On November 4th Fred the bike is embarking on a six month journey across Southeast Asia. Starting in Singapore, Fred plans to make his way up the west coast of Malaysia, across Thailand, Cambodia, up through Vietnam and into Laos. After that... who knows? Fred invites you to follow him through his adventure. Any advice from fellow travelers is always welcome.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Pankor-Taiping

Total Distance:90.94km
Total Time:4h43m03s
Average speed:19.23km/h
Maximum Speed:42.68km/h
Total Distance So Far:364.13km

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. Access to computers has been few and far between. After a couple of well deserved days rest in Pankor, I hit the road again and headed up to Taiping. Pankor was lovely. Beautiful white sandy beaches, tons of good food. It was quite touristy, which I didn't mind as it had been a while since I'd had anyone to speak to. The unfortunate part was most of the tourists pretty much stuck to themselves. That's okay, like I said it gave me a oppertunity for a much needed rest. I took Fred out on a ride around the island. It was very hilly, which was a nice change of pace. The ride from Pankor to Taiping was relatively flawless. The weather was rather hot. It wasn't unbearable though. The terrain still remained flat. There was a couple of hills near Taiping. I don't know that I would even qualify them as hills. More like slight bumps in the road.
It was a relatively boring ride. I'm afraid I don't have much to report. I stopped for a juice at a little village. There was an older man who took quite a shine to me. He asked me questions about my trip and how I liked Malaysia so far. I told him I liked it very much. before a left he loaded me up with free fruit. For whatever reason the locals have taken to feeding me. I don't mind. Free food is the best kind.
Taiping was far from exciting. I went to an Indian place for dinner. On the menu they had something called the "AJ Special". When I asked what it was I was told it was special naan. "You should have chicken with it", the waiter said. I agreed. When the food came out I was unpleasantly surprised. The "AJ Special" consisted of a peice of naan topped with icing, bananas, strawberry syrup, and multi-colored sprinkles. It realy was not very good, and not at all what I expected. It didn't exactly compliment the chicken either. I ate it anyway. I was very hungry.
So I guess the advice I can give you from this part of my trip is, if your ever in Taiping at an Indian restaurant, DON'T ORDER THE AJ SPECIAL!

1 comment:

Michael Burchill said...

Wow ... That sounds Rancid, but awesome. I hope you have a picture or at least a crayon drawing of the AJ special. I would almost prefer a crayon drawing.