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Malaysia

Malaysia – KL, The East coast & Singapore

April 2, 2014
Malaysia
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Our time in Malaysia had been punctuated (sometimes literally!) with a whole host of bike problems but as is so often the case, the darker the cloud, the brighter the silver lining…

Whilst waiting on some sometimes uncertain solutions to present themselves, we were rescued by some truly incredible Malay hospitality (more about this in our ‘Road Angels’ section) at the same time as visiting and experiencing parts of the country we’d never thought to go to on our bike, confirming the fact that our ‘plans’ are very seldom of any real consequence!

Eventually back on the road we traveled down Malaysia’s less populated East coast towards an at once surprising and enthralling Singapore where we were again lucky to be treated to some extraordinarily welcoming hospitality, this time of a ‘closer to home’ variety. The tiny island state provided a welcome break and was to be the staging post for our upcoming Indonesian shipping battle…

Malaysia: Perhentian Islands

February 21, 2014
Malaysia
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112 ‘Handstand’ – Perhentians, Malaysia
111 ‘Boats On Pehentian Beach’ – Malaysia

Whilst waiting for some replacement bike parts to get sent out from Europe we took a trip out to the idyllic Perhentian Islands off Malaysia’s East coast. Jungle wild camping with dragons, amazing coral snorkelling and beaches to die for all made for a special break from pedalling and proved that even budget travellers can give themselves a 5 star experience!

Malaysia: West to East

February 21, 2014
Malaysia
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Pete’s massively releived to find that yes, they still do iced coffee in Malaysia!
The beginning of a straight of bad luck with our rear wheel…
Rambutan fruit
119 ‘Not Impressed’ – Malaysia
more rear wheel dramas
Fan-tastic!
Plenty of waterfalls to wash the sweat away… & on the climb into the Cameron Highlands there was plenty of it
can’t ignore a camping spot like this!
bright eye’d & bushy tailed.
Morning view from ‘The Tower’
Tea Plantations, Cameron Highlands
A spot of relaxing in the afternoon sun.
Jungle trekking
118 ‘Jungle Rainbow’ – Malaysia
up & over
Chinese New Year is upon us.
scone crazy…! the first ‘cream tea’ since leaving UK
yes it is.
Pete makes a friend on his level
117 ‘Mountain In The Malay Interior’ – Malaysia
Beware… Tapir’s on Road. A new first in mcneilsonwheels’ road sign collection!
Kick-A-Poo?
more in the wheel melodrama!
look out for elephants!
There’s one!… our first wild elephant.
Poser!
Jungle camping. We were later informed that this was an Elephant feeding ground…
Jungle bathing…
never miss the opportunity for a cooling foot wash!
116 ‘Jungle Yoga’ – Malaysia
making friends with a leaf impersonator
Lake Kenyir
always a steady supply of water even in the back of beyond.
Ground to a halt. we made it to lake Kenyir just as our rear wheel completely failed.
another new friend found poking around our camp!
A village wedding
Pretty in Pink
Seeing the sights with our ‘Apoh’. who well and truly adopted us in our time of need.
115 ‘Malay Children’ – Malaysia
Market forces
114 ‘Market Girl’ – Malaysia
not drinking frog-spawn… apparently?
113 ‘Satay’ – Malaysia

Cutting across the spine of Malaysia’s peninsular was fraught with mixed emotions. Some stunning countryside, wildlife and jungle was interspersed with frustrating mechanical problems with our rear wheel that eventually saw us grind to a halt upon reaching the East coast. Whilst waiting for parts to be sent from Europe we were rescued by a wonderful, welcoming family, given insights into local rural life and treated us to some typically incredible Malay hospitality.