Singapore or Thailand?

[The Bigfella]

I'm heading back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday and, after a day or two fettling the bike with new brakes and hopefully curing a vibration problem its got... I either head south... or north. Singapore or Thailand.

Just at the moment its maybe 60/40 towards heading north.

Anyone been through southern Malaysia / Singapore lately? I haven't been south of KL... wouldn't mind seeing Malacca, but I haven't got it at the "must see" level... and I've spent a few days in Singapore in the past. Singapore adds a level of complexity, because I'm travelling by land - so I'd have to clear customs with the bike going in and coming out again.

So... anything to see in southern Malaysia?

As for Thailand... I picked up my visa for there this week. I had to explain why I needed one... rather than getting one as I flew in. When I told the guy at the consulate I was crossing by land from Malaysia he said "Don't do that.... too dangerous". There's some separatist trouble been going on just north of the border with a lot of deaths from bombings - over 5,000 in the last 8 years.... although some American friends who just came through tell me its under-reported. Their advice was "get to the border early, with a full tank of gas.... and go hard all day". All the southern resorts are closed at the moment (rainy in that area)... but I'm not aiming for resorts anyhow. I'm seeing Thailand as a necessary transit to get to Cambodia, rather than a destination in its own right (for this run at least).

[GaryK]

I think there's a ferry from Lankawi to Krabi (Thailand)? Safer than riding over the border I think.
As for southern Malaysia, Malacca is nice, but don't know if it is worth going out of your way for. If you go to Singapore, you could leave your bike somewhere in the border town, Johor Bahru. The latter is apparently where all the Singaporeans drive to on weekends, because food and accom is a fraction of the prices of Singapore. (I'm a fan of Singapore btw, real foodie paradise)

[Mrleft8]

If you want to see Brits, go to Singapore. If you want to see Germans and Brits, go to Thailand.

[The Bigfella]

The plan is to avoid the resorts as much as possible,,,, minimising the contact with the Germans and Brits to some degree.

I'll see what I can find on that ferry, thanks Gary

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

May I persuade you in a Cambodia direction, Ian - I have a slight ulterior motive as a friend of mine, Bob Couttie, has just parked himself in Kampot, and reports favourably on it. I don't think there would be anything to see in Singapore, just a chance to spend a lot of money.Would the train be an acceptable option to riding over the Malaysian/Thai border area?

[stevebaby]

When we crossed the border in 1962 (just after the Emergency had ended), we had to spend several hours waiting for the convoy to assemble, then we were escorted across by heavily armed troops and police. The Royal Malay Police used to get around in black Bedford trucks with Bren guns fore and aft. There was a sort of no-man's-land between leaving Malaya and entering Thailand and even when troops and police crossed the border they did so en masse and gunned up.
The Straits Times used to come out 3 times a week and it was a rare edition that didn't contain accounts of arrests and weapons seizures of the terrs.
The more things change, the more they remain the same on the border it seems.

[The Bigfella]

Cambodia is the reason I'm heading to Thailand, Andrew. The ultimate objective is to ride the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and I've been looking at Thailand as mainly a transit leg. My two elder kids have both been to Thailand and I think that if I were to linger there, they'd be thinking bad thoughts about my motives. The Americans I met in Penang say it has some lovely areas away from the resorts though.

I was originally thinking Thailand, Cambodia .... leave the bike there during the wet.... then Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand... and home.

I'm currently thinking I might try and finish the trip this time around... if I can beat the rains. I've got some administrative issues that mean I probably can't renew my Carnet for the bike... unless I bribe someone to give me an inspection certificate for the bike... which is, of course, illegal and is also a crime in Oz. That isn't an issue for Thailand... or for exiting Laos or Cambodia... so I at least need to get to Laos before mid August.

Cambodia stole my heart last time around... lovely people, although PP is a cesspit. I really want to take a look at the Cardamom Mountains though. Wiki says its one of the largest and mostly unexplored rainforests in SE Asia. I particularly want to visit some friends in Siem Reap too, but the main objective there is the remote areas.

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with Malaysia.... I was spoilt by the experience in Sumatra. I think what you say about Singapore is right... I'd only go there to spend money.... and I've already done enough of that in Malaysia.

[The Bigfella]

Yes.... an interesting border. The way Colin and Re (the Underboning duo from the US, who have done 38,000 km in Africa, India and Asia on stepthru scooters) explained it, the Thai's pinched about 20 km from the Brits in Malaya back in the 1920's but the Brits didn't worry about it "because there's nothing there".... not sure that's 100%... but it sounds good. The Muslim Malays there don't want to be part of Thailand. I don't know why the Thai folks want them either. Such is the way of lines on a map.

I'm not overly concerned about it. The big problems are on the East coast. I'll run up the west coast. It looks like the ferries are all passenger ferries and/or speedboats. No worries, I'd rather ride through. I found back in Sumatra in a fairly fundamentalist region that if you pop a couple of bob in the mosque building fund, the bush telegraph works pretty well and you get a good reception further up the road.

[Phil Y]

You must have a mate in Oz who can give you an inspection report. Surely a beer or two would not amount to bribery?

[The Bigfella]

My bloke has just had his business burnt down... and I wouldn't ask him to risk what little he has left. I've written an interesting letter to the Minister for Roads, but haven't posted it yet. Its because of his Dept's somewhat unusual actions that this is an issue.

[The Bigfella]

I just had a nice lunch with a mate (and our wives) talking about Malaysia. He grew up on a rubber plantation near Taiping in the 50's and 60's - during the Malayan Emergency - all his old family photos have a weapon in them... the women carried shotguns, the men always wore a pistol... there were Bren guns defending the house.

They've pretty much convinced me to head across to Malacca... then I'll head north via Fraser's Hill, back to Penang, then into Thailand.

[Phil Y]

Still no inspection requirement in South oz. The land of the free.

[The Bigfella]

Still no inspection requirement in South oz. The land of the free.

Bastards

[GaryK]

They've pretty much convinced me to head across to Malacca... then I'll head north via Fraser's Hill, back to Penang, then into Thailand.

Good idea, don't think its that far from KL.
You can always checkout that futuristic city outside KL on the way too, Putrajaya. Wild looking joint by all accounts.

..and no stinking inspection reports in WA either.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Whilst in KL, you must of course visit this, in order to be told how incompetent the British were in designing its roof to withstand three feet of snow:



It also displays a shocking lack of sensitivity to local tastes in architecture, of course.

(It's KL Sentral Station)

[The Bigfella]

Good god.... I've been to KL Sentral several times. Where did they get that view? I must be using the back door, so to speak.

Just had a nice chat to a lovely young Thai/Aussie girl, who is married to a friend of my son... and her father. Got some ideas....

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

So have I, and I don't know either! The point about the three feet of snow on the roof, of course, was that all colonial buildings were built to UK standards.

[GaryK]

Good god.... I've been to KL Sentral several times. Where did they get that view? I must be using the back door, so to speak.

Just had a nice chat to a lovely young Thai/Aussie girl, who is married to a friend of my son... and her father. Got some ideas....

Well, the Sentral you've been to was probably the massive boxy one built in 2000. The ACB's pictured building is just KL station, it has been demoted to handling suburban trains.

[The Bigfella]

that'd explain it. I was at KL Sentral again this evening, but after the trip in from the airport, wasn't going sightseeing.

I actually got cranky here tonight. Gave the benefit of the doubt to the taxidriver who was bringing me the last km or so (hey..... carrying spare parts, so no big walks).... he got about 3 times the fare he should've but I'd told him I knew where I was going... did too until he took a sideroad. I think he needs the money... he must go through a clutch every week... revving it to 4,000 and slipping the clutch in 4th isn't good for it.

Anyhow... checked in and went downstairs to get my baggage out of storage. The prick down there took my receipt and said "per day".... which isn't what it says on the receipt - and which wasn't the deal. He wouldn't give the receipt back, so things got very, very ugly. He lost the argument... and the receipt. He also got the finger pointed at him, in front of the lady who owns the place and told that if anything goes missing from my room.... well, you get the idea.

So, if I vanish in the next day or so... don't buy a curry on Jalan Pudu for a week or so.

[The Bigfella]

Ha! My friendly baggage clerk turned into just that... a happy chappy. I think his mates got into him a bit. Turns out they are all foreigners, not a citizen among them.

Anyhow, I bolted south today... 168 km to Melaka and that's as far south as I'm going. I'm meeting up with a bike guy from Ipoh and doing a run up the spine of the Peninsular. I've also met some guys with KTMs from a town near the Thai border and I'm catching up with them too. Talking to the bike shop owner where I had the service and brake work done in KL, Sunny... his comment on what the Thai embassy guy said was "bullsh!t". Keep to the west coast and there's no trouble... just don't go east.

Had an interesting run south.... I tried to chase a new Bentley on the motorway... I cracked it open to 160 and he just disappeared. He pulled a kilometre on me in next to no time. I reckon he was doing 300. I couldn't go over the ton because my wet weather poncho was literally choking me. Broke traction at 120 in sixth gear when the rain first hit. Slippery bits don't impress me.

The nautical history here at Melaka is just astounding. There used to be 2,000 wooden ships in the port in its heyday. The Cheng Ho (aka Zheng He) museum is great.

[The Bigfella]

Should we have a photo or two?

[Mrleft8]

You have an amazing camera/eye......

[The Bigfella]

Thanks Lefty.... kept my eyes open today... but still found time to take some photos

[The Bigfella]

This shows the answer, methinks.... I never made Singapore... and, I may not even make Thailand. I'm back in Penang with an engine that's on the way to destruction.




The dark leg is what I did yesterday - 275km from Cameron Highlands to Georgetown, Penang. It involved over 18,000m of elevation changes and the old road down to the E1 was brilliant.



If I can get the engine rebuilt in reasonable time, I've found an inland route into Thailand that avoids "the Troubles" and I'll hotfoot it north. The engine problem almost certainly stems back to getting bad oil in Bali. The bike has only got 32,000km on it and roller bearings should last longer than that. Its not as if I thrash it....