9. Pontian to Batu Pahat

When I see a bus stop I take the opportunity to rest and it was after such a rest that I noticed I was no longer wearing my helmet. This is why I don’t wear a watch, carry a wallet or use gloves in the winter; give it to me and I’ll loose it. Fortunately, nobody had been interested in my sweaty headwear and it was neatly placed on the bench where I left it. From now on, everything stays on the bike!

The road is a scenic road through dusty villages, plantations (pineapple apparently, but it didn’t look like any pineapple plantations I’ve ever seen, i.e. Dole on Oahu) and palm tree forests. People are smiling, waving and are greeting me all the time.

As a passed through a village I saw a bicycle repair garage and I stopped to have my front derailer adjusted as I couldn’t reach the lower gears. I wasn’t sure I correctly heard the ridiculously low amount of money that he asked for so I gave him double, which seemed to satisfy him. If I had known what was ahead of me I would have paid him tenfold, because just ten kilometres later the hills started rolling. I thought this area was supposed to be flat! Maybe a real cyclist doesn’t consider this to be rough terrain but it was challenging for me.

Just as I had climbed one of these slopes a pack of three dogs thought I would be a nice trophy. I had seen stray dogs before and they were all harmless, so I was caught off guard. The downhill had not yet begun and I thought to myself “Not NOW” as I used energy I didn’t have to accelerate as fast as I could. Luckily they quickly lost interest. I didn’t take the time to study which breed they might have been, but I think it was a pitbull, a doberman, and a pitbull-doberman.

With more than 300 000 residents Batu Pahat is a large city by Swedish standards, but when I walked around the main street during the evening I didn’t see too many people outside of their cars, and not a single foreigner but me. Maybe if they build sidewalks people will actually go to the stores and restaurants, but what do I know.

Distance:
74 km from Pontian to Batu Pahat.
173,5 km so far.

Scenic road 5 between Pontian and Batu Pahat.


Resting.


Dataran Penggaram, one of the few sights in Batu Pahat.


Jalan Rahmat at night, the main road through Batu Pahat.

Comments

  1. I can't believe you are actually on the road properly, it's wonderful to see your progress and interesting to hear about your experiences.

    So what's your overall impression of Malaysia so far - like it? Beware - soon you'll enter the tourist hords of Thailand.....where the residents have by long realised to milk cash out of the tourists (good on them, we can't blame them!).

    It's very annoying that your English is better than mine - after my ten years living in blooming England itself! Hrmpf.

    That scenic road looks lovely - looks nice and warm. /from a cold flat in Malmö

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  2. Mycket underhållande läsning Anders! Impad av att du genomför en sån grej.

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  3. Cyklat en bra bit nu, bra gjort!
    Bilden du lagt högst upp är riktigt bra :)
    /C

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  4. När jag läser och ser, får jag lust att sjunga...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN4DHY_9gOs
    :-)

    Heja heja!
    /Mia

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  5. Gôtt jobbat!

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  6. Madde: Jodå, de två dagar jag varit i Malaysia har varit bra. Folk är glada och hjälpsamma. Här är inte så rent, men efter Singapore så antar jag att det bara är att vänja sig. Det lär inte vara renare i länderna norrut :)

    Yngnell: Tack! Vänta med att bli impad tills jag faktiskt har genomfört den :)

    C: Tack! Än så länge har jag plåtat bra mycket mindre än jag brukar. Har koncentrerat mig på cyklingen.

    Ing-Marie: Sam & Dave rocks!

    Mikael: Tack, tack!

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  7. Ho-ho-ho!

    Ser bra ut allt som allt, än så länge hel och ren (iallafall vad bilderna visar).

    Inte konstigt att hundar jagar dig, jag hade också kunnat missta din outfit för "US Postal worker" =D

    Följer fortsättningen med spänning!

    // Ola

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  8. Idag bjuder jag på lunch på Blue Thai, synd att du är i Malaysia. Micke Axelsson

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  9. Micke: Du får bli skyldig mig en, helt enkelt.

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  10. Du kanske skulle fundera på varför ingen annan utom du är ute och går på kvällen!!!! Helt underbar läsning om dina äventyr, håll dig borta från byrackorna bara, man vet aldrig var de varit.

    När är du i Thailand i närheten av Phuket, Patong Beach??
    /Ylva

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  11. Inte så rent...! Då ska du nog inte ens fundera på att åka till Kina....ha ha! Välkommen till Asien! Det är bara Sverige (och kanske Schweiz) som har ett rent land att njuta av :-) Vår planet är en soptipp tyvärr. Förutom i vildmarken då...
    Fler foton tack! Sååå nyfiken på hur det ser ut överallt! Mera mera!

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