Finale

We have arrived home safe and sound. We managed 700 miles and no punctures and nothing went wrong with the bike. Our last couple of days were spent in Singapore. We visited all the recommended sites and Jeff even let I have a day shopping on Orchard Road - the largest road full of wonderful clothes shops! He came along as well ( this was a great surprise as like many men he hates shopping) but he did it and in fact after 4 hours I got fed up as there were just too many shops and it was very hot. Of course the real problem was that we had limited space in our panniers, we were already well over our baggage allowance, and I knew that if I really did some serious retail therapy I would need a haulage truck to get it home! So to the surprise of many of my friends I resisted all temptation and only window shopped.
Jeff did remark to me as we walked up Orchard Road remember this noise when we are back at our home in Cyprus because it was very noisy everywhere. Singapore was a bit of a shock having spent 4 weeks in Malaysia suddenly to find ones self in a place not dissimilar to central New York with skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of traffic and people. Still it was an experience.
I think we realised that the journey was the holiday because we both got impatient when we spent more than a day anywhere and felt most comfortable when we were on the bike travelling to our next destination.
We overall found the locals in every village we went to very welcoming and friendly particularly in the Muslim areas where the women showed delight at seeing a woman on the back of the tandem. Whereas the men showed shocked expressions on their faces.
For those of you who are interested we will post our photographs on this blog when we have sorted them out.
We hope this was the first of many such adventures and that you will be able to join us again on our next blog.
Adieu Jeff and Linda

Setting - the South China Sea

Our hotel in Johor Bharu overlooked the Johor Strait between Malaysia and Singapore. We had a look at the causeway which carries traffic between the two countries and we were surprised as to how narrow it is and perhaps therefore not surprised this is where the Japanese launched their attack in 1942. In the evening we had a wander into the centre of the town where we saw a faith healer surrounded by an enormous crowd - the Chinese are great believers in the supernatural. As Singapore has abolished brothels Johur Bharu has a great deal of "hair salons"! We spotted quite a few - I assured Jeff his hair did not need cutting!
The following morning - May 6Th we set off early as we wanted to do some more cycling before we went back to Singapore. We intended only to go as far as Kota Tinggi which was 25 miles away but as we got there so early we thought sod it we will go all the way to Desaru on the coast. We finally got here after 65 miles our longest trip yet. We booked into a very swish hotel by the South China Sea. Our room overlooks the beach which is only a few yards away as is a glorious swimming pool. We intend to luxuriate here for a couple of days. The place is virtually deserted. Desaru is a favourite spot for the Singaporeans who tend to come at weekends.
We forgot to share with you one of the reasons we prefer to stay in non- back packer accommodation. As we were going back to our hotel in Kota Bharu we spotted a cat with a very large mouse in its jaws - it headed across the road in front of us and went straight up the stairs of the Back Packers Lodge!
Malaysia really is trying hard to ensure all ethnic groups live happily together. There is a lot of mixed marriages, all people seem to be happy eating other peoples foods. On the television they have the news in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.
This is our penultimate blog - many of you may be pleased; for the others who have enjoyed our news thank you for reading and being with us on our fantastic journey.

Confessions and other things

We confess - as Linda was riced and noodled out we had breakfast at McDonalds a place we have not been in in a very long time and of which the children will probably remember better than us. We will not be visiting again for many years !
Altogether we found Kota Bharu to be a fascinating place but it could be in a different country to where we are now namely Johur Bharu. In order to catch the Jungle train on the start of our journey South we had to get up at 1.45am so we could catch the 3.45am train to Gemas. Having sussed out the night before we knew we could not get lost! Sadly we got lost three times and arrived hot and sweaty at 3.10am only to find everything locked up and no one about. However within about ten minutes the place was alive with people and enormous quantities of produce. On our journey we saw melons, peanuts, cucumbers, durians, lycees, mangoes, live chickens, dead chickens, fish, and Linda even claims to have heard a sheep in the storage cabin! We started off the journey in a carriage with no lights and throughout the 15 hour journey the main carriage doors remained open - no sign of health and safety inspectors here. The journey took us through the most amazing scenery - of jungle, Karst - like cliffs of limestone towering out of the forest. The track went through numerous tunnels - over rivers large and small - an amazing engineering feat. We stopped at least forty times sometimes at stations but at other occasions when someone waved the train down. It was fascinating to watch the village people coming and going with their produce. The facilities were basic to say the least the buffet car consisted of an old Chinese gent who made a very nice cup of tea but sadly not much else. We could write a book about the loos of Malaysia but the loos in the train would require a chapter of their own. However the staff were very friendly and apologetic about the state of the train saying they did not like it any better than we did. It was incredibly hot not helped by the fact that the fans were not working and also the windows did not all open. We were able to get off the train at various stations - at one point we had to wait 90 minutes so we has a very nice lunch and used the stations loos ( much better).
We finally got to Gemas at 7pm. We then discovered that in order to continue our journey South we would have to wait another 7 hours for our next train and even this was complicated by our obvious need to take our bike with us. It was a very long time waiting in a station with very little facilities and nowhere to have a kip so we wandered about , sat and generally got fed up with the waiting and we really felt like two very old back packers in need of rest and a wash!!!!
2 am finally arrived and we got on a very swish train where we dozed for a further 5 hours. We managed to find a really nice hotel right next to the station where we crashed out for hours on end to recover. Tomorrow we intend to continue our journey on the bike to Kota Tinggi about 40 miles away. We are now making our way back to the ferry where we started our journey from Singapore.

Market to beat all markets

Opposite our hotel is the most amazing covered market on the ground floor is an enormous fish market with such an incredible range of fish, shell fish and all sorts of mysterious others! On the same floor is the vegetable market but in another part of the building. In the next part of the building was the meat and poultry section. On the next floor was the fruit and spices, dried fish and all manners of others. It really was an experience. We were given lycees and an immature corn on the cob to eat.
We have just cycled over to the railway station- about 5 miles each way to check on our train in the morning to make sure they would take the tandem. Time will tell. We know we can get as far as Gemas which is about two thirds of the way back to Singapore and we will probably cycle from there.
Ironically as we cycled out of Kota Bharu we came across an enormous building site for a Tesco Supermarket- would you believe it they get everywhere!!!!!
We have a confession to make but you will have to wait until our next page to find out what it is!!!!!!!

Kota Bharu

After more than 500 miles we have reached our most northerly destination in Malaysia. Kota Bharu is the main town of Kelantan which is the most conservative Muslim state in Malaysia. Linda has felt very self conscious walking around the city in shorts as virtually all other women are clothed from head to foot and some wearing the burquar. We came back to the hotel and Linda found a dress to wear which made her look less conspicuous. We have booked into a nice hotel for two days to allow us to make our minds up how we are going to return to Singapore. We have already decided to take the so called Jungle train which goes through the Cameron highlands and jungles of interior Malaysia.
We are off to the famous night market here as we are now addicted to eating our food from hawkers stalls in the street as they are such good value and very clean as well as very tasty.
lastly on the journey here today we meet or were stopped by several local people male and female asking where we were from and where we were going all very cheery and smiling with surprise that we had come so far on a bike which they had never seen before.
When we eat together the man is always served first!

April29th-May2nd

We spent another night at our very nice hotel in Paka. After our breakfast we decided to raise Linda's handle bars; a bolt sheared and the handle bars could not be made secure. We tried to fix them up with tape but Jeff was not happy about it and he said" How would I explain to the children that your mum fell off the bike onto the road as the handlebars were loose". Late afternoon we went to two motorbike shops - the first said he could not do it but the second spent half an hour drilling out the sheared bolt and very carefully replaced it with a new one. When we came to pay he refused any payment. This sort of kindness is typical of what we are finding in Malaysia. Yesterday having got lost once we thought we were on the right road. Firstly a chap approached us on his motorbike but he could not make himself understood so we carried on cycling. Then a second chap on his motorbike came up to us and told us we had taken the wrong road and this was a dead end. He then had us follow him and he put us on the right road.
On the morning of the 30th we left at dawn. We were worried that our front light was a bit dim. However we were then overtaken by a motorbike without any lights at all.
Mopeds are the most popular form of transport- so far we have seen two adults and two children on a mpoed, one man and a gibbon, one man carrying a spade and pick axe and a woman driving with one hand and holding her baby in the other. Malaysian men ride with their jackets on back to front.
Having had an early start we got to our intended destination too early so we decided to continue and got as far as Marang where we stayed the night having done 52 miles. The village was dominated by a very large Mosque and when the Iman recited his prayers the whole village had to take note as it was so loud.
One thing that never changes wherever you go is a G and T as when we were in the hotel we saw a couple who had a nanny looking after their young daughter in the restaurant and the nanny handed a flask to the man and he proceeded to pour himself what appeared to be a gin and tonic. This behaviour was noticeable as it is difficult enough getting a beer let alone anything stronger.
Our plan on May 1st was to get up late - 6am and have breakfast and then go to Terrangganu to make some phone calls. All went well until we got to our destination only to find that it was a public holiday - Labour Day and nothing was open.
As we continued along the agriculture is beginning to change and for example we are now seeing paddy fields and more cattle. Finally we got to the "hotel" that had been recommended. The first chalet he offered us - cost 4 pounds was beyond the pale. He then offered us a chalet for 7 pounds which we had to accept as there was nowhere else to stay and we were too nackered to cycle any further. Lets just say it was grim although the setting was very beautiful next to the beach. We survived the night and have arrived at Kuala Besut which is just about 40 miles south of Kotu Bharu our final destination north.
Linda seems to have a problem with eggs as when we stopped for breakfast this morning she had a bread roll and picked up two eggs from the counter. When she sat down one of the women customers said to her that the eggs were salty. Linda replied thats ok I like salt on my eggs. When she started to crack the eggs the waitress came along and just removed the eggs from her plate and then brought two other eggs and gave them to her smiling.