Welcome to Malaysia! We cycled out of Johor Bahru as a squad of four cyclists (featuring Fendi and Alex), had a surprise campout with my aunty under oil palm trees and recounting the journey so far through the Malaysian state of Johor.
MalaysiaAfter zipping through Singapore in one day, we made it to Malaysia! Hey, it's Tash and selamat datang ke Malaysia (welcome to Malaysia)! For me, Malaysia is my birthplace but, I haven't ventured through this part of the country yet. There are two bigs parts to Malaysia; peninsular Malaysia (where it joins to the rest of South-east Asia) and Bornean Malaysia - I come from Sabah, Bornean Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia has always been on my radar but I've only ever transited through Kuala Lumpur. What I am most looking forward to: family catch ups, char kuey tiaw in Penang, wildlife in Langkawi, cendol (ice drink with green jelly), call to prayer at sunset and showing Huy Malaysian culture (like, how to use squat toilets).
So yes, back to the story - we arrive to our first Malaysian city, Johor Bahru. We bolted straight to our guesthouse (A Borneo Guesthouse) in the suburbs, away from the dusty hustle and bustle of the centre. I had told my cousin, Fendi, we'd arrive from Changi Airport by the afternoon. Realistically, we were never going to arrive by the afternoon - we ended up arriving at the guesthouse at 8pm. The border crossing was horrendously time consuming, as well as unboxing our bicycles. Regardless, we had been planning for Fendi to join our ride in Malaysia for a while now and were very excited it was finally happening!
Waking up the next morning, these words washed over me, 'we're here, we've made it and all that preparation and waiting was worth it'. Lestari Cycle took seven years to bear fruit, but that is normal as big life changes take time, and also, random life events throw a spanner (or two) in the works. I mean long term bikepacking means the complete abandonment of a typical (privileged) life; a stable job, a home to go back to and the opportunity to see friends and family at any moment. We are lucky to have that kind of life, but like most other people, the curiosity to experience and travel the big wide world remains prominent. It is usually the cost of travelling that limits us.. until, you bring your own mode of transport (bicycle), accommodation (tent) and kitchen (gas stove) and don't mind the heat, the rain and the mosquitoes - then it becomes somewhat economically achievable to travel long term.
With business to settle, I woke up and got to work on the computer. At 9am, I would be moderating a series of talks about 'Food for population-level management of elephants in Malaysia' for Climate Governance Malaysia's Roundtable Series 2025. Huy on the other hand, woke up feeling excited but once he moved, realised his body ached. I reminded him that his body will be enduring a lot of changes in the first few weeks and would stabilise with enough cycling. We also finally met the owner of a Marin bikepacking bike which sat outside next to ours - Alex. A friendly and funny Canadian cyclist who had planned to cross south-east Asia by bicycle too. He had arrived just a day before us. We talked about our route, our gear and our childhood. Turns out, he knew Bahasa as well as he grew up in Indonesia. We also talked to the caretaker of the home, Siddhu and he stated he had never hosted bike packers and suddenly all at once there were four of us!
My cousin, Fendi, and I headed into town to chase up some tasks that needed doing including, acquiring a local SIM card, hitting up Decathlon to buy gear and grocery shopping. By the afternoon we were back at the guesthouse and going over the route. We had to ensure we would arrive to Fendi's home in Kuala Lumpur by the 11th of October (this would later change as Fendi had to go back to work earlier than anticipated). We were also discussing the route with Alex and once we figured out we were going in the same direction, I asked him if he wanted to join us. He happily accepted and, so here we formed the Johor bike squad.
The next day we left Johor Bahru and it nearly took three hours just to get out. Constantly having to keep to the shoulder of the road, we were on our best behaviour as cars were zooming past at an astonishingly high speed. We found a vegetarian restaurant in the outer perimeter of the city and indulged in our first vegetarian meal. So far, we had been trying Malaysia's delicious foods packed with chilli and meat - something that had completely hay wired Huy's stomach causing him to have spicy excretions. I was in touch with my aunt (my mum's sister) and was planning to meet them tonight at our destination in Kampung Lukut. My mum's side of the family are mostly all on the other side of Malaysia, in Sabah, but some had moved to the peninsular side.
En route to Kampung Lukut, we had dealt with our first technical difficulty; Alex's rack screw had completely split in half from the weight of his bags. Luckily just up ahead there was a motorbike workshop, and the brilliant mechanic drilled a screwdriver into the split-off screw, successfully unscrewing it out. Alex spent the next hour unbending his rack and putting it all back into place. With that out of the way, we rode on to our lunch stop for the day: nasi campur. Translating to 'mixed rice', this is one of the best ways to experience Malaysian food. Find any 'warung' (food stall) on the side of the road and dish up rice on your plate and pick any of their meats or vegetables to go with it.
We had figured out that the hottest parts of the day are from 11:30am to 2:30pm. So we stayed at the cafe for a little while longer waiting for the intense UV light to passover. This is the time to nap (especially for Huy). After digesting our food and feeling satisfied it wasn't too hot, we set off to our initial campsite location up in the foothills of Gunung Panti National Park.
I had routed the squad to an isolated campsite with a natural spring water pool up in the forest. Naturally, the bitumen became gravel and flat ground became steep. We pushed on up, with the promise of bathing in the natural bath and setting up camp before dark. Alex had made it up first and was quickly met with an unfriendly face telling him they were full and not accepting any guests. I tried my charm on the lady when I arrived. She called her boss and her direction did not change; go away, we are full. With no phone number on their Google Maps pin I had wondered how everyone else had booked this campsite.
Anyhow, despite everyone's efforts climbing up the rocky road to this campsite, we rode back down and cycled over to 'Chekgu Mary's Campsite' (chekgu = teacher). The owner, Joe, welcomed us with a warm smile and asked how our ride was from Johor Bahru. Turns out he himself was also a bike packer who was infatuated with chasing waterfalls in remote national parks. He showed us to our campsite, which was a gravel pad in amidst the oil palm trees.
Shortly after we had set up, my aunty, Babu Abi, and his son (my cousin, abang Nazri) and family arrived. I met my cousin's son (Adyan) for the first time and was very excited to see all of them. They decided to camp with us and had arranged dinner: charcoal grilled fish, stingray, prawns, sausages, stir fried petai (a bean like vegetable), sambal prawns, biryani rice and the list goes on. We were so grateful for the food and boy did we feast!
That night everyone slept with their tummies full and legs aching - ready to do it all again the next day.
In the morning, we parted ways with my aunt and my cousin, abang Nazri, and his family. It had been so good to reconnect with them. I hadn't seen abang Nazri for a few years now since he had become a Marine and lived in peninsular Malaysia.
All packed and ready, we rode down and were passing the office when Jo and his wife, 'chekgu Mary', notioned for us to have breakfast. We happily sat down, ate nasi lemak and bihun goreng (fried vermicelli noodles) as well as drunk freshly juiced sugarcane which, they happily offered all for free. We were, again, very grateful for the food. Alex talked to Jo about his route through the national parks in the north, we took many group photos and, finally it was time to go.
The destination today was Kampung Sungai Ara, the half way point to Mersing. We followed small roads out of Kampung Lukut winding through the village hubbub with barely any traffic. We eventually joined the main road and enjoyed the deafening engine sounds and rattling metal against metal again.
Alex and Fendi had ganged up and raced each other to the next town for lunch, while I stayed with Huy. While the speedy duo were having lunch we kept going ahead to gain a head start and settled for a homemade peanut butter chocolate sandwich for brunch. Huy and I continued to a rest area where we would take shelter during the high UV period. We anticipated Alex and Fendi would catch up fairly quickly, but little did we know Alex's back tube went flat. They were stranded under a little shack trying to patch the tube for an hour and a bit. Slowly but surely they made it to the rest area and indulged in some cold drinks to cool down.
We all rolled out of the rest area keen to get to our destination and find a homestay to sleep at. At this point we hadn't had the confidence to wild camp just yet and anyways we were getting used the daily flow with cycling and enjoyed our showers before sleeping each night. On our way to Sungai Ara, we witnessed a rare phenomenon, a rainbow radiating from within the clouds creating a cloud rainbow (it is officially referred to as a cloud irridescence).
Arriving at Sungai Ara, our mission was to find a homestay. We went to the first one and rung them up. I told the lady we would need one room and there were four of us with bicycles - coincidentally the line cut off. The others starting laughing and stated, for better luck try NOT to mention we have bicycles. I nodded in agreement and motioned for us to continue to the next house. A storm was brewing so we felt the time pressure.
A rickety Nissan X-trail came up behind us on the way up and we let him pass. He slowed down and rolled down his window to Alex and asked what we were doing. Telling him we were after a homestay, he told us to look no more and follow him. He led us to a house where a friendly mak cik (aunty) greeted us. We thanked the old man and he drove away, chain rattling and all. She showed us the room and we negotiated the living room for us to all sleep in. She had specifically asked me not to sleep in the room with Huy alone (according to Islamic rule, an unmarried couple may not be in the room unaccompanied). So we respected that and all slept in the main room under a ceiling fan. For dinner, we were delighted to find a local warung across the road grilling up chicken and beef sate with the best homemade sauce ever. I also tried Mee Jawa which was equally delicious.
The next morning we hit the road and rode strong towards Mersing. I had found an entire home with one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom kitted with a washing machine for RM25 per person per night (that is AUD 9). Everyone was keen to wash their clothes and rest for a full day.
We had reached the outskirts of Jemaluang when Huy looked a little low on sugar. I had stopped at the closest restaurant and we shared a nasi campur and ais limau (iced lemonade). Alex and Fendi were only 700m ahead of us stopped at a Mr DIY store as they met two Thai cyclists cycling in the opposite direction. Once I knew there were other cyclists up ahead, Huy and I packed up and cycled over to meet them. A lovely couple who have been bike packing for several years now, Traiphum and Neenee. They nicknamed themselves 'Leg' & 'Knee'. We decided to all sit at the restaurant and eat together, sharing stories from the road.
They informed us that they had been wild camping every night in Malaysia so far and, they had felt safe each night. That was inspiring for us as I hadn't really been too keen on wild camping in Malaysia due to most areas being private land and signs in oil palm plantations showing they'd shoot trespassers. However, we knew we would eventually have to start wild camping to keep within our budget. I have been wild camping with my dad in the past but my dad was the one behind the logistics, having to strategise on safe wild camping sites. This time it was our time to strategise and look for a wild camping spot. We took note of their advice for our future wild camping adventures. We bid them goodbye and Neenee gave us all handmade crochet emblems to put on our bike.
Into the storm
The afternoon was going well until we heard thunder rumbling in the distance. The wind started to pick up and surely it started bucketing down on us. We checked all our belongings and were happy to continue on in the road knowing all our belongings were dry. Arriving at our accommodation in Mersing, we were drenched in water from head to toe but were relieved we finally had a place to rest for a full day.
The next two days are spent in Mersing, resting, washing clothes and bikes, uploading footage and catching up with family virtually. Fendi received a call needing him to go back to work earlier. Therefore we had decided that he would head to Kuala Lumpur alone (heading west) and, we would change our route, heading north as we wanted to go to Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu (where i would meet up with my other cousin). But that is all for the next journal - see you then!
We hope you enjoyed reading, and if you made it to the end - you're amazing! ;)
Written by Tash.
