Parit Buntar, David's place: Day ride

November 9, 2006

It has rained hard overnight, but this morning it is dry and perfect for a bike ride. Together with David, we ride the "country roads" to Kuala Kurau. These are one lane roads sometimes paved, sometimes just course sand and gravel, but mostly smooth and flat following irrigation canals that criss-cross this swampy coastal area. We wish these roads would be shown on maps because they would make the perfect biking routes if you could stitch them together.

We stop at another one of David's friends, a retired policeman that has a special, three story weavers birds nest hanging in his garage. In Kuala Kurau, we drink a cold 100 Plus (a drink that replaces the Pocari Sweat) and check out the fish market. They have several kinds of catfish, lots of prawns and fish. In another corner are crates with live chickens stacked high. A guy is butchering them, boiling them to pluck the feathers before they are neatly stacked on a table. Not a good day to be a chicken.

We ride a small ferry across the river, and back again, just for the experience. David must have done this a dozen times with different travelers and still he is so enthusiastic about it he makes it special. We visit yet another friend of his who cooks up a dozen shrimp that David got earlier from another friend that just returned from biking. We also get some beef stew and white rice.

After lunch we cross the new bridge and ride about 10km South among palm plantations before turning off and riding at least another 5 km on narrow roads and dirt paths to the tody plantation. Half a dozen Indian guys make a living here climbing to the top of palm trees to tap the milk from the stem that would normally grow the flower and eventually a coconut. Every day they climb up to cut the wound back open and empty the "jar". They get about 5 liters a day per tree. The milk is collected in jars, coke bottles and drums. It has froth on top, flies and dirt everywhere.

They strain some in a glass for us to try. It's very strong and probably an acquired taste. By this evening the stuff will have fermented to create a half illegal drink the Indians love. It cannot be sold except in the special "todi-shops" often not more that bamboo shacks tucked in a palm grove. The Muslim government seems to allow it on a limited scale. Whatever is not drank the same day doesn't keep until the next, but that doesn't happen according to David...After visiting (and drinking) with the workers we backtrack, making a stop at a small store/bar among the palm trees.

Of course, David knows the Chinese woman that runs the place, she serves us some wild boar meat and fish, and we share some beer while David finishes off the 1 liter coke bottle full of toddy. Rachel mixes it with the beer and helps him, somewhat less steady, we continue on our way at about 4pm.

One more stop is planned, the "Heaven and Hell" Chinese temple all by itself in the middle of nowhere. There is a "normal" ornate and colorful temple surrounded by a Disney land like amusement park with cut-out photo opportunities, a mock Chinese wall and even some Disney cartoons painted on the wall. Behind all this is the "heaven and hell" part, a dungeon with a gruesome depiction of what happens to sinners and above all that (much harder to reach according to David) a replica of heaven. It's getting late, we are still about 30km from home. One more stop, a housing complex at a palm plantation full of Indian workers. We say hello to some of David's friends and pose for pictures. Then back to Kuala Karau.

David received a call from his fisherman friend, and we are going for a boat ride! In a narrow Malaysian fishing boat down the river to the ocean and back with a short stop at a fish farm moored in the river's mouth. Of course, we are invited to the fisherman's house and get offered a beer. Still 18km to go and it is getting dark.

We make it back to David's house just before a big rainstorm breaks. It's been dark for the last 10km but traffic isn't bad enough to make that a big problem. We get dinner and a beer before we retire to our room.

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 1,256 km (780 miles)

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