm – a tropical greenhouse with thousands of butterflies flying around inside, as well as a collection of scorpions, lizards, turtles, stick insects, and all manner of other creepy crawlies.

Our next stop was the Kek Lok Si Temple, perched on top of a hill near Georgetown, with spectacular views towards the city and the bay and the islands beyond. The temple is a sprawling fairytale complex with colourful roofs and towers. It is supposedly the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, and construction is still ongoing to build it further.

We will always remember Georgetown with fond memories – not only because it is an amazing city full of diversity, all mod-cons as well as character and history. Only 10 minutes ride takes you to lush hills and jungle, undisturbed by man. More importantly, two of Nic’s biggest bugbears were resolved here – he found a lovely shiny red cycling bib in the local cycling shop (to replace his worn out old one full of holes) and he managed to get the problem with his ipod sorted out (we were using the wrong charger!!!!).

The next morning we took the car ferry across the straits to the mainland (to the city of Butterworth), cutting out the 13km shadeless bridge. Next destination: the mountains running down the middle of Malaysia (and then eventually, the East Coast).

Our last day in Thailand saw us cycling off towards the ferry port 10km out of Satun, it was a small port, with mostly western travellers waiting for the ferry boat to the Malaysian Island Resort of Langkawi. Purchasing the tickets and completing immigration was moderately quick and easy, though seeing the ferry boat (more of a passenger speed boat) was more of a concern, hmm… just where are the bikes going to go! The crew had obvisously dealt with bikes in the past and simply lashed them down on the roof! Lashed down and ready to cycle in a new country we took our seats and was whisked away to the Island of Langkawi, some 90 minutes away.

Pulao Langkawi is Malaysia’s premier island retreat – brimming with luxurious 5 star golf and beach resorts, it is certainly not a budget destination! Much of its popularity is due to its duty-free status – so you are never too far from a glitzy shopping mall!! Langkawi is also known as the ‘Island of Legends’ – in true Malay fashion almost every major landmark (lake, river, waterfall, peak) has a myth associated with it – and each story hijacked by tourist authorities to promote the island! Just across from the ferry port is an enormous 60ft statue of a red eagle – the amblem of the island – and a lush lanscaped park with statues depicting the legends from around the island.

We kept away from the expensive beaches and resort areas, and found a decently priced hotel in the town near the port. The island is fairly large, and getting around by taxi quite pricey. So we rented a scooter for the day (a steal at 30 RM a day – approx 5 pounds, including petrol).

We then whizzed off to the Underwater World on the other side of the island – an impressive indoor aquarium that we had heard much about. The entry fees (just like everything else on the island) were EXORBITANT – but we weren’t disappointed. Inside is an impressive collection of fresh water and tropical fish, including some very rare species of sea horses as well as sharks, sting rays, morays, penguins (held in a sub-zero pen), seals, anaconda snakes, flamingos and parrots, and lots of other creatures. Highly recommend it.

After the Underwater World we rode off (Sedef holding for dear life at the back – those who know how fast Nic drives would know why), to a nearby crocodile farm. We didn’t have very high expectations – perhaps one or two big crocs at best, and plenty of juveniles, and was rather pleasantly surprised. There must have been at least 500 crocodiles there – most of them mature adults and MASSIVE (over 6m long). We got there just in time to watch the feeding show – or should we say feeding frenzy!! There was one crocodile there called Snubby which was born with a jaw malformation and had to be isolated from the others and fed like a baby!

After the crocodile farm we had a look at other sights around the island including a rather disappointing black (?) sand beach, and then rode up to the highest summit on the island to watch the sunset…

We LOVED Thailand. We were back on the road (after the miseries of India), and cycling was a joy, despite the heat. Straightaway we noticed the nice tarmac roads, courteous drivers, modern refreshment facilities, and cleanliness. Not to mention a BIG smile from almost everyone we met. We decided to take our time and enjoy everything the country had to offer – perfect tropical beaches, fantastic scenery, jungle trails, and a huge amount of history and culture. So we ended up covering over 2000kms in Thailand in 6 weeks, zigzagging our way around and with a lot of detours and breaks – we could have gone straight through in three weeks tops! But, hey, what’s the rush?

Landscape - In one word: Beautiful. Typical scenes that you would see in most tourist brochures, lovely long white beaches and crystal green waters, beach huts, palms swinging in the breeze, amazing sunsets, dense tropical jungles, rocky stone outcrops jutting straight out of the sea, lush green paddy fields, etc. etc.

Cycling – Thailand is a prime cycling holiday destination – and rightly so. The roads are smooth and quiet, the drivers considerate, and it is pretty flat. There are also frequent shelters to have a rest under. Not to mention the landscape – which is wonderful. We encountered many Dutch and German cyclists whilst we were there.

People – Smiles, and everyone shouted hello from their porch as we cycled past, including babies just learning to talk! Thai people must be the nicest, most pleasant people in the world. They are respectful, have a very laid back approach to life, and smile all the time! Or perhaps they found our bicycles particularly amusing?!

Food – In Thailand food is a form of art – most dishes rely heavily on fresh ingredients such as coconut milk, lemon grass, and, of course, red and green chillies. Pad Thai and green and red curry were our favourites. Everytown has at least one night market with stalls cooking every variety of dish, including take-away curries in plastic bags – very clean and popular with the locals. The only problem we found was deciphering the Thai script menus! Fruits here are in abundance and really weird . Half the stuff on fruit stalls we initially had no idea what they were – so we went crazy trying them all! Some were similar to English fruits (from the outside) though usually not in taste!

Transport - The colourful buses we had so loved in Pakistan were back in Thailand, though of the modern airconditioned variety!! Also not adorned with ornaments but painted with all sorts of cartoon characters. We saw many different types of tuk-tuks – some where the passenger ride behind the driver and some where they sit beside! Almost like a combination motorcycle-sidecar. There are also several mobile stalls attached to a motorbike with an awning over the top. They scoot around major roads stopping at petrol stations selling fruit, food, drinks, and icecreams. One sight that did come as a surprise was the lack of locals on bicycles, and the multitudes of kids (some as young as 7) on motorbikes. We would often come across school breaking up and would soon be surrounded by dozens of kids on their scooters heading home! Initially we were alarmed but soon realised that their level of road awareness and safety would put to shame most European drivers!!

What we didn’t enjoy – Heat and humidity, dogs (there were a lot of them), the bright yellow steep ascent warning signs, and sweating absolutely bucketloads. We learned that sweat itself actually has an odour – not the BO of smelly armpits, that is caused by bacteria. But the odour of pure bottled up sweat – not really a bad smell, just salty and tangy. It has a colour too (slightly yellowish)!

Now on the final stretch in Thailand we had a hard 220km, 3 day cycle down to Satun near the Thailand/Malaysian border. From Satun we were advised to take a ferry to Langkawi (a Malaysian island) or to the Malaysian mainland – a short hop on a boat, as there were political disturbances around the southern Muslim regions. We had been following the local news and were aware of the daily shootings and bombs in this region.

On the first day of cycling we were given the hospitality of the Forestry Department and stayed in a nice A/C log cabin by a lily pond free of charge!

The next day Nic started to suffer severely from heat exhaustion, reducing his speed dramatically and causing him to stop evey 8-10 kms for water and a rest. On one particular bad day he must have drunk over 10 litres of energy drinks and water, not going to the toilet once and still craving more fluids. Having lost some weight and the temperature staying permanently above 35C the last few days also did not help!

Thankfully he managed to cycle to Satun, and Sedef began a heavy regime of feeding and watering Nic until his cheeks plumped back up and light returned to his eyes!! He feels much better now, having had 6 courses a day and plenty of rest and fluids the last couple of days. See the buddhas below for a before-after picture. :p

Still feeling worse for wear with the heat and Nic still struggling with his legs muscle, led us to have a longer than expected break in Krabi, our next stop. To give our bodies a rest we decided to take it easy for a few days and only do some very light exercise. So next day we went off to climb the 1237 steps up to the top of a local peak nearby (630m) that was home to a Buddhist relic and shrine. The relic being an imprint of Buddha’s foot upon a rock – almost illegible apart form the nice thick yellow painted outline. Well at least the 360 degree, 20km view was outstanding, the mountains and sea in the distance.

At the bottom of the peak is a Wat ‘Temple’ that houses a number of Buddha icons as well as a macarbre collection of photos of disemboweled people (including children) and internal body parts, all to remind us that man is after all mortal! Nice touch…

Monkeys were everywhere here, some cheekier than others, all rather used to the visitors and vying for titbits. One particular cheeky chappy made a grab for Nic’s leg and bit the top of the water bottle peeking out of his trouser pocket. Water ruined, we decided to bottle feed them. We then explored a glade surrounded by the peaks completed with some ancient trees, many cave formations and lots of large agressive mosquitos.

Next day we had a muscle relaxing Thai Massage, in which you get the pressure points of your muscles and nerves pummelled by the elbows, legs, feet and (of course) hands of the masseur. Using the weight of their bodies bending you into shapes, that many contortionists would be proud of! It was great and something we wished we had done sooner!!!

A hard day’s ride from Phuket brought us to the town of Phang Nga, situated right next to the famous bay with the same name. The heat was ferocious again, and Nic pulled a muscle behind his knee, which didn’t help.

At the hotel that evening we met another cycling duo – Clemence and Therese, from Germany. They were on a cycling holiday in Thailand, and we exchanged notes and stories.

We took the next day off and signed up for a longtail boat tour, and sea kayaking to see this lovely bay, with extraordinary karst silhoutettes and sharp rocks jutting straight out of the sea. Many of the formations have nicknames suggested by their weird outlines (Dog Rock – a rock that looks like a … errm dog?).

Early in the morning we were picked up by a taxi and taken to the pier. Expecting to clamber onboard into a longtail with a dozen tourists already in and waiting, we were surprised to be told that we would get our very own longtail, since we were going for sea kayaking afterwards!! (which the others did not). The boat first took us out on the narrow waterways through the thick mangrove forest, then through (!) a cave (with stalactites hanging down above our heads), to reach the open sea with the rock formations all looming around and ahead of us. Once in the sea, we were taken immediately to the now rather infamous James Bond island, Scaramanga’s hideaway in The Man With the Golden Gun. A little known fact here is that our good friend Monty goes by the monika of Scaramanga, so we just had to go check the place out to make sure he had no evil plans in store for us! :p We got there just in time before the hundreds of tourist boats from Phuket arrived. These days there would be no room on the beach for James Bond to land his flying-boat on, amidst the hundreds of trinket sellers!! Monty is obviously using this as a clever ploy to conceal his new secret base on the island! :p

After the James Bond island (endearingly called ‘Jame Born’ by the locals), we were taken to the sea-kayak launch, where we were bundled into a kayak, given a guide and a paddle, and pushed out to sea. An hour’s paddling inches away from the razer sharp rocks, and sometimes laying down fully to get through the narrow gap between the sea and the rock hanging above. It was great fun! Oh and we saw a crocodile (or should that be an alligator??).

Back on the boat, we were taken to see a cave with prehistoric cave paintings, and then taken to a muslim village nearby, built completely on stilts over the sea. We had a rather expensive lunch there (!) and then browsed around the back street markets catering for all the tourists who stop there during the bay tour. Sedef bought a lovely blue-green mother of pearl bracelet here, after haggling the price down from 850 Baht (about 13 pounds) to 100 Baht (about 1.50!). She calls it her ‘shiny thing’ and believes it brings her good luck!

Not content with cycling just from London to Sydney, we thought we’d add (another!) extra 160km to our trip by popping down for the day (like you do!) to Phuket island. Since we were so near we thought it would be rude not to! :p

So off we went and instead of heading east towards the Malaysian border, we continued south. Boy what a day that was! The road ahead looked like shimmering glass in the distance, and the tarmac looked like it was melting in parts. It was HOT! Temperature had crawled up to a searing 38C, with no cloud cover or wind. It was hard work breathing, let alone cycling.

We had intended to stay on a beach in the north part of the island, away from all the tourist traps further down. Alas Sedef (!) missed our turn-off (having appointed herself tour leader for the day). Once we realised, it was too late to turn back, so we had to cycle an extra 20k the long way round and over another steep great big hill! The really annoying thing was that right next to our road climbing the big hill was the lovely long flat runway of the Phuket airport. There is just no justice in the world.

Almost at sunset (and having cycled 95kms in the heat) we stumble-crawl-pushed into a low-key beach called Nai Yang. And found that the main hotel of the resort town had been abandoned since the tsunami, which meant that all the other hotels were all full! After half an hour of fruitless searching we were recommended a quiet little place round the back of the beach. It looked from the outside like someone’s house, with no posh hotel sign or anything, just a wooden gate. But once through, it was like walking through the mirrorglass in Alice in Wonderland. It was a brand new family run hotel called ‘Sea Pines‘, built on stilts in traditional Thai style over fresh water canals. Everything done tastefully in dark teak, and even an antique Thai house that was deconstructed in central Thailand, shipped here, and rebuilt on site. Not to mention a very nice swimming pool, that was the perfect depth for ‘nervous swimmer’ Nic (i.e. he could tip-toe stand in the deep end). The resort was also not too touristy (which we hate) – it was a laid back, sleepy place, with a few nice restaurants spreading their tables on the sand on the beach.

Cycling in the heat for weeks had finally begun to take its toll. We were both beginning to show signs of heat exhaustion, so since we were in such a lovely place, we decided to take a rest day here. Well not so much of a rest day for Nic – for Sedef decided to train him like the seal that he is (!), in the swimming pool of the hotel. We had the whole pool to ourselves all day, other guests having retired to the beach to roast like chickens. So we went through all swimming strokes, and Nic even learned how to nose-dive in his second try!! And we have video evidence to prove it! We must have been in the pool for three hours – it was simply too hot outside – we came out only when our fingers and toes began to look wrinkly!!

We thoroughly recommend this hotel to everyone (Sea Pines, Nai Yang Beach, Phuket) – at around 20 pounds a night, it was a very expensive place for us (but we are worth it! :p). For all you rich devils in full time employment it should be a bargain! Certainly so compared to the rest of Phuket…

After our jungle adventure, we got back on our bikes (this time ready to take on the fl*pping great big hill!). Tracing our steps back to Takua Pa, and then onwards to Khao Lak – a popular tourist resort with a nice tropical beach, and loads and loads and loads of rooms, restaurants and everything else touristy!! Well – before the Tsunami that is…

Khao Lak had made the headlines last year as one of the most decimated places in Thailand hit by the Tsunami, on December 26, 2004. We were concerned of what we might find. Having seen some of the TV footage at the time we were expecting to see half destroyed buildings, uprooted trees, damaged roads, and perhaps even a bit of a ghost town in parts. As we approached the town we started to see Tsunami evacuation sites as well as Tsunami relief points. A lot of villages along the coast were reconstructed (some on stilts) – there was one make-shift town with tents whilst on the other side of the road the new town was being constructed out of concrete. But apart from that, there was very little to show that this was a badly hit area. The roads were smooth tarmac, and the vegetation seemed well recovered. In Khao Lak itself, it was business as usual – 14 months after the disaster, all resorts and hotels were open and back in business.

However the signs of the suffering were still evident in places – photos of tourists lost at particular resorts (bodies never recovered), with desperate pleas for information; a police boat washed up 1km inland and left where the wave placed it as a reminder of just how far the wave had come; and several memorials to the victims of the disaster, more than half of whom were foreign tourists, undoubtedly having a xmas break on the beaches of Thailand.

With an easy 40km day ahead of us, we had a bit of lie-in, and set off rather late. We hoped to be at the park in a couple of hours, and perhaps do a bit of light trekking before sun-down.

Little did we know that between us and the park stood what the locals refer to as ‘the mountain’. Well at 300m it was only a little ‘bump’ compared to the Alps or the Greek mountains! Nevertheless it was VERY steep – ascending 200m in the space of about 800m, and pushing the only option to climb it. Also try doing it in the heat of the day in 37C, with no wind to help cool you down, and no water left in our bottles… Despite being seasoned cyclists we must admit we were caught completely unprepared!!

The next day (now recovered from the climb) we went for a 12 km ‘walk’ along one of the ‘well-known’ nature trails that takes in several waterfalls and hidden lagoons. However, the well known trail turned out to be more of a jungle assault course! The trail was rather overgrown in parts – we had to push our way over fallen trees and roots that reached up from the floor, had to wade across several streams and walk along very narrow paths with 50-100m drops on one side to the river below. Definitely needed 4×4 feet – we felt rather sorry for some poor Aussie girls who had decided to attempt it in flip-flops! Nic got two leeches on his shoe – thankfully we caught them just in time before they made their way up to his ankle!! Had they made it to his flesh he would have had to walk back all the way back with his new ‘friends’ – since leeches can only be removed with salt or a lighter (which we didn’t have). Though we didn’t see any big animals, we saw lots of insect life, spiders (our favourites). There were very few people there (wisely so!), we felt all alone in the jungle most of the time with only strange jungle noises to keep us company. Several times we were glad we had taken our GPS with us – it would have been so easy to come off the trail by mistake and get disorientated and lost in the thick of the jungle.

With such an awesome experience as this, we decided that we had to see more. So the next day we signed up for a guided tour to a part of the park that you are only permitted to enter with an official guide. Much of the rest of the park is completely off-limits to anyone, even the locals, to ensure the ecosystem is not disturbed.

Once fed, we set off on the jungle trail to the cave. It was a much gentler 3km walk than the previous day, though we had to wade across several streams and rivers, sometimes up to our waist. At the end of the trail we arrived at a massive cave, and realised there was a river running through it!! And of course, being a cave, there were no lights inside, and it was pitch black! Thankfully, having been in a few caves before, we had brought our torches with us.

So off we went following our guide, scrambling over rocks and wading through knee high waters. The cave was home to hundreds of bats, HUGE spiders (which got Nic quivering), catfish swimming in the river, frogs, locusts, crabs, and god knows what else – we didn’t really want to know much!! We followed the river through the cave system for about an hour, admiring the stalactites and stalagmites. Then we got to the hairy bit. The tunnel became quite narrow and the river got quite deep. We had to go through it single-file, crouching low in parts, and swim-wading in others holding to ropes to guide us. Then came the really tricky part – a steep narrow descent down a small waterfall into a deep narrow pool at the bottom which was too deep for walking. Sedef went first, swimming through in the ice cold water. Nic, a nervous swimmer at the best of times, and carrying our rucksack, tried to swim at first then decided to climb-crawl across with his feet on both sides of the chasm, until the pool got shallow enough to stand. We felt rather sorry for one Swiss guy who wasn’t warned and had to carry his 6 year old daughter on his back throughout the whole cave!! We also saw other tourists who hadn’t been forewarned, and dressed in complete safari gear which they didn’t want to get wet.