With Malaysia, we are entering completely new territory again. Images of endless palm oil plantations, cleared forests and uneventful, straight roads appear before our inner eye. We really don’t know anything about this country. Accordingly, the first surprise is not long in coming: the local language, Malay, uses Latin letters! From now on we can entertain ourselves while pedaling by reading and deciphering foreign words. We quickly picked up the first word: Ayam- chicken replaces from now on the Thai love for pig. Malaysia is a Muslim country and accordingly pig is off the menu. The street dogs quickly give way to unappetizing street cats and the ubiquitous ute disappears almost completely from the street scene. Thai road extravagance gives way to much more economical breakdown lanes and it seems common here to drive to work in your personal PW: Even on the back roads, the traffic volume in the morning and evening is considerable and we quickly get used to driving happily chatting side by side.
And what is there to eat in Malaysia? We search in vain for the typical street kitchens on wheels. From now on we look for small, simple pubs. The Latin script makes the learning process easier than in Thailand and soon we discover that the pub name “Roti Channai” usually promises a pleasant food buffet. Various curries are waiting to be discovered in large chrome steel bowls and the cheerful cooks willingly lift all the lids for us: fried eggs, fish curries, ayam curries, and with a little luck steamed vegetables. A portion of rice (nasi) is scooped onto a plate, and from the various bowls we are then allowed to scoop our own curries. The woman at the pay station takes a practiced look at the plate contents and announces a price. Sometimes we pay no more than ten ringgit for our two portions including a completely oversweetened tea. A whole two francs.
Soon we discover the undisputed standard dish of the Malaysians: Nasi Lemak.
We eat this rice dish mainly for breakfast. The rice is soaked in coconut milk and steamed. A spicy-sweet chili sauce (sambal) with fish, some cucumber slices, roasted peanuts, dried anchovies and a boiled egg may not be missing either. This power dish is already available for 3 ringgit per person and even if the list of ingredients takes some getting used to early in the morning: We like it! To our great relief, the Thai over-sharpness seems to be a thing of the past. The Malaysians, on the other hand, like it sweet! While in Thailand especially the drinks were sweet, here in Malaysia everything is sweet. The curries included. The sweetness of the drinks here reaches a level that makes me order “Ay Kosong” by default: Water with lots of ice cubes, also known as “Sky Water”.
On our first real day of riding in Malaysia, we proudly pass the 13,000 kilometer mark on our bike computer and reach the coast. Although the road here is indeed dead straight, the ride is far more varied than we thought. We drive through small fishing settlements and the vegetation is very varied. Who would have thought it: Already this afternoon we dash with a speedboat to the vacation island Perhentian. In our luggage we have our hammocks, mosquito nets and as much food supplies as we could muster at the last second. The island is touristy and accordingly a budget buster, but we are optimistic and hope that we can somehow weave our way between the elegant resorts. Somewhat hesitantly we let ourselves be persuaded at the jetty on the mainland on John`s offer to a discounted ferry crossing; safe setting of our wheels including remaining luggage. John tells us about his buddy Didi, who runs a diving school on the island and belongs to the old guard of the original backpacker scene. “We are helping each other; we know your style of traveling,” John says. “He has got hammocks and no problem; you can stay there for cheap”. We remain a little suspicious, but decide to pay this Didi a visit in any case.
The sea water shines in an unreal turquoise and already from the pier various tropical fish can be observed. The Perhentian Islands are famous for excellent snorkeling and diving experiences. The prospect of snorkeling is what drew us here.
The vacation crowd here is a colorful mix of hip “island Malaysians,” light-skinned Westerners in bikinis, and long-sleeved Muslim families and collegiate groups; the women conformably veiled with water-suited headscarves. Now just don’t get the wrong idea. The young, Muslim Malaysian women are not at all different from “Western” peers except for their dress and some basic moral choices. They are self-confident, well-educated and know what they want in life. Instead of afternoon cocktails, they sip large iced coffees or chilled green teas and bathe in long dresses. Families splash on the shallow, waveless shore and numerous back heads with snorkel tips reveal that there really is something to see underwater here.
Our potential overnight spot turns out to be a flop. We quickly track down Didi and realize that he is not really the “selfless charity” type. Here, money is earned strongly and for a place in one of his hammocks without mosquito net on his noisy, brightly lit terrace, he demands an exaggerated 20 ringgit per head. That is, a sweaty night in the hammock costs more on this island than the clean AC room with bathroom that we occupied on our first night in Malaysia. Nah thanks, we’d rather find ourselves two trees. Somewhat aggravating are the heavy monsoon clouds that slowly push over the island. Our today’s overnight place needs absolutely some weather protection!
But for now it is still a hot and humid afternoon and time for snorkeling and swimming. We borrow two goggles and spend the next few hours with our heads under water. What a spectacle! We get to see stingrays, nemos, eels, coral gardens, countless schools of fish in all shapes and colors and even small reef sharks.
We finally solve our place problem quite cheekily. Since the forest is out of the question due to bloodthirsty mosquito swarms and missing rain protection, we set up more or less secretly between Didi’s diving empire and an overpriced backpacker on the terrace of a run-down bar. The protective roof proves to be a real blessing; during the night a mighty thunderstorm with deafening thunder and torrential rain sweeps over us.
We repeat the fascinating snorkeling the next day on the other side of the island, and this time we spend the night spectacularly on an unfinished luxury resort pier that juts far out into the sea. Equipped with a painful Füdli sunburn and wonderful snorkeling experiences, we leave the island after two days quite satisfied and happy to get back on the bikes.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)