Puteri Harbour Marina

Johor, Malaysia

Randal and I finally got on our bikes today and rode to Gelan Petah the town about 8 miles from the marina.  Our first stop in town was the bike shop.  Randal had replaced one tire before our Tibet trip, but was afraid the other needed to be replaced with the spare he had bought at the same time.  Luckily our local bike shop guy had been out biking with his friends and their ride ended at the shop shortly after we got there.  He kindly changed the tire and refused payment telling Randal that the service came with the purchase of the tire. Randal, of course could have changed the tire himself, but having someone else do it is so nice.   Next we went for a snack at the Awana Cafe and while we ate watched lots of other “real bikers” pass through town.  On our way back to the marina we heard the sound of squealing tires, thankfully not on our road, but on an impromptu track.  There were cars racing around obstacles and Randal stopped to watch for a bit but I kept riding.  After a bit Randal caught me and we finished our ride in time for me to follow the Red Sox blow their last game with the Mariners.  Poor Sox.  These next set of emails are about Kathmandu. 

Ru

DoraMac

Road to Kathmandu

Just leaving the border about 10:45 am in our hired vehicle. The single lane roads were just wide enough for two cars to carefully pass each other and curvy so you really had to trust the driver you had met 10 minutes before you started and also trust his vehicle. But he was a good driver and patiently stopped when we needed to take photos.

Our vehicle was 4 wheel drive and a good thing because we drove a good way along this dirt road.

Homes and shops came right to the edge of the narrow road where these boys were waiting to go to school. Many Tibetans leave Lhasa to go to school in Nepal where they can learn “British/Indian” English.

The scenery was incredibly lush especially compared to the dry Tibetan landscape.

The homes, built along the ridge road, used stones to hold down the roofs. We passed several tiny communities that actually struck me as more isolated than the nomads in Tibet. At least in Tibet there was so much open space. Here the mountains and forests crowded in. “Too much green.”

This photo could have been taken in Southwest Virginia.

Lots of terraced agriculture.

Animals always have the right-of-way.

Nepal is Hindu so cows are sacred.

We left the lush countryside and began to pass through city sprawl interspersed with lush fields.

Roads seemed to be under construction with buildings crammed together all along either side of the wide space which was the jammed under construction roads.

Kathmandu was the most jam-packed with dust- masked police trying to direct the crazy traffic.

We arrived about 3:30 pm first dropping David and Ronnie at their hostel and then going to our Kathmandu Resort Hotel. We were glad to be out of the chaos of the Nepali roads!