"There's a bomb on the bus, you can't go slower than 80km/jam; what do you do? What do you do?"

I think that's the line from the movie Speed.

Don't worry, there was no bomb.

There was, however, a tremendous need to travel very quickly. Our bus was very large for the size of the Trans-Sumatran-Super-Highway (as it is mis-named). Around corners we veered dangerously into the oncoming lane, usually giving out a ear-piercing honk. Near every centre the driver would let out a series of such honks, and if there was a person on the side of the road, he would do the same. The purpose of this high pitched screach was to both alert the obstacles of our size and speed, and to try to attract passengers headed in our direction. The traffic was fairly heavy on this stretch of narrow two lane Super highway, but our driver made darn sure he was leader of the pack, veering into the oncoming lane to pass whenever he could. This meant WHEREEVER he could - corners did not deter him, not did oncoming traffic, at which he would lean on the horn until the pulled onto the shoulder. When a potential passenger waved us down he would slam on the brakes to let them on, holding the traffic behind him.

I'm certain that we spend at least 10% of our trip driving in the oncoming lane, swerving between cars. Keep in mind we are wider than the lane we are driving in to begin with.

Sitting at teh front of the bus may have been a mistake, as it meant we had to see our lives flash before our eyes on a number of occasions. After a few hours of this, however, I think our senses grew numb to the fact that we were constantly in danger of crashing head on into oncoming traffic. And sitting at the back of the bus meant we would feel the incredible power of the bumps in the road.

There were several men on the bus that seemed at first to be passengers. After a while it was clear, though, that one had the job of collecting the money, and the other had the VERY important job of spotting oncoming traffic that we could not clear off the road, such as large dump trucks, or cargo trucks. When one of these came, and we were in the process of passing, he would make a gasping sound that did not reassure me, and we would hit the brakes and bully our way back into our lane, regardless of the cars occupying the spot we filled. He also had the job of spotting potential passengers, callingout the window to people waiting on the roadside.

When we approached Medan, and teh highway grew to four lanes, we spend most of our time in the fast lane of the oncoming traffic. This forced most the cars coming at us to swerve into the slow lane, or sometimes even onto the shoulder (which is rough gravel). The traffic was heavy, too, and full of motorcycles and big trucks and buses. At one point I found we had pulled over into the far lane of the oncoming traffic,evidently passing a vehicle that was passing vehicles. I think we hit the shoulder of the wrong side of the road before an oncoming dump truck forced us back onto our side of the road. Luckily, having arrived at the outskirts of Medan, the highway began to be divided, preventing us from doing stupid things, although we did spend a great deal of time honking at the cars ahead of us. During the divided road times we weaved between the two lanes, and occasionally drove the shoulder to pass other cars. I still don't know why we were in such a hurry.

White-knuckled and very exhausted from fear, Andrew and I arrived in the outer part of Medan. We bartered a taxi and went to the central part of town to find a hotel. A local, eager to make a commission, offered to take us to a nearby losmen; we agreed to look at it. Wasn't very nice, despite its acclaim in the Lonely Planet. We looked at several others in the area before returning to Zakrys (on Jalan Mejhid Raya at Jl SM Raya). we got a shitty double room for 25,000rp, ignoring the many cockroaches that scurried in the darkness of the courtyard outside. Seems that while Malaysia has big rats, Indonesia has big cockroaches.

I quickly went to sleep, not a very good one at that.

Had breakfast in the morning, delicious fried noodles, for 3500rp and hiked off with a Dutch guy we had met (Maarten) to find the ferry office to confirm our ticket for the days departure. Paid 26000rp for an embarkation fee (not sure exactly what that is, and I think we already paid it, but...) and boarded a free bus to Belawan, the port of Medan. Scurried through immigration and customs, ferry left (late) at about noon. Met a neat Argentinian guy who'd been travelling around the world for the past 5 months.

Arrived in Penang around 6 (late) and marched off to our favourite hostel manager/travel agent at Love Lane Inn to book a ticket to KL. Struggled to get a bus; managed to get on the 11:30pm night bus, but for an extra fee (total 30RM).

Ate very delicious Indian food at a busy cafeteria in Little India, had two plates, was very full. Discovered that the Indian Chai tea was very delicious as well, and had two mugs and later took one to go, which was given to me in a small plastic bag with a straw - the common manner in which drinks are distributed in SE Asia.

Used the internet briefly, had a cold shower at Love Lane, and left for the bus station.

The bus ride was very lush. Malaysia, unlike Thailand or Indonesia, has very nice buses with wide seats that recline to an almost horizontal position. Unfortunately (though predictably) the three chais and the coke I later drank kept me semi awake for most of the 5 hour journey along Malaysia's wide divided legitimate superhighway.

We arrived in KL (as everyone calls it) at 4:30, catching a glimpse of the famous twin Petronas towers on the way in. Andrew and I, being the only foreigners on the bus with noone to pick us up, wandered tiredly over to the 24Jam cafeteria across the street. I ordered another chai and we perused the LP for things to do the next day. We decided to be real cheap bums and avoid the cost of a room for the few hours before daybreak, instead spending it in the cafeteria. The daily newspaper arrived around 5:30, which I bought. American football played in the back, where locals were apparently watching, though might have been asleep.

Made some calls, found internet. Now it is now.

Caught up.

Happy to be in KL, apparently one of the nicest cities in the region - only 1.4 million people... highly developed. we'll find out for ourselves...
It's now light out, and I think i will wander over to the twin towers to get a free ticket to the skybridge, 40-something stories up. they only give out between 1000 and 1500 tickets, apparently, so we need to be sure to be included in that group.

Go Lions Go!!!