This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.
After taking a month’s ‘holiday’ and cycling only 200km we desperately needed to make up some miles and Malaysia, with its wonderful people, careful drivers, and flat roads, was the perfect place to do it.
We chose to cycle the west coast as it was a shorter distance to Thailand, plus it offered better weather and seemed less touristy. In fact, between Malacca and Penang we didn’t see another westerner.
Celebrating Chinese New Year in Malaysia
After an emotional farewell to both sets of parents in Singapore we crossed the border (a 1.5km bridge) to Malaysia. All seemed to be going very well until after a big (and very painful) bump we realised the tandem’s back tyre was flat. We pulled over 10m into Malaysia to change the tyre. Hopefully not an omen of things to come.
Stu and his friend Rob changing the tyre just over the Malaysian border
Two good fast days followed (thanks to Stu’s friend Rob!) and we ended up in the surprisingly nice coastal town of Muar, with its very impressive Indian temple, beautiful mosque and waterfront. After saying our farewells to Rob, Stu and I headed up to Malacca. We had two lovely nights in this historically very interesting town, enjoying the waterfront, preparations for Chinese New Year, architecture and even a visit to the history museum. Malacca’s ruling from Sultanate to Portagues, to Dutch to British, and then its links with China, make it a fascinating place to learn more about the country’s evolving place in the world economy.
The ever-present reminder of Chinese relationships and power
We then sped up the coast taking advantage of Malaysia’s excellent paved back road network as much as possible. The west coast is a very industrial with palm and rubber plantations dominating the countryside. The pollution is evident everywhere and between Malacca and Penang there is not a huge amount to write about the scenery. However, the Malaysian people were so lovely that they are deserving of a blog post all of their own. They are truly some of the nicest, friendliest people we have met on our journey so far, and even on the biggest and busiest of roads, the car drivers were very patient with us, and careful!
Me enjoying having some lovely small country roads to cycle on
One thing that struck me about being in Malaysia was how men would always introduce themselves by stating their age, for example: “I am Zahari. I am 74″ said one man. “I am 72 years old” said another. “I am 47 and my father is 70” said Hafami, our host one night. Old age is a sign of respect, especially given the amount of change this country has seen. Zahari continued by saying: “My birthday is the date the Japanese took this country”.
Zahari and his nephew
Hafami is another interesting guy who runs the Pachitan Homestay, 100km north of Malacca. Before this he studied in London and then worked for a bank in Kuala Lumpur, but he likes having the freedom of running the homestay. We stayed in his house but his whole village accepts visitors into their houses and they put on cultural events and tours. His main clients are Chinese and Japanese, we were his first British visitors although he hopes to have more in the future.
Hafami took us to the riverfront cafe his cousin runs for supper and we met his father who was fishing. He father had been in the army and then a teacher but a stroke made it hard for him to continue working. He does fish every evening although most of the fish he catches are too small so he gives them to his cat!
Hafami and his father, taking a break from fishing
On Chinese New Year, we again marvelled at the generosity of strangers. We had stopped for a quick rest by the side of the road when a cyclist wearing a bright yellow Tour de France jersey stopped and started talking to us in Hoekian. He then got out his phone, said a few words to someone and then passed it to us, we spoke to his daughter who said that her father wanted to invite us for a New Year’s breakfast!
Stu and I celebrating Chinese New Year with Mr Ong and his daughter
Our next proper stop was on the island of Penang. We had hoped to cross the 7km bridge and had been told that cyclists do it, but we were turned back. Even when we pointed out to the guard that cycling back into four lanes of oncoming traffic would be more dangerous than continuing, he stood firm. We headed to the ferry which luckily was short, cheap and regular.
Stu and I boarding the ferry
Ferry across and we were greeted by the beautiful architecture of Penang, which is very similar to Malacca. Stu was happy to find the ‘Wheelers Coffee Shop’ in Georgetown, another great town, which is similar to Malacca in many ways although more touristy. It was a bit of a shock to be surrounded by so many westerners, and to be paying tourist prices, after being ‘off the beaten track’ for a while.
Georgetown
Then onwards and upwards as we headed towards the Thai border. The scenery got more interesting as industry and palm plantations made way for natural forest. We had been cycling through the start of the Karst topography which southern Thailand is most famous for. As we continued on our journey, we encountered fewer people and cars which make for even more pleasant cycling.
Our final day in Malaysia was the toughest cycling we had done in a long time. Just before the border was a big and very steep hill. I ended up having to walk up some of it. It made me realise how ‘un hill-fit’ I had become, and that the following days in Thailand would be interesting…!
View from half way up to the border back towards Malaysia – the start of the climb is in the distance!
