November 14, 2006
Alor Setar: have we turned a corner?
This was a good day of cycling, we both felt strong, though by the end of the day our bodies hurt. While we've been gone from home for almost two months, we've struggled with actually making this a biking tour. This is expected until we get into the rhythm of cycle touring again. For Rachel, Indonesia mostly Java, seemed to be lost weeks except for seeing the "necessary" highlights--Mt. Bromo, Prambanan, Borobudur.
Oh, the contrast from today to then--just being able to cycle on a shoulder and moderate traffic and being able to look around, makes all the difference!! There was even a separate marked lane for motorbikes (where we cycled) very controlled not the chaos of Indonesia. Rachel noticed today that laundry was hung on lines not over bushes or fences in the sun or the ground.
Up at 5, on the ferry at 6am and we are cycling. It was still dark at 7, after two months of light being at 6am, the time change once we reach Thailand doesn't make it worth the effort to change the pattern.
Along the road a new business Rachel notices and not seen in Indonesia. In Thomas Friedman book, "The world is flat", he used McDonald's as an indicator of development. However, Rachel thinks it's really Car Wash places. If the population has enough cars that support car washes, the country must be doing ok. We saw car wash signs everywhere.
We wanted to follow a minor road along the coast but cannot get confirmation that there is a bridge. As we get closer people say "no", we have to go via Sunga Petaru on highway 1. If traffic had been bad, we might have chanced it, but traffic is not bad at all and there is a nice smooth shoulder. Just before the town, Rachel hits a hole, and her rear tire goes flat. A snake bite. We cross the road to get in the shade of a used car sales lot. The caretaker hands us two plastic chairs over the fence, so the inner tube can be changed in comfort and shade. We stop at several gas stations, about 20km apart to drink a 100 plus (an electrolyte drink) and eat snacks. But of course, when we get hungry there is no town or food stalls. We eat some emergency crackers with peanut butter and limp on to the next town center and find the "concrete box" that the Lonely Planet guide calls a hotel, Hotel Grand Julilee. It's clean though and the rooms are large and on the bottom floor so we can roll our bikes right in, the dream of just about every touring cyclist.
After we clean up, we walk back to town to look at the Mosque and several other historical buildings. We have a burger at McDonalds and go back to the hotel to rest. Later in the evening, as it is getting dark and just starts to rain, we walk back to town for some food at the market.
This is our last day in Malaysia.
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Today's ride: 99 km (61 miles)
Total: 1,400 km (869 miles)
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