Fifty Plus (50+) - South East Asia

After I have made it across Australia from Indian Ocean to Pacific, 4225 miles I have flown to Bangkok, met up with a friend and now we are cycling down to Phuket for a couple of days on the beach and then down to Penang in Malaysia.
We slept in a Wat, a budhhist temple and the monks were great to us.
Everywhere I ride the trailer attracts attention, or maybe its me?? loads of people on mopeds take my photo?????

One adventure ends and another starts

pics
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/imjibi/SouthEastAsia

george

Wow. I'm impressed. More about Thailand please. Is it a good cycling destination?

Have fun. I spent a couple of weeks in Thailand for business a few years ago. The majority of the time was at the Four Seasons in Bangkok but I did get up to Chiang Mai for a few days. Very interesting place and Bangkok has to have the worse traffic in the world, can't imagine riding a bike in the city. The food is great and the people are very nice.

What an adventure! Perhaps you will run into Mr. Felix and Mr. Pumpy. If you are not aware of them (him), go to http://www.mrpumpy.net/ and click onto his Asian blog. He has been cycling Asia for years and his blogs have a warped sense of humour that only Australians possess.

Just incredible

Thanks for sharing!! I feel like I was with you. Have a great time and keep giving us updates.

Wow. I'm impressed. More about Thailand please. Is it a good cycling destination?

I have only been here a couple of days but it seems OK so far, except for all the staring. There are food stalls all along the road selling, fried rice for next to nothing, 20 baht, 30 pence 50 cents. they all have iced water and you can get water without buying food.

The beach we slept at last night was amazing.

I'll try to find out more as we head south. We are on a mission to get Tzou to his home at the end of his round the world trip.

www.crazyguyonabike.com/longwayhome for his blog

http://picasaweb.google.com/imjibi/SouthEastAsia for photos

george

Have fun. I spent a couple of weeks in Thailand for business a few years ago. The majority of the time was at the Four Seasons in Bangkok but I did get up to Chiang Mai for a few days. Very interesting place and Bangkok has to have the worse traffic in the world, can't imagine riding a bike in the city. The food is great and the people are very nice.


We cycled around Bangkok, no problem except for the smog and pollution, we even had a race at over 40km/hr down sukumvit rd, weaving in and out of the traffic in the jams, breathtaking, and great fun.

george

We cycled around Bangkok, no problem except for the smog and pollution, we even had a race at over 40km/hr down sukumvit rd, weaving in and out of the traffic in the jams, breathtaking, and great fun.

george

Your braver than I. I closed my eyes when we were driving. Food and transportation is dirt cheap, other things like housing electronics not so much.

The further south we go the hotter and humid it gets. It's very hard to sleep at night due to the humidity . sleeping on the beach helps, but we haven't found too o many beaches, even though we are trying to follow the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The roads are good, but I wish there were more smaller rural roads, we keep trying them but end up lost or back on the highway, or at a river with no bridge.

I have learnt a few words in Thai now so can order some food etc, the people are so friendly, I love to try to speak the local language, just saying thank you makes them smile.

On the morning of the 13th at 8 am Tzou crosses into malaysia and becomes the first malaysian to cycle solo around the world. The press TV and even a Minister for sport is going to be there.

George

Thanks for the post, jibi. Isn't it interesting to see how different cultures do their thing? Don't those BoBs attract attention? Half the reason I like to tour with mine is because it's such a great conversation opener! Looks like you're having a ball. Good for you.

Thanks for the post, jibi. Isn't it interesting to see how different cultures do their thing? Don't those BoBs attract attention? Half the reason I like to tour with mine is because it's such a great conversation opener! Looks like you're having a ball. Good for you.

In thailand it is not only the BOB its my Long Nose, and white skin, Tzou gets by but I get everyone shouting " hello , you" when we stop I have a crown of kids surrounding me, they just stand and stare!!

george

Tzou's blog is www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/longwayhome
I missed out the doc in the other post

george

Just had a couple of days riding from Kuantan on the east coast across to Kuala Lumpur, on the west, in between is the Genting Highlands!!!!
I left my friend's house late and had a quiet afternoon. found a half finished house ( it had a roof), and as there was a lot of cloud and kightening I slept inside. it was quite flat and I had still managed 63 miles ( 100 km)
The second ( full ) day I started early, before daybreak to ge out of the house before the workers came. 10 mles to breakfast, nothing was open, had my usual, Roti Telur, fried unlevened bread with egg inside. Had a fun day being chased by dogs, including 4 together at one stage, pretty rare in Malaysia, too hot for the dogs to run, so it must have been the early morning coolness.
riding along a car waved me down, a chinese couple going to the casino in the Genting Highlands, very interested in the trailer etc, gave me loads of bottled water and a couple of cigarettes. a few Km down the road I went in to a chinese cafe for a meal and there they were again, so lunch was free as they paid. Hope he had good karma and won in the casino.
Leaving the town the climb started, and then my trailer wheel decided it was a good time to disintergrate, so I sat in a bus stop and replaced spokes, managed to get it quite true.. Not.
I had already done 60 miles and the climb went on for nearly 20 miles, the slope was not quite enough to slow down the lorries to a speed where I could grab on a hitch a lift, so it was grinding out tempo. After nearly 80 miles the slope changed to 7% and my legs were burning. It was getting late and there wasa "service area" so I stopped for food and put my tent up in the play area, unfortunately this was laso used for lovers to meet so it was quite busy. an 80 mile day, chuffed, as I pulled that trailer up the Genting Highlands, life in the old guy yet!!!!!!
But I managed to get some sleep, got up at 5 30 to get through the tunnel before the traffic built up, enjoyed a few km of downhill in pitch darkness.Had breakfast , watched the dawn and reached Kl at 7 30.
I hate cites!! I followed the Petronas towers and found the tourist office, after going through a cemetery, single track along a stream etc etc, I just headed straight for the towers LOL
Met a friend for coffee, then headed for another friend's house across town , where I am now.

george

Way to go George, as always. Keep it coming, I like reading about your adventures, wishing I could do them.

After a few days enjoying Kuala Lumpur I set off again to see the Cameron Highlands.

The road out of KL climbs and I thought the whole way was going to be like that. But the road soon went down again, and down, and down, just a slight slope but 50 miles with a tailwind too, so I managed to do 80 miles and then found an empty house to sleep in. On the floor again.
Next morning and it's 10 miles to breakfast, two Roti Telurs and a couple of coffees later I am off up to the Highlands.
50 miles, 50 miles uphill, windy, narrow and japanese tourists. A few times lorries coming down were over on my side of the road, Nervous times.

Not many places for food which makes a change from the rest of S.E.A.. One place next to a great waterfall, and then the town of Ringlet where I had the worst rice and chicken I have ever had.

the slope upto Ringlet had not been too bad, but then it kicked up as I went past a tea plantation.
rolled into Tanah Rata after 8 hours of climbing phoned my couchsurfing hostess and went to eat, and eat, and eat.

Can't wait till Friday when I do the 60 miles Downhill to Ipoh

george

Great adventure! Thanks for the update.

what goes up must come down

and down
and down

60 miles downhill
75 miles in total to Ipoh
just over 4 hours, remember I have 25 k in a trailer behind me.

I would love to get a lift back up and ride down without the trailer.

In Ipoh I found a bike shop and finally got my trailer wheel trued, it wasn't too bad after I rebuilt it in a bus stop shelter, but I did feel speed wobbles on the descent.

george

Spent the weekend in Ipoh with great couchsurfing hostess, 28 year old chinese girl. she was a great guide and showed me local food, and huge cave temples. These are like natural cathedrals and some of the wall paintings are stunning.

I have lots of photos of them on my picasa web album http://picasaweb.google.com/imjibi/SouthEastAsia
In the evening we went to a maket, the kind where you can get copies of everything, Vista for $5, Levi 501 jeans $5, a Rolex Seamaster for $50, even Patek Phillipe copies !!!( cheaper than Rolex, the only place where they are)

On the Sunday we went for a bike ride to see Kellie's Castle and a Hindu temple. Kellie was a rubber plantation owner.

Monday, and it was time to hit the road for the 140miles back to KL, managed to do 84 miles and slept in,my favourite, an empty house, even had carpets on the floor. But my Camelback has had it, all the zips have gone now ( I lost the bite a long time ago) so I will have to find a new one.

Made it back to Kl at about 1pm and then went about finding my empty office to stay in. My google maps printouts were ruined by rain so I asked at a cafe when I got to the Kepong area, no-one knew the road I was looking for, i wrote it down to make sure for them. I left the cafe and around the first corner, about 100yrds there was the road I was looking for.

The cafes remembered me " Hi Boss, coffee?" felt like home

Still waiting for bank cards to arrive, money situation getting pretty desperate now. I managed to cancell the misadressed cards and order new ones. After several lost signals and running out of credit, it is done. Now just got to wait a couple of weeks, fingers crossed

george

Great photos! Wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing.

8 days later and the bank cards have arrived .... in Taiping, only 350 km away from here. And they should be delivered into my sweaty grubby little habds tomorrow night ( Friday). I just hope they work when I put them in an ATM !!!!!!!!!!
The plan is then to head off over to Indonesia and cycle the islands of Sumatra, Jave and Bali.

Cheers

george

Great photos! Wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing.

No problem Ken and thanks for posting to the thread.

lets me know I am not totally alone in the world.

george

Thanks for the great pictures!

Thanks for sharing indeed. Wonderful reports on your tour and great pics! I'm pleased this has been bumped back up to top of page, because I missed seeing it earlier and I'm grateful to be vicariously enjoying your trip and adventures!

:)

Thanks guys

Just to remind myself why I tour.

Because I love to wake up in places like this.......

http://lh3.ggpht.com/imjibi/R-siixOMaII/AAAAAAAAHjs/w5Xk-VB6wx4/s800/DSCF3786.JPG

How's the weather there? ;) :D

A day late, its Saturday and I have the cards. I found an ATM, slid the card into the slot, did the business with the buttons, as you do, pin number etc.

Waited, machine whirrrrrred

And.....

out of the slot came money, real ringgit ( malaysian money).

Monday I can go to Indonesian embassy and get visa.

Bali, here I come.

george

Georege

Eat some Chili Crab for me!

As I got my hair cut today by a nice Vietnamese lady here in Orange County I got to practice my Cantonese with another lady there. I was telling them how I would love to be back in Asia. The food - awesome. Scenery and culture - modern and ancient all rolled into one. It was (is) a great place to live even for a Yank!

Thanks for sharing your adventure!

chilli crab is Ok, fish head curry I can eat.

But deep fried spiders in Thailand...... I must admit I passed on those.

Ate the deep fried grasshoppers though, crunchy but tasteless

Sei Sei

george