Melaka

This was our week to chill out and stay in one place for more than a day or two. We were again kindly put up by Choo in his apartment. There, we rested, lounged by the pool, ate some good food and even went to the gym.

Melaka is a nice town; there’s not too much to see other than the hundreds of museums but they have some awesome food. Malaysia has lots of different food influences; Chinese, Indian and of course Malay. In Melaka, we found an amazing Pakistani restaurant, Pak Putra, and we ate there three times! We couldn’t find a bad dish and the naans were the best we’d ever eaten.

Kuala Lumpur

We arrived in KL early evening and doing as proper travellers do on a budget, taxis were definitely on our list of no no’s! We managed to take a bus, train and then walk to our hostel. The hostel was basic, but pretty cheap- basic actually just meant a bed and a bin, and that was it (and we’re not kidding!) A little different from the standard we were used to in Nam for the same price!

We spent 4 days in total in KL and managed to see all the must see sights, such as the Petronas Towers, Central Market, China Town and Little India. The highlight of the trip though was definitely the demonstration which took place due to the people of Malaysia wanting corrupt free elections. This was all very exciting for us because we had never seen, not alone taken part in a demonstration before! Thousands of people were walking up and down the street outside our hostel shouting and cheering (although we didn’t understand what they were saying!) It seemed quite peaceful though- no violence. We saw all this from our hostel balcony before deciding to venture out into the crowd ourselves!

We walked around China Town and watched the demonstration taking, photos and filming. After a while we spotted some police getting ready to close in on the demonstrators- aiming to keep them in a certain area of the city to be able to control their actions. As they got closer tear gas was set off and we saw some demonstrators running in the distance (probably away from the gas!) Unfortunately due to the wind the tear gas got us too- so much that we had to shelter behind a building, trying to get rid of the tears in our eyes and the burning sensation in our noses- what an experience!  Not something which happens everyday....anyway, we were OK and things seemed to disperse once the rain set in and threatened to last for a while.

Other than that just the normal touristy things were done. The food is great here- they have numerous food halls where you can see all the food and go around and pick what you want- fab curries/ Chinese/ Malay.

KL is a really easy city to get around and a breath of fresh air from the chaos and impracticality of public transport (I.e: it’s non-existent) in HCMC!

Next, Melaka- 160km to the south of KL. Even the bus to Melaka leaves from an extravagant terminal which looks like an airport- very swish! J

Bike Ride Day 27 - Dalat to HCMC!!

Distance: 300km

Time: 10 hours

The first leg turned into a bit of a challenge. We were doing great until about 100km away from HCMC when we got a puncture (typical that this only happened on the first and last day of our ride!). Luckily, it was a slow one so we had enough time to find a mechanic’s. Then, as they tried to take the tyre off the bike fell over with the weight of the bags on the racks (we should have taken them off!). The only damage was a broken clutch lever which they tried to glue back together (only in Viet Nam!) It was awkward, but the clutch could be used....just about!

With the puncture fixed we met our final hurdle- solid traffic jams with a fiddly clutch. After many, many stalls we finally made it into familiar territory and drove to our friend’s house.

The final traffic hurdle coming into HCMC! 

After 3300km’s, we popped open the champagne and celebrated a little! J It was a great ride and even though the bike had a few issues it kept going strong. Definitely an experience we will both never forget. An adventure of a lifetime with a few quirky tales to tell too!

Next....off the Malaysia for some more travels- but this time, sadly, without the bike!

Bike Ride Day 26 - Nha Trang to Dalat

Distance: 150km
Time: 4 hours

A very, very wet ride today, but at least it was the first drive we had been in a down pour! Hopefully it will be the last... The higher we got into the mountains the more it seemed to rain! L

Eventually it stopped, so we decided to change our clothes, eat, drink and before leaving, on the insistence of the owner, have a shot of rice wine to warm us up! J

We arrived in the strawberry and wine city of Dalat cold, wet and in need of a hot shower. We luckily found a place with a Jacuzzi in the room- exactly what we needed after the days ride.

Bike Ride Day 24 and 25 - Nha Trang

Nha Trang had changed quite a lot since the last time we had visited. Dive shops and restaurants have been knocked down and left as empty space- waiting to be replaced by lavish 5* hotels. Definitely Vietnam for you- always continual development and change! When we come back in 5 years or so to visit we’ll be lucky to recognise anything!

Unfortunately the bike had a small problem today- the kick start pedal broke off which would have been OK if the electric starter was working (but this had gone kaput earlier in the journey!) We took it to a mechanic to fix and then relaxed on the beach before having to pick the bike up again. While we were waiting Abby suggested going on some inflatable playground objects which had been anchored close to the shore. We had much fun jumping, sliding and falling off them! J We acted like big kids for a few hours!

The next day we made it out to the mud baths and experienced some relaxation in a small mud tub with both of us in it! The process then required us to sit in the sun for a short while as the mud dried on our skin. We then washed the mud off and stood under a warm waterfall which was nice on the shoulders. Go and do it for yourselves if you make it to Nha Trang! J

One bad thing did happen in Nha Trang though- we had $160 stolen from our hotel room- $100 from Abby and $60 from Dan. We only realised the morning of our departure when Abby decided to count the dollars to see how much we had left. The kitty looked a little low which was when we knew that money had been stolen from us. We had left the money in a locked drawer, but this obviously wasn’t secure enough! We informed the receptionist who wasn’t interested in doing anything to help us- so we packed up our bags and strapped them to the bike- all ready to go if needs be!

We told the receptionist that we wanted her to phone the police so we could report the money missing. She refused and so we said that we weren’t  going to pay for the room unless she helped her guests and got the police involved. Unfortunately, she still had our passports so we couldn’t go anywhere without them ! :s She got quite angry as we repeated that we wouldn’t pay if she didn’t respect the customers wishes.

In the end, Dan grabbed the passports from behind the desk, at which point she said that she was going to call the police because we were going to leave without paying. “Fine by us!” we said. That’s what we had wanted her to do in the first place! She told us to sit down and wait while she contacted the police- which she didn’t. After a while she told us to leave and never come back! We were bad people. Of which we replied that we wouldn’t be coming anywhere near a hotel which stole our money, so she didn’t have to worry about having to see us again! What a palava! Bad people- how ridiculous! Surely the people who had stole our money were bad people- not us! Oh well. things aren’t always logical in Vietnam! We fled from Nha Trang as quickly as we could!

Bike Ride Day 23 – Kon Tum to Nha Trang

Distance: 400km
Time: 12 hours

A very early start to give us enough time for a marathon day. The cross country road was good at either end but rough in the middle. Surprisingly, some of the best scenery was on Highway 1 along the coast but there were gouges nearly 2 feet deep that could swallow you up!

On the way into Nha Trang we got a bit lost but finally made it to the hotel and sat down to some great fish and chips (the best in Nam- and maybe even in the whole world we think!)

Then we proceeded to get a bit drunk; we had something to celebrate we felt!