Hot and sweaty, we descended our nine day tour around, over, and across the highlands.
Not having slept in a proper bed for weeks now, Chris and I pulled into the Pinag region hoping that one of our Couchserving requests had been answered, that we would enjoy more comfortable accommodations than a noisy room brightened with fluorescence all through the night.
Some food I had while desiding whether or not to catch the ferry into Georgetown that evening.
We tried, but there not even reasonable hotels on the main land that night. Ok, hop the ferry and try our luck again on the island.
View from the ferry. Way past sundown, we haven't been without a place to stay this late in the day in a long while.
And all was well. That night we were fortunate to have someone take is in last minute. The man sitting between Chris and I is Alex, self regarded ambassador to the "party mafia."
Georgetown by the day. Reminds me of home.
Local eateries! Just a tad more expensive here than markets off the island due to the large amount of tourists located in the area.
A beautiful road on the ride to the Thai embassy. No one would have guessed that the embassy was closed for two days due to Thai holiday. Looks like Alex will have guests for a while longer.
The extra two days were not wasted. We explored the city, ate at all of Alex's restaurant reconditions (this dim sum eatery, for instance).
Also took a day long, spontaneous ride around the island. Here is my bike poised atop the hill before the zippy decline.
We've met up with Raj at this point (see my other post for his excellently composed blog and pictures), and the four of us took a day to visit turtle beach. That's Alex coming out of the water after the hike.
Steam buns! So warm and fluffy, you'd think you just took a bite out of a cloud.
An array of Indian food cuisine. Good food on top of better food. The options are so much more varied in Malaysia, much more so than Indonesia. Sauces, curries, vegitables, and a little Thai influence - there is nothing to not love if you're alive and hungry!
A new blood moon from the top of Sky bar.
Sky bar and its revolving restaurant view was too fancy for a much of scrappy cyclists. Duh. We relocated to a more, decent, pub. Bottoms up.
We stayed on the island for the extra two days, waiting for the embassy to open again. And when it did, we expected a trouble but were not faced with any. Same day, in and out! So refreshing to have all the unnecessary bureaucracy reduced to a simple days work. We dropped off out applications, they had lunch, and we came back. We left with smiles on our faces, excitement for a new country radiating in our thoughts.
The last night we spent Malaysia was here; a mosque two km out of town, situated adjacent to a graveyard.
You can just make out the graveyard here. The sunset catches most of the scenery, yet there continued to be something captivating about this space.
Same shot a few minutes later.
Not always friendly, we often keep ourselves busy by talking about each of our own personal travelling essentials.They differernces spark questions: Why do you carry so much? How can I lighten my load? Why is my bike still feel heavier than yours? Whatever small differences may be, we've all skipped on kick stands. Most always, there is always a place to lean a bike. But here at the Thai boarder we had to pull out an old trick; the bike lean. Force each bike against its other and watch as like magic they all stand. Sturdy too. Officially, this was my last moment before entering the land of a million smiles.
We will travel up the East coast of Thailand up to Bangkok. See you on the beach.
Love,
-A
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