The start of a new adventure! I began the trip through Malaysia at the crack of dawn. Being so close to the equator has made me realize the necessity of biking as soon as possible. The morning temperature is around 25 degrees centigrade, and eventually it rises to at least 35 degrees, not factoring in the intensity of the sunshine (and lemme tell you it's freakin' intense!).
It took me 87 km just to get out of Thailand, through flat terrain and a slight wind to my back. Crossing the border on my bike was nice and easy. No hassles and I was in Malaysia in no time.
As I crossed the border, I realized that I had no ringgit, the Malaysian currency. Unlike Laos, I heard of no reports that Malaysia accepts Thai baht or US dollars. Not that I was hungry or in need to purchase anything at the moment, but it did put me in a position that I needed to make it to a big town that had ATMs. That town was Kangor, another 35 km away.
I hadn't set out to break the hundred kilometer barrier this day, but well, I didn't really have a choice. This was the most riding I have done in one day since doing the AIDS charity rides back in 2001. No worries, I told myself, I've been kinda "training" myself for this in the past few months in Thailand.
The only real problem was finding Kangor. Every sign that I encountered was followed by a sign telling me to got the opposite direction. Often times the first sign would say to go south (which is what I assumed, looking at the map) and the next sign, just a hundred meters away, would say to go north. This happened at least four times.
Eventually I made it Kangor: 125 km, five hours.
My first thoughts of Malaysia: large Indian population, not dominating the country in numbers, though. The countryside is rather flat with lush green flora. It's a Muslim country, so alcohol is not too popular. The upside of this is that the roads are not peppered with broken bottles. The downside is that beer can be found, but at American prices. A bottle of beer costs a little over a dollar in the stores! A half pint of Guiness at the bar costs $2.50, a full pint cost $5.
Food has Indian and Chinese influences - at a Muslim restaurant, I had green beans in a yellow Indian curry, a peppery beef stir fry and sliced Chinese mustard greens, fried chicken with Indian curry spices in the batter and this weird dish that contained deep-fried crab and shrimp, dried beef served over sliced cucumbers and a very sweet BBQ sauce.
