KL to Taiping

I met this group of five riders in Teluk Intan. They’re from Kuala Lumpur and they were cycling around the whole of Malaysia. They called themselves Lima Kaki (five legs). They were heading in the opposite direction to me and to be honest my plan that day after leaving them was to try and work out the public transport system so that I could throw my bike on a bus. I knew that I had a long hot ride ahead of me and a bus really appealed to me. I knew that there was one bus service that maybe took bikes depending on space but when I got to the bus station the office was closed until 9.30am and the worst thing would be to wait until they opened to find that they couldn’t take me. So I had to follow rule number 5 of the rules of cycling http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/comment-page-1/ and carry on on my merry way. I’m actually really pleased that I rode that day because it was the first day of Eid and I got to see everyone in their smart traditional clothes.

Ipoh

Ipoh is well known for its food and street art. There were long queues outside food shops each morning. Being there during Eid and on the weekend meant that the place was absolutely ram packed.

Taiping

I spent a long weekend with Taufik and his family. On the weekends it’s weddings and I got to go to four in total. The bride and groom always wear the same colour clothes and they can get married in whatever colour they want to.

Taufik and his sister took me to a charcoal factory. At first when he told me about it I thought he said chocolate factory.

They also took me to the Taiping Lake Gardens. He and his sister were great at striking a pose.

As it was Eid they took me round their friend’s houses

And I even got spoilt and got given this envelope by the family above.

Taufik’s brother liked my stinky top (it was really stinky) because it had the number 24 on the back and he was born on the 24th May and he’s 24 years old so we did a top swap. The rugby top looks good on him. My friend Carol gave it to me in Australia, so it’s now staying in Malaysia.