The next destination I had in mind was the Cameron Highlands. It is an area which the British had developed to escape the heat. Now the area is known for hiking, tea plantations and agriculture. But first I must leave Penang, easier said than done. This was the second time I genuinely feared for my life on the roads.
A driver thought it would be a good idea to undertake me and completely mistimed where I was and clipped the bags at the back. Luckily, I had the sense to realise what was about to happen and was able to react so I didn’t end up under his or anyone else’s car.
The same day I ended up mistiming my food intake as well. It was a late lunch and I could only get one thing. Bits of crab sticks and sausage surrounded in batter covered in a rather sickly sauce. It was too much but I needed food. Lesson learnt again!
Then the rain hit, luckily I found a tree in Taiping to hide under whilst it passed. I went to a hostel in the city after the sudden downpour. It was a nice hostel and another cycle tourer heading in the opposite direction joined me for the evening.
Rain was spoiling the journey
The next day was meant to be a quick cycle to Ipoh and a visit to a mosque built for royalty and opened in 1917. The mosque was stunning to view but I managed to arrive at prayer time so no chance to have a look inside. I then continued onwards to Ipoh but managed to get soaked several times. It was a difficult part of my journey and the first time I really had to contend with rain for a while.
I was staying with Alex, a Warmshowers host, and an excited cycle tourer himself. He was only months away from retirement and was first planning to cycle around Malaysia at the young age of 74! We went to a local night market for dinner, I was the only foreigner.
The next day was the journey to Tahna Rata, the central place in the Cameron Highlands. It was going to be a long day of climbing. Of course, I hadn’t factored in the time to visit the Tao temple in a cave and Komoot sending me on a bit of an odd route combined with a flat rear tyre again. I should’ve arrived at 17:00, but in the end, I arrived at 21:30. It was a very long and tiring day.
I tried to get a hitch for some of the journey but no one would pick me up! I was drained by the afternoon and I ended up pushing. It had been a long time since I had done any climbs and I could feel it. I really should’ve camped about halfway up and spread the climb over a couple of days but I had booked accommodation so I was determined to get there.
Broken dreams
I had planned on doing a couple of days hiking and dreamt of viewing a sunrise but unfortunately, I was so tired I spent most of the days just recovering from the climb up. But Tahna Rata was nice and the guesthouse was a nice place to rest and chat with other tourists.
After the two days rest I headed back down, aiming to be in Kuala Lumpur for Lunar New Year. This is where I gathered another problem. It should’ve been an easy 70km downhill; however, my rear tyre again collected a puncture, this time from a one-inch nail. Through the inner tube twice.
I had no spare inner tube due to a slow puncture along the seam of my spare. So, I had to dismantle the rear tyre and fix the puncture at the roadside. Fixed and back on my way, I found a little place for lunch. Unfortunately, the tyre went down again. The hole through the inner tube was large and no matter how much I tried the patch wouldn’t hold properly.
The locals mentioned there was a bike shop 20km away, another quick fix and hopefully, the tyre will hold. It did but there was no bike shop! This meant I had to go another 50km to a place where I knew there was one. I managed another 30km before it started to deflate again. I decided to just pump up the tyre and hope it held. This got me another 10km. Then another bodge repair using a lot of super glue got me a further 5km. I walked the rest but the shop was shut!
Malaysians are always helpful
I decided on a hotel for the night, a little luxury after yet another long day. Over 11 hours I think. But on my way there a local pulled up beside me in his Mercedes and asked if he could help and I explained my problem and I was heading to a hotel for the night. He offered to get me food but I declined. I’m not sure why, I needed food, but my mind was a bit frazzled by this stage.
Thinking nothing more of this interaction I got to my hotel and went out for food and a beer. The shops wouldn’t open until 10 am so I had time for a relaxing coffee in the morning and to write my journal. On my way to the coffee shop, the same man turned up in a different car and gave me breakfast! He had also gone ahead and checked which bike shops would be open.
Coffee finished, I headed to the bike shop and got a new inner tube. I could now get riding again. Small route change and I had a day and a half’s ride to Kuala Lumpur. Fingers crossed for no issues. I had none and the ride in was a fun downhill with a stop at a doughnut bakery. I offered to buy one but they insisted on giving me 4 for free!
Fuelled with doughnuts I managed the last bit of my journey into Kuala Lumpur and to my friend’s house just in time for the Lunar New Year.