29 April 2004 - Kuala Besut, Trengganu, Malaysia. Day 396, Alex's 16772km
(Krabi-Trang-HatYai-Changlun-Gurun-Baling-Gerik-Pulau Banding-Jeli-Kuala Besut)

COASTAL ROAD TAKE ME HOME TO THE PLACE I BELONG

9 days of non-stop cycling have gotten us from Krabi to the East Coast of Malaysia. When we started out from Istanbul our agreement with Daniel Woodley was 3 days cycle, 1 day rest. As with most other things, you live and learn, eh?

It has been a great experience coming across the border, and since our first day in Malaysia (ever since we stepped across the Thai border, actually) it has been raining every evening - a welcome change from the insane heat of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand actually, although the hassle of Jo and BigJoe having to stop somewhere and ensure their stuff is waterproofed and pull rain covers over panniers is something we could do without. And the rain never gives chance, either - it went from bright and sunny to cats dogs and assorted small animals type of precipitation. "We South East Asia - we not give you some pussy Seattle drizzle type of crap." And Malaysia... well it's Truly Asia, isn't it :)

BigJoe had his taste of serious hills on the second day, cycling from Trang to Hat Yai where some bright spark had decided that building a road on top of the ONLY 2 HILLS FOR KILOMETRES AROUND was a fun thing to do. Hey, there's gotta be some great views, no? NO. The viewpoint (advertised for some kilometres beforehand) brought false advertising to new heights with its superbly unspectacular views of the lack of a vista below. One Sprite, one mineral water, and we were outta there.

At Hat Yai (also spelt Hadyai, Haadyai, Had Yai - as with any other country where English is not the first language, there is an amazing variety of ways to spell things) we caught up with the Scots AGAIN, before they took the train down to Kota Bahru. We had cycled over 130km every day for the last 2 days because we needed to get out of Thailand before Alex's visa expires. So on the third day, into Malaysia, we took it easy, doing 70km.

And Malaysia was such a relief for Jo, who could finally UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE. And we got a full blast of Malaysia too - in the small little border town of Changlun there was a gamut of Chinese, Malays and Indians, (not just Alex, Jo and Big Joe). We had roti canai (called prata in Singapore), proper kopi with WAY too much sugar, and, of course, buckets of rain.

After Changlun, we went south amongst the neverending small towns of Kedah and instantly missed the huge motorcycle lanes of Thailand as we had all of 10cm between the white line and where the road meets the grass verge. 5:30pm, the sun was want of rest and rainclouds hovered above us as we cycled into the miniscule town of Gurun to find that there were NO HOTELS of any sort. We were directed to Harvard Hotel by the local taxi drivers who said it was 2km away (they also pronounced it 'Howard' - sometimes even Jo and BigJoe had trouble deciphering the Kedah slang). 2km quickly became 5km, and Jo found out that not only was 'Howard' a hotel, it was GOLF COURSE AND COUNTRY CLUB. It started to drizzle and the light rain dampened the spirits of our already damp trio with prospects of staying in a place WAY over budget, or camping on a green and having to break camp at the crack of dawn for some foursome. 5km quickly became 9km, so with yet another experience of locals underestimating distances and under Jo's mutterings of "This is damn salah, man" we cycled into Harvard Suasana Golf and Country Club just as the clouds dumped a proper rainforest helping on our heads. The hotel receptionist took one look at the haggard Jo and probably quoted the lowest price for a room ever given by any golf course anywhere - and so on Sunday the 25th of April a bevy of weekend golfers found 3 people in the midst of their buffet breakfast that didn’t really look like they were altogether at home with their t-shirts, fisherman's pants and flipflops.

10 years ago on a table made of tiles in a void deck somewhere in Bedok South, Jo and another friend had planned a cycling trip around peninsula Malaysia that never materialised, and one of the highlights of that trip was to be the East-West Highway. And on the 27th Jo found himself smiling to the memory as he finally set tyre to that road, and it turned out to be all that he imagined - a long and winding path rubbing shoulders with nature untouched for centuries, where the smell is the freshest of air and the sounds are the melodies of the earth, the wind softly whistles to itself as the mist ascends to worship the warmth of the sun.

We stayed the night on a floating chalet in the dam-made Temenggor Lake, its 340m elevation making it a pleasant escape from the heat below. The water was nice and warm when Jo dived in. We took a break and watched a majestic eagle soar, hover for a moment and then dive, snatching a fish right out of the lake, in the pouring rain.

Now from Kuala Besut, Alex, Jo and Big Joe will follow the coastal road to Penggerang then ferry into Changi Terminal, near Changi hawker centre, where once upon a lifetime ago Alex, Jo and another friend ended Alex's very first jaunt into the world of cycletouring. This time though, it will just be a short break for some good ol' Singaporean food.

Its been some time since we've spoken about the stuff that keeps us going. Well BESIDES our quest for the perfect milo peng. Alex stills runs the same set of Shimano XT, and Jo's XTR hubs still lets him coast past cyclists pedalling downhill. Alex now alternates between 2 chains after learning that he should swop them regularly to wear them out evenly. His first chain which has done more than 11000km is now slightly worn and had to be left behind. Our camera is still the same mju300; which has worked flawlessly except when the LCD froze in the sub-zero mornings of Tibet, which was easily rectified by warming it up. Our Rudy Project sunglasses have performed exceptionally under the harshest of weather and accidental sittings-on, keeping their shape after numerous deformations. Carrying a few Nalgene bottles or similar was a wise choice in sub-zero temperatures - at least they did not crack when frozen in Tibet.

It would have been impossible to be here today if not for the generous financial support given by the Northeast CDC, the Singapore Sports Council, the Singapore Pools and Sports Connection. To them, we give our most humble thanks and only hope we can repay the love. Not forgetting Nature's Farm for keeping us healthy with a generous supply of multi-vitamins and oh-so-tasty chocolate fudge nutribar. Then, there is also CottonPro whose embriodery (saw Alex's jersey?) is of such sterling quality that even the locals in the bazaars of Istanbul asked about. There are also many others to thank but the list is too long to be here. We will lim-ko-pi with them when we get back, eh?

The small island south of Alex's 19th flag on his cycling bag is his home, and for him there is now a need to know it again for the first time. Sunny island, set in the sea - it has been a while, we will meet again soon. Coastal road, take me home...

Alex, Johann & BigJoe
600km from the place we call home