I have time off work, the family's gone home for a holiday, I have a large KTM that can ride in, through or over pretty much anything, and all of south east Asia is at my doorstep. Not a hard decision.
I left yesterday morning, with everything I need for two weeks packed into some Andy Strapz panniers and a big orange (of course) drybag strapped to the back of the bike. I had this wonderful feeling of elation after crossing the border into Malaysia, faced with an open road, no traffic, the sun shining down on me and no fixed plans other than that Chiang Mai might make a good destination. If I don't get sidetracked on the way. I didn't have any idea where I was going to end up that night - maybe Malacca? KL? Cameron Highlands? A guy in KL has offered to let me try out one of his paragliding wings if I could get there that afternoon or the Sunday morning, so that might be a good place to aim for. Besides, Malacca went past too soon for me to think about stopping.
I quickly decided to put as many miles under my belt as possible on the first day, to get away from the places you can get to easily from Singapore. So I shot up the North-South Highway as fast as I could, dodging the occasional rain cloud. Then failing to dodge the occasional rain cloud. Then riding into a thunderstorm, making the best of it for twenty minutes only to pull over and wait the storm out.
This was torrential rain - cars were leaving bow waves on the highway, and visibility was very low. That expressway's hair-raising enough at the best of times, given most drivers' attitude to lane markings (an interesting guideline) and personal space (as in 'my personal space is 6 inches behind your rear wheel until you get out of my way').
I waited out the thunderstorm for half an hour or so, then got back, soggily, onto the bike and headed north again - only to find that the thunderstorm had also headed north, so I had to go through it all over again. It never really stopped after that, just occasionally got a little less torrential. Paragliding in KL was clearly going to be a washout, so I went past and just kept heading north, pitying the lass dressed in shorts, t-shirt and sandals riding pillion on her boyfriend's sportsbike as they shot past me through the rain.
The rain slowed the pace down somewhat so I knew I wouldn't make the Cameron highlands that night, and opted instead for Bukit Fraser, a hillstation about 100km north of KL. The road up to Fraser's Hill steadily left behind traces of civilisation as it wound up through the rainforest, twisting and turning for 40km or so through lush greenery. I stopped to catch my breath and could hear nothing but birds and insects - there was barely another vehicle on the road.
The last 8km or so is up a mountain road - Jalan Gap - only wide enough for one car at a time. There aren't even passing places, so instead there's a guardpost at the top and bottom and a strict schedule: cars may go up the road during the odd-numbered hours, and may come down the road during the even-numbered hours. I got there at about half six, so waited at the bottom until it was opened again at 7.
Unfortunately the historical Gap Resthouse, a colonial relic where one could have tea and scones while waiting for one's turn to drive up, was closed for refurbishment, so I spent the time chatting to a Chinese guy heading up to Fraser's Hill for a friend's birthday barbeque. He's a fourth-generation Malaysian citizen, but still refers to himself as Chinese, mostly because the Malays seem not to particularly want him or his race. Malaysia is a welfare state, so hospital fees are low - as long as you're ethnic Malay. The Malay Chinese and Malay Indians pay the same taxes that fund the hospitals, but have to pay higher fees to use them. Similar rules apply in commerce and banking - preference is given always to ethnic Malays, a legalised racial discrimination.
I got to the top just as the night drew in, and squelched into the first hotel I could find, my hands shriveled and wrinkled like a geriatric's from the hours of rain. The enticing looking Malay buffet was unfortunately set up especially for a group for the University of KL, so I had to order a la carte, choosing from those well-known Asian delicacies of chicken drumstick, lamb chop or fish and chips.
Unpacking gave me a chance to find out just how waterproof my various bags were. The panniers, the big orange dry bag and the waterproof case for my phone/gps did just fine, but my little handlebar bag clearly had given up the struggle against the rain a while back. Unfortunately that was the bag that the map was in, but as it was a 1 to 1,500,000 scale it never had been much use anyway.
Waking up the following morning I discovered that my room had one hell of a view across the mountains, all covered in untouched rain forest. I could see three or four other buildings in the foreground, near the hotel, but apart from that it was rainforest all the way to the horizon.
There didn't seem to be a great deal to do in Fraser's Hill, so I headed on North again. My original intention was to head for Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan, and only partly because the main beach there is called the Beach of Passionate Love. Unfortunately the road across the mountains was blocked by a landslide, so it was back to plan B: lunch in Ipoh, dinner in Penang.
The road back down from Fraser's Hill was even lovelier in the daylight. There can't have been a straight longer than 50 yards or so in 20km, and the views alternated between dripping, mist-shrouded rainforest and this lake
...which doesn't exist, as far as I can tell. I tried looking it up on Google Maps to find out what it's called, but the satellite picture clearly shows that there's no lake there. Must have been the mother of all heat hazes, then.
Ipoh seemed fairly nondescript. I'd heard good things about this town of tin-mining millionaires, but up close it seemed far less enticing. Maybe it was because it was a baking hot noon, maybe because it was Sunday - who knows. I stopped for some Mee Hoon with Cockles (!) and caused much excitement amongst the stall holders and patrons. I don't speak Bahasa Malaya, but even I can recognise the Malay words "KTM", "Singapore" and "motosikal", which seemed to crop up in every conversation in the place while I was there.
Then up to Penang, and across the world's third-longest bridge (apparently) into Georgetown. I headed through Georgetown and out to Batu Ferringhi, which used to be a backpacker hangout many years ago but is now a commercialised resort full of Holiday Inns, Hertz rent-a-cars, Australian tourists and hundreds of stalls selling fake watches and DVDs. However, I've found a comfortable guesthouse, the beach looks good and after about 1100km and 16 hours in the saddle, it's time for a rest, so I'll probably stay here and laze in the sun tomorrow. More next time I get somewhere with Internet.
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