I will definitely get back to this question when I get a chance to write up my ideas. For now i can leave you with a teaser picture of the type of bike that started me thinking about it!

We decided that today would be the day we would climb Penang Hill, so after some more delicious roti canai for breakfast, we packed a daypack with water, sunscreen, and rain jackets, then walked to the bus station. Penang Hill is located inland and is approximately 2500 ft in elevation at the top. In the past, it was used as a retreat for the wealthy and/or infirm to escape the heat. Back in the day, people either had to walk up or were carried in sedan chairs. Nowadays, there is a funicular railway that makes the trip quick and easy, but much less colonial. At the summit there are gardens, a restaurant and heritage hotel, as well as a colorfully decorated Hindu temple and a mosque.

Our plan was to take a bus to the Botanical Gardens, walk up Penang Hill, take the funicular back down the hill, and take a different bus back into town. The bus to the Botanical Gardens only runs every 30 minutes, and we had apparently just missed it, since we had to wait for quite a while for the next one. We finally arrived at the Botanical Gardens at about 11:30, where we walked through the Moon Gate and started climbing. The first part of the hike was a steep, jungle track through the woods. Since hiking Penang Hill is a popular local activity, much of this first section was made up of crudely built, concrete steps in the steepest sections. Part way up the first section, we overtook an older, western gentleman, who introduced himself as Herbie. While we were taking a breather, we chatted for a few minutes with Herbie and found out that he and his wife were now living on Penang in the new Straits Quay development. We told Herbie a little about our trip, and it turns out, he's been many of the places we have been, especially Africa. We came to find out that Herbie worked for the World Bank before he retired. We walked with Herbie for a while longer, until we reached “Number 5.” There are rest stops along some of the paths where you can sit, often have tea or water and biscuits and they are simply known by a number. At this stop, we met his wife, Marina and another hiker from Sri Lanka, named Rizli (sp?). We sat and chatted with them for around 45 minutes before continuing on to the next section.



This section was also a jungle track, that was more strenuous than the last. It had no steps, but the path went up and over rocks and along the edges of ravines.



The jungle here was also more dense, and the air was warm, humid, and still. After another 45 minutes of hiking, we made it to “Number 84.” Here, we had a choice of continuing on the jungle track or turning onto the “jeep road.” There is a paved road that goes up Penang Hill, but it is only open to people who either live or work on the Hill. We decided to follow the “jeep road” since the jungle track had gotten fairly muddy. At this point in time, we were halfway up, but still had 1.5 miles to go to reach the summit. After stopping for a drink and a bathroom break, we set off on the pavement.

The road was amazingly steep and some stretches were marked as having a 30 degree grade. Others weren't marked, but they were even steeper. On some stretches, it was hard to keep forward momentum going. We did contemplate turning around and walking back down several times, and at some of our ever more frequent rest stops, we wished for a taxi to appear. By the time we finally saw the top of the hill, we were both at our limit and could hardly control our gasps for air, and our clothes were completely sweat-soaked. We were a little embarrassed when we joined the crowd of weekend holiday makers who had taken the funicular up the hill, and consequently, didn't look or smell like drowned rats.

Since is was now around 3:00 pm and we hadn't had any lunch, we decided to stop in at one of the food stands and find something to eat. We ordered our food and collapsed on a wooden bench while we waited. Soon, we had our food and felt some better. We were both too tired to walk around at the top, which was too bad, because we both remembered it as a nice place to visit from our last trip. We made our way to the train station, where we got quite a shock. We knew they replaced the old train we rode last time, with a fancy, new Swiss-made one, but what we didn't know, was that with the new funicular train came a fancy, new ticket price. Last time, the one-way ticket was 4 ringgit, but now, it is 17 ringgit (5.66 USD) per person. Too tired to walk back down, we bought our gold-plated tickets and rode back down. At the bottom, we hopped on the bus back into town, stopping for some coffee on the way back to the room. In the room, we stripped out of our still soaked clothes, showered, then collapsed on the bed until dinnertime. We had a late meal of dim sum and ice cream, then returned to the Star Lodge to watch Formula 1 qualifying before heading back out for a cold .

After yesterday's long hike, we felt like taking it easy today, so after breakfast, Re worked on some writing while I did some reading. We had banana leaf at Sri Ananda for lunch, then more writing and reading. On the way to dinner, we did some shopping and then made it back in time to see the Formula 1 race. It was a great race, and the season sure is shaping up to be one for the record books. After the race, I called my mom on Skype to wish her a happy Mother's Day, but unfortunately had a really bad connection, so we didn't get to talk much.

5/14 Shipping Plans and Writing

After roti in the room, we spent the morning doing some reading and writing. Back to the Sky Hotel for a lunch of pork and rice, and then, more writing. After lunch, Re again attempted to contact the person we needed to speak with at MASkargo, but he was unfortunately not in. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading before heading back to Line Clear for dinner. The only English-language movie in town that we hadn't seen yet was “Safe,” so we to see it. Later that evening, Re Skyped her mom before we called it a night.


5/15 Again With the Shipping

Since we're having a hard time getting anyone to respond to our shipping inquiries in any kind of a timely manner, Re did a little more research on possible shipping routes. She discovered that Eva Air, a Taiwanese carrier, actually has a cargo freighter that flies from Penang to Taipei several times a week. So after breakfast, Re rode to the Eva Air office here in town. The woman there insisted that she would need to deal with a freight forwarder. Fortunately, Worldlink Cargo's office was located right across the hall. Re was able to speak with Ms Goh that morning and got the process started. When Re got back to the room, she exchanged a few emails with Ms Goh, who will now begin to work on a quote for us.

After a lunch of chicken rice, we spent the rest of the afternoon researching the possibility of living and working in Singapore. After several hours, we decided that while jobs are available and foreigners are more than welcome in Singapore, the cost of living is simply too high. Another dead end, so on to plan...Q? After dinner at the hawker stalls, we walked around and talked about how we were getting discouraged with the difficulty in finding shipping.

After breakfast, we fired up the bikes and rode down to the airport. We wanted to check with the Penang branch of MASkargo since the Kuala Lumpur office has not been very helpful. When we got there, we were told once again, that we would need to deal with a freight forwarder, but that he was on vacation. At another dead end, we decided to just go riding. Since we were already most of the way down the east coast of the island, we decided to continue around the island. Whereas, the east coast of the island is built up with homes and businesses, the southern and western coasts are much more sparsely populated, and there are long stretches of twisty roads through the jungle. It wasn't a very long ride, but it was a lot of fun to actually get out and do some riding. The roads were good. They twisted up and down through the jungle before spitting us back out on the beach road at the northwestern corner of the island. From there, we headed back into the traffic as we made our way back to Georgetown.

We stopped for lunch at Kapitan before returning to the room. We were happy to see that we'd received an email from Ms Goh. We emailed her pictures of our previous crates so she could see how we've shipped the bikes before. Later that evening, we returned to Line Clear for more nasi kandar. After walking around to find some dessert, we were heading back to the room, when I thought I spied a familiar looking couple across Chulia Street. Re and I doubled back to catch up with them, and sure enough, it was Fabian and Tanja, the bicyclists we originally met in Hampi, India, and later in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It really is a small world. They were just as surprised to see us as we were to see them.



We went out for coffee and spent a couple of hours catching up.

5/17 Not Much to Report

Like the title says, another wasted day trying to arrange shipping. I did change my tail light bulb and removed and reinstalled my exhaust header nuts.


5/18 Pancakes and Bad News

Re takes care of the majority of cooking duties when we're at home, but one thing I do is make pancakes. Every Sunday morning. In many places in the world, tourist restaurants sell “pancakes,” but they're more like crepes. Lately I have been jonesing for an American-style pancake, so this morning, we got up and rode to McDonald's for the closest thing we've had so far. They weren't great, but they were good. Later that morning, Re was able to get in touch with Faruq, the agent recommended by the local MASkargo office. We arranged to meet him at 4:00 pm at the airport. The rest of the day basically involved killing time until we could meet with Faruq. We had lunch at Sri Ananda, and afterwards, walked up to sit by the water for a while.



On our way back, we came across an abandoned Minsk in somewhat sad condition.

At around 3:30, we left for the airport and finally met Faruq at about 4:30. He took us into the MASkargo offices, where the three of us received the bad news together. It turns out that what the MASkargo agent in Kuala thLumpur had tried to explain to Re a week ago now, was that MASkargo cannot ship our bikes to the US. Since the attempted bombing of the UPS plane in the Middlle East a few years ago (the one where they had explosives in the toner cartridges, the US has put a complete ban on the transport of cargo deemed to be “personal effects” on passenger planes. The upshot of this is that we either need to ship the bikes to a country other than the US, or they have to go on cargo freighter aircraft. MASkargo doesn't have dedicated cargo freighters to the US, and the only place they fly is to Los Angeles. Well, ****ity **** ****. After we left the MASkargo offices, Faruq said he would check with Cathay Pacific and Korean Air and get back to us in a couple of days. When we returned to the room, we found out that Ms Goh had a quote for us to ship on Eva Air. The good news is, we have a quote. The bad news is, it's more than we had hoped to spend.


5/19 The Beach

We went to the beach, ate some food, did some reading, and drank some .


5/20 Lazy Day and Moto GP

Did a little writing, did a little reading, ate some food, and I watched four-plus hours of Moto GP. We're both getting a little more than a little frustrated with the shipping process. Georgetown is a much better place to be stuck than Dar Es Salaam, but the feelings of powerlessness and frustration are the same.


5/21 Another Day of Waiting

No word from Faruq today. Re checked into a few other shipping dead ends. We did see “Dark Shadows” at the theater and thought it was okay, but not the most cohesive story ever.


5/22 Still Working on Shipping

Did some reading, exchanged some money. Re called and emailed on shipping. We are both starting to get a bit stressed.

After cereal and yogurt for breakfast, Re made a few more calls to our less than helpful potential shipping agents. Not all of them have been less than helpful. In fact, we did receive our first quote on May 18 and another quote today, but they are all still more than we'd hoped to pay. We pissed away the rest of the morning until it was time for lunch. Frustrated with sitting around, we fired up the bikes and rode back to Air Hitam to ride around the lake.

The ride up to the dam itself was the same as it was back on the 10th, but after that, we turned onto the one-lane motorbike road/footpath that circles the lake for a while. It was a shaded, narrow, twisty road that wound along the edge of the lake and eventually dead-ended at a gate. Just before the gate, there was a left turn that went up a hill. It was wet and leaf covered and very steep. Re said she wanted to give it a try, so we did.



The next couple of miles were all taken in first and second gear due to the extreme angle of the road. We continued climbing up and up, and eventually came to a fork in the road. The right fork led into an open valley, and the left fork continued up the hill. We knew that one of these roads was supposed to go through to the back side of the island but there was no indication which one to take.



We opted for the right and followed it out into the sunlight. We rode along the edge of the valley for another couple miles through farms and through a few people's front yards. The road came to a dead end at someone's house, so we turned around and headed back. Once we reached the fork in the road, we continued uphill for another half mile or so. The road here didn't appear to be used very often, since it was covered in wet leaves with no visible tire tracks. This section was steep enough that we were stuck in first gear, and we had a couple of instances where our rear tires spun on the leaves. We expected the road to begin descending soon, but it seemed to keep climbing. Due to the wet leaves and pavement, I was beginning to get a little nervous about our descent, so we decided to turn around.



We slowly made our way back down to the lake. On the way, I spotted a snake in the road, and we turned around to take a look.



Unfortunately, it was an ex-snake. It had no obvious injuries, but it was dead. This was the same kind of snake that Re saw on Koh Lanta, which we had identified as a red-headed krait.



When we got back to the parking area by the dam, we also spotted this snake at the old guard booth. A local told us it was a green tree viper, and another person said it was a coconut viper. Either way, it was a beautiful snake.

We rode back into town and spent a while chatting with Anh, the gentleman who owns the Star Lodge and two other guesthouses along Muntri Street. He was giving Re lessons in Mandarin, so we could at least say “please” and “thank you” at the coffee shops and hawker stalls.


25 miles in about 3 hours.

I am really looking forward to reading your summary. Your setup was really sophisticated from the get-go so it will be interesting to see what you would change on your next trip (if ever). You guys have a lot of travel experience and it shows!

You got me hooked with the pic of the little DS. Don´t leave us hanging too long!

When I wrote my original plea for more ride reports I hadn't been to ADV but have checked it out since and it does seem that you get more comments over there. Not sure why that is, as you have plenty of "looks" over here. I sense more interest in big special bikes like MacGregor's, but it's the other stories that interest me: the guy running around Europe on his zixxer, the couple who rode a 250 Ninja from Texas way down into Argentina, the "old bloke on a bike" who's riding a 100 yr old FN from India to Belgium, and plenty more like them. My point is that you're not really alone over here on the HUBB although it may seem at times as though everyone is going a bit overboard gear-wise. I'm interested in why people ride, where they go, and their experiences a whole lot more than I am in what bike they're on or whether they have headset radios, etc. That said, I've really learned a lot from reading your trip reports here and hope you continue them. And at some point I'll have to get up with Re's blog too. In a recent post on ADV you mentioned how much writing you've done on this trip....and you ain't jist whistlin' Dixie, neither! Thanks for taking the time and putting out all the effort this must have taken. I notice that even on days when one or both of you were sick you often managed to do some writing. My helmet's off to you....

Thanks guys for posting, much appreciated.Have been following all along ,look forward to the next trip and enjoyed your style of writing.Am sure many others feel the same so keep it up. regards Alann from South Africa

Interesting post which shows it's possible on small bikes. Did you have some Durian and Satay when in Malaysia?

I grew up in the jungles of Borneo and know the Cameron Highlands area well.

We have tried durian a few times and can't say that we like it! The sweet kind is better than the bitter kind but they are both pretty awful (to us at least!) Satay is delicious, of course, and definitely more accessible to our tastes. If you haven't noticed, we travel mostly to eat!

Not knowing what was going on today, Re and I decided to get an early start (for us) and were up by 7:00 am. We'd had a good sleep – between the relatively cool air and continuous rain overnight... It was not raining when we woke up, but the house was surrounded by a dense fog. Visibility was no more than 25 feet. Our original plan was to tour Bukit Fraser today and go on some of the hikes, but considering the amount of rain overnight, hiking seemed out of the question. We made the decision instead, to head back to the Cameron Highlands in hopes of drier weather and trails.

After showering, we packed our bag and generally kept quiet until we heard other people moving about. A little while later, we stepped out and were invited to have breakfast with the family. After a yummy breakfast I looked outside to see that the mist had receded and decided to load the bikes. As I finished getting everything strapped down, it started to rain. Since Philip's plans involved hiking as well, they decided to wait to see if the rain stopped.



We joined them on the porch for pictures and an amazing spectacle of moths.



The outside light had apparently been left on last night, and it consequently attracted the most amazing assortment of moths we've ever seen.





Some were nearly three inches long, some looked like leaves, others were spectacular colors, and there were, literally, hundreds of them.

Around 10:00 am, the rain nearly stopped, so we said our goodbyes and hit the road. With the stoppage of the rain, the mist returned. It was pointless to try and do any sightseeing on Bukit Fraser this morning since visibility was so low.



Instead, we made the ride down the hill, through the fog and into the eventual clearing. The ride down was nearly as much fun as the ride up (except for the wet pavement). I would love to return with a supermotard someday and just ride up and down the hill a few times. Near the bottom, the sky cleared and turned sunny as we rode toward the E1 (the North-South highway). We rode the E1 north to Tapah, where we exited for the ride to Tanah Rata. This too was a roller coaster of a road but with slightly worse pavement. At the Tapah exit, my GPS said it was 19 miles as the crow flies to Tanah Rata, but that by road it was 36 miles – it's a twisty road.



Another highlight of this part of the ride was a large reservoir that was flanked by mountains. We stopped for a short break and a couple of pictures. After strafing a thousand apexes, we finally pulled into Tanah Rata and rode directly to the Twin Pines, where we'd stayed before.

We had a late lunch of coffee and fried dough and then went back to the room to check email. We got two bits of news; one that Ronnie had come down with the flu, and the other, that Ian (The BigFella) had arrived in Georgetown. It seems relatively dry here, so maybe we'll do some hiking here tomorrow and head north the next day. After spending some quality together time, we went out for a late dinner with a couple different kinds of nasi goreng (fried rice) and tomyam soup. The food was delicious, but you know you have a toothache when it hurts to chew rice. After dinner we grabbed some s and returned to the room to celebrate ten months on the road today.

140 miles in about 4.5 hours. Bikes are running well, no obvious permanent damage from the missing axle nut.

By 2:00 am, we knew we weren't going hiking today. Shortly after we went to bed, the sky exploded in thunder, lightning, and torrential rain. It flat poured overnight, and the deluge continued for hours. We woke up to huge puddles of standing water and an overcast sky. We walked out for breakfast and considered our options. Everywhere we looked it was muddy, so hiking didn't sound like a reasonable option. Between my sore tooth, Ronnie's flu, and Ian's arrival in Georgetown, we decided to scrap our plans and head back to Georgetown today. My tooth has gotten so sensitive that whether iced or hot, coffee hurts to drink. Now I know that something has got to be done. We decided to get on the road as soon as possible to hopefully avoid any of the afternoon rains that seem to be popping up.

After breakfast we jumped in the shower and I then got to work on the bikes. The air pressures have been holding fairly well. For some reason, I have started checking fasteners every day again, and while the oil level is good, Re's smells like it could use a change. We heaved the bikes off the center stands at 9:30 and thumbed the starter buttons. Re's Symba roared to life, mine made that funny starter solenoid sound. Dead battery. Fortunately, I could resort to the kickstarter. I guess it's time for those new batteries we've been putting off buying. Once we were underway, it was an easy but busy ride from Tanah Rata to Kampung Raja. After that, the tourist and agricultural traffic seemed to disappear, and the ride back to the E1 was perfect. We were greeted by bright sunshine, cool temperatures, crystal clear air, stunning mountains all around, and a neverending succession of fourth gear sweepers. This morning's ride reminded me why I love riding. It truly was an amazing ride, and I wished I could bottle it to save for later. Re pulled up alongside part way down with a huge smile and let out a big whoop.

Too soon, that part of the ride was over, and we were back on the E1, slowly making our way northward at 45 mph. Again, the ride through Ipoh was beautiful, but just north of there, the rain started again. While never heavy, the rain continued on and off for the next couple of hours, all the way to Georgetown. By the time we made it back to the bridge to Penang, the rain had mostly stopped, but it was very windy riding across. When we were near Ipoh, Re had called the Star Lodge to make sure they'd have a room for us. When we arrived, we were able to quickly unload all of our gear back into G5, our new, usual room. They were surprised to see us again so soon, and honestly, we were too. We ran out for a quick bite to eat and then came back to the room to clean up.

We texted The BigFella later on and met him at his hotel around the corner around 7:30 pm. Ian introduced us to his KTM 950SE, and I have to admit to some serious bike envy. After that, we introduced him to our bikes on the way down to the Corner Bar. After a couple of rounds and some story swapping, we adjourned to Kapitan for tandoori chicken and naan before returning to the Corner Bar for a few more. We had a great time, laughing and talking until late in the night, so much so, that I almost forgot about my tooth.

170 miles in about 5.5 hours. The bikes are running great, but it was a strange sensation to be riding that “fast” for that long. I think I even saw 50 mph at one point!

After roti for breakfast, Re looked online for a recommendation for a dentist here in town. She knows my love of visits to the dentist and took it upon herself to get me there. She found a recommendation for the Adventist Hospital Dental clinic and was able to get me in after lunch. For the rest of the morning, we did some shopping, including buying oil for an oil change. After a lunch of pork and rice, we went to the hospital, where the dentist looked at my tooth and said I should take antibiotics for several days and come back on Monday to see what the real damage is. I left with a prescription which I was able to fill at the hospital, and we took the bus back to the guesthouse.



We got a text from Ian around 4:30 and met up with him shortly thereafter. We took some pictures of the bikes together. Afterward, we headed back to the Corner Bar (the real name is Antarabangsa Enterprise, but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily) for a few pre-dinner s. Later, we walked over to De Tai Tong for dim sum, and then back to the Corner Bar for the evening. The highlight of the night was the “18-year old” Chinese man, Lim, who sat with us for a while. He was quite a character and had us all in stitches. He was actually born in 1930 in Penang and had lots of good stories. He finished the evening by telling Re some rather salacious stories, complete with hand gestures! Look for a special report from her soon.