The Cave Large Enough to Land a 747 Jetplane

Day 6: Friday, 26 April 2013 – Miri to Niah National Park – 86km (very hot at 1pm)

Team RAB Day 6 Route

Ra:
After yesterday’s rest and recovery at Uncle Ambrose’s place in Miri with a short night out, I woke up recharged again. I remembered waking up to a beautiful “alarm clock”, birds singing away at Uncle Ambrose’s fruit garden. I jumped up from my mattress provided by Uncle Ambrose and straight to the light switch. Time 5.30am.

Heather was already up when I came back from my morning wash up and by 6.00am, she was making breakfast and I was boiling hot water for our routine coffee. We are gelling well. Uncle Ambrose was with us during breakfast and honestly it was really difficult for me to leave his place. Heather and I had our breakfast and said our goodbyes to Uncle Ambrose. By 6.30am, we were all set and pedalled our way out of his main gate. We cranked it easy out towards the main road and slowly out of Miri, heading west towards Bintulu. Our next destination would be Niah National Park. We had established that we would set our day’s final destination but if the going gets tough, we would not fight it and look for an alternative for the night. Niah National Park on paper was about 80km away and if we factored in those slopes, the weather, rest stops and traffic, we could get there within 6 hour. 

Heather cooking brekkie

I was feeling good and the weather was beautifully cooling the first 10km but the slopes were relentless. We continued and with random stops for photos and on the 20km mark with more roller coaster slopes – Batam to Barelang challenge came to mind, I was still feeling good and expected to see one or two stalls for our coffee break but there was nothing. I thought I could do another 10km and like a lesson from past few days, there were nothing. At the 30km mark there’s still nothing on the side of the roads for us to stop for refreshment. Heather suggested that we stop for a break and for me to stretch my muscles. Good idea. I remembered we stop on top of a small knoll and all I could see in the distance was more rolling hills ahead for us.

In my mind I was thinking, “Even with this good weather, if we don’t find a makan (makan = eat in Malay) stop soon, I would be screwed”. I know from the information gotten from Simon last night Bekenu is about 50km away from Miri. Without enough water and with those rolling hills, 20km feels so far away!
Ten minutes of our rest up, water top up from our reserve and we are set to go. We had no idea how far until we would find any place for us to rest, have coffee and relax our muscles other than Bekenu about 20km from where we were. There weren’t any markers along the road to indicate how far we were from the next town, no signs of telling us where we were, but the kampong. So roughly by looking at the map and the distance we clocked, we estimated our distance from our main rest point. I was happy to report that we were quite accurate on that. After 41km of cranking, we were at Kampung Angus where I spotted a decent stall on our right. I did a quick look to Heather and she just smiled and nodded. Our first break-stop for the morning. We ordered our drinks, Heather ‘kopi kurang manis’ and me a much needed 100plus. I also ordered ‘nasi goring kampung’ and while we waited for our order to arrive, we did some communication check with our Base Camp Manager (BCM), David in Kuala Lumpur. Time check 9.30m and we are ready to hit the road.

First rest stop of the day - brekkie round 2

We passed Bekenu very quickly and time was 10am. We were ahead of time and Niah National Park looked promising, we both aim to be at Batu Niah at noon for lunch.

Going back time, in January when I was riding with Abang Dzul and Ken doing a short Kelantan to Kuantan ride, I remembered we could easily stop whenever we wanted if we needed to eat, drink or just for rest under a decent shade. On day 6 of Ride Around Borneo, I learnt that if we ever saw a drink stall or even a beautiful tree providing a shade, go for it as you may not be able to see those again on your next 10, 20 or even 30km ride. I saw a long stretch of stalls on the right, at 50km mark just about 40 minutes after our last stop. We took it and quickly bought water, while Heather bought some native wild vegetables. The next thing I saw was her feeding a captured baby monkey.

Pet monkey

We moved on and battled the next 10km of endless slopes. I was already swearing and Heather was right behind me, the heat was just too much and this was only at 11am. I told myself that I could handle it and I was trained for it. We got on and by now we are at 60km mark, where I saw a lady peeking out of the window from her timber house.

I turn behind and went, “I am going to take that shade..”
“Ok, take it”. Heather replied.

Oh boy, how lucky we were.  The lady from the window greeted us and I sought her permission to take shelter. She said yes and disappeared somewhere, and moments later showed up downstairs where we were standing with a cold bottle of water. We shook hands and thanked her repeatedly. She disappeared again and it was this is that we saw a white 4x4 truck slowing down and make a slow turn to where we were at. One gentleman, Mr Koh originally from Serian got out from the truck and told us that he read about us in the Sarawak Borneo Post. We shook hands and took some photos. The homeowner (lady by the window) showed up with bunch of bananas. She went away again while we chatted with her dad and Mr Koh. After a little while, the lady showed up with a cold banana! We shamelessly accepted it.

Heather called me nearer, close enough for her to whisper to me, “We should give her one of our chempedak...”

I know, you think I am joking. We don’t only carry repair kits, spare clothing, spare tubes, we, The Ride Around Borneo team also carries Chempedak, not one but 2! I happily agreed and brought one chempedak out and handed it over to the lady. You should see her surprise when she saw us handing her the chempedak. Now we have one papaya and one chempedak in our emergency food rations.

Our 30 minutes rest stop was up and we say our thank you and suited up to move on. We were told that Batu Niah town was only about 20km away, “after the bridge”. I have been hearing that from 40km back.

"Batu Niah is only there, not far"



After much endurance and few more slopes, we saw the bridge with the sign, Batu Niah 1km!

I punched the air as if I had just beaten Lance Amstrong.

We had a coconut drink rest stop minus proper lunch as we are just too tired to tired, I guess. Looking out from where we were sitting I could just see how hot it was to be out there. We could have either sat longer and do some work or hit the road. We chose the former and got the laptop out. Day 5 report needed to be written pronto and we got that done and delivered it to our Base Camp Manager, David.

The thought of sitting longer in the shade was so tempting, but common sense told us to go on to arrive at our final destination earlier so as to get earlier rest for me and for Heather to get to trek to Niah Cave.

Even the last 14km was a torture for me. All my muscles had gone week. It was all mental now. I crank slowly tackling the little slopes one by one. Here I am at beautiful Niah National Park writing this report.

Heather:

Ra seems to have given you a lot of detail for today, so I’ll try to be brief.

Uncle Ambrose’s house was a pleasant place to recoup. I slept well and was ready quickly. We had bought some eggs and bread the night before, so I set about making breakfast. It has been 6months since I last cooked, so I enjoyed it. Uncle Ambrose was up with us and helped us get on our way. Too bad we couldn’t take him with us.

We headed towards the coastal highway. Very quickly my nerves were on edge from the highway noise, so I opted to listen to music. When we were near enough to the coast to hear the waves I stopped the music. With the music back on, I made sure there was some distance between Ra and I so I could sing along off key. It was a smooth road and we’d had an easy day before so it wasn’t until the 30km mark we began to look for a place to take a short break. We had to settle for stopping without shade or a place to lean our bikes.

Native fishing boat on the beach just out of Miri

It was a cool cloudy morning so we had it easy for a few hours. There were rolling hills all the way with short slopes and easy inclines. We found a cafe at 40km and carried on as the sun was heating up. Ra stopped for a cold drink and I was dancing to my music as we pulled in. We were planning to make our own dinner, so I was delighted to see dark green jungle vegetables at the road side stall. Just before we left the women got my attention to show me there was a pet monkey in a small cage. I tried to feed it some peanuts, but it only wanted the salt from the shell. It was adorable; I wish I had one riding on my handle bars.

Road side vegie stall

The next stop was for shade. Lucky Ra was overheating at that moment, we met some great people. A father daughter pair gave us cold water, cold papaya, and bananas. A passing driver pulled in to say hello and offer his brother’s information. The rafalesia are in bloom, a rare event, and his brother can take us to see them.

We made it easily to the turn off for Niah National Park by 12pm and stopped for rest. It was 32C at that time. My coconut was heavenly. We rested quite a while then turned down the road to the park. A few more hills are we were in the forest.

Niah Cave

The cave has been more than shelter to humans. It is also the main regional site for collecting birds’ nests. Swiflets have salivary glands that produce glutinous secretions that are mixed with feathers or vegetation to create nests. The secretions bind to cave walls. Harvesters collect the birds’ nests and remove the feathers (the one with vegetation are not collected) and sell them for consumption. Last time I was in Borneo I visited a shop in Kunak where they told me the birds’ nests are an ancient remedy for respiratory illnesses.

Niah is also home to bats whose guano is profitable when it is collected and sold as a fertilizer. In the 80’s the bats produced 8.7 tons of guano in one year. I was not looking forward to the smell, but it turned out to be mild.

The walkway to Niah cave

There was a lot more to learn but my brain, being out of shape, reached its max quickly and my eyes glazed over. I headed up the walk way 3.5km to the cave. It was a relatively flat easy walk. I saw a few groups leaving as I walked in so I had the cave to myself.

The cave entrance faces west, so I considered staying for sunset but I was too hungry. We ate at the park cafeteria and asked the chef to prepare the vegetables I’d bought earlier. Unfortunately I did not communicate my limitations so the jungle vegetables were cooked with ikan bilis, a Malaysian favorite. I’ll eat most things and pick out the meat, but the flavour of ikan bilis pervades everything, so I had to pass. There will be more chances to try jungle vegetables. 

Sunset at Niah National Park

History of Sarawak

Day 5: Thursday, 25 April 2013 - Kuala Belait to Miri - 70km (31C/88F 66%humidity at 1pm)

Team RAB Day 5 Route

Heather:

The alarm went off when it was still dark, but I felt rested. The Thermarest was a good choice- light, and comfortable*. Moving slowly we began packing. I was surprised to see a tray of food on the table. The previous night Ra had organized breakfast, which Helen had prepared at 4am. We had egg and cheese sandwiches with coffee and fresh milk before setting off.  It was a real treat and raised our standard for making the most of the cool early hours.

Sunrise from verandah of Kuala Belait Boat Club

Thanks to the Kuala Belait Boat Club for offering comfortable shelter and hospitality. Thanks to the Sultan of Brunei for letting us pass through.

The ride was straight forward. With word from Simon Sandi, who was a day ahead of us, we knew that the longer coast road would be better than the shorter road which was under construction. In an effort to be more of a team player, I chose to ride behind today to be sure we stuck together. It allowed me to focus more on my form and take the hills in a higher gear to build strength. The plan was to check in at Miri and consider carrying on to Lambir Hills National Park.

Early in the day we saw the head of a crocodile break the surface of the river, but it disappeared before I could get a good photo. The major excitement on the way was a quick swerve to avoid a crab crossing the highway. There wasn’t much on the road sides until 5km from Lutong when we stopped for watermelon.

Just down the road we stopped to fill up water and were greeted by June. She had seen us in a paper and came to take photos and chat. She is involved in a local charity to rescue animals. The idea came from ex-pats working for Shell and has spread to some locals. Animal rights and care are lower priority in Malaysia, so the group need to educate the population to gain support. The Body Shop is big in the region and they have a campaign going to put forward some legislation to protect animals. Awareness is growing. We wish June the best with her project.

On the way into Miri I wanted to see the Grand Old Lady- Shell’s first ever drilling point that has now become a petroleum museum. Rahim waited at the bottom of the hill while I climbed up for a 360 view of the area. The climb was only 600m at a 10% grade. Again the peace and quiet off the road was astonishing.

We’d been invited to stay with Simon Sandi’s Uncle Ambrose, but I wasn’t sure if it was an open invitation. We were scheduled to be there with Simon and miss the chance as he moved on ahead. He was expecting us so we dropped in and he welcomed us to stay. We cleaned up and I took a nap while Ra hung out with Om Ambrose. Later Ra and I went into town for lunch and errands.

Ra is used to being connected 24/7 and has had a culture shock being off line. I’ve come off 4 months without a sim card- using my phone as an alarm clock. This trip we need to update the blog and facebook and meet people so it’s better to be available. We might have avoided some issues if one of us had a data plan, so he upgraded.

Later on it was Ra’s turn for a rest and I got a history lesson: Sarawak was formerly ruled by the Sultan of Brunei. He couldn’t control the violence and quarrelling, but a British man did. In return for bringing peace he was given an area of land. Fighting continued to the west and the white Raja brought peace there as well. This whole area is now Sarawak. There are many tribes with varying histories. Written records only go back to the 19^th century so that is really as far as genealogy can be traced. He shared a bit about the various tribes and their cultures as well over drinks at his favourite watering hole.

Uncle Ambrose - Team RAB's Miri gracious host

Editor's / Team RAB Base Camp Manager's note:  Thanks heaps Uncle Ambrose for taking care of the both of them for one night in Miri.... Cheers mate!

We are aiming for Niah National Park tomorrow. Within the park is a cave where human remains dating back 40,000years have been found, along with cave drawings.  It could be a scorching day. The riders ahead of us reported temperatures of 43C/?F. We’ll be making our own breakfast and getting on the road early.

*When team RAB met for the first time in Kuala Lumpur, David Lee took me to CoreZone to look for camping gear. I was in heaven. It was the best collection of high quality gear that I’d seen since leaving the states. I picked out what I needed and enjoyed browsing all the things I wished I had space for. Sharon Tan was there to help us and offer advice. She’s become a supporter in many ways and I’m so grateful. If you need to buy good quality camping equipment Core Zone is the best place in all of South East Asia. www.corezone.com

Ra:

What happened on day 5? Gosh, i needed to catch up on my writing. Ok, we were at Kuala Belait Boat Club taking shelter for the night. Woke up to a decent breakfast prepared by Helen. We got up really early though and start packing. This packing thing was now getting routine and a lot more efficient. I just know what goes into which bag. I hope to be able to do my packing blindfolded by next week. I enjoyed staying at the Boat House, and wanted to say my big hello to everyone from there if you are reading this.

We moved out at 6.40am. From where we were at, Kuala Belait Boat Club, we had 22km to the Brunei side of Border Crossing. It was a straight forward ride averaging 23km/hr all the way to the Border crossing. We were on a bridge just after the toll on the Brunei side when Heather began screaming something, “Ra, look look, crocodile”. My immediate reaction was to stop and whip out my camera out. Took two shots of the croc.  After that little drama, we went on pedalling towards the border crossing. We had 16km to go with nothing on our left nor our right. We kept cranking and at the border crossing itself, it was straight forward no dramas. We made it quickly to the Sarawak side and the same no dramas. After clearing both immigration points, we had 36km to go to Miri town and from what I read, and with the information I got, there will be absolutely nothing along the way. True enough, there was indeed nothing. We clocked 20km/hr until I gave up pedalling and decided to take a 5 minutes break.

By now, my water was running low and we were already on the coastal road going in to the small town of Tutong. Panic set in as I didn’t see any small stalls along the way. Unlike the Peninsular, here in Borneo, there was absolutely nothing. About 8km outside Tutong town, we saw a watermelon stall, and I immediately signalled Heather to stop. We finished the whole water melon, paid the RM6 and I was a happy man. We had about 14km to Miri city centre from here. We took a slow ride into Tutong and stopped at a Shell station for a water top up. A lady came to say hi and told us she had read about us in the newspaper. Cool.

I called up Uncle Ambrose from the Shell station and arranged to see him when we reached Miri. It was straight forward to Uncle Ambrose’s place but before that, Heather rode up to some hills to see the Grand Old Lady.

We arrived at Uncle Ambrose’s place feeling hot, hungry and dirty. Though it was just a short 70km ride, I felt it like a 100! We cleaned up, did our laundry and after a short reprieved from the heat, we went into the town for lunch and did our errands.

Back at Uncle Ambrose, Heather caught up with him and learnt about Sarawakian culture and history.

Another Hot Day

Day 4: Wednesday, 24 April 2013 - Bandar Sri Begawan (BSB) – Kuala Belait - 110km

Team RAB Day 4 Route

Ra:

I must say, we started really slow for the past few days and each day, Ride Around Borneo will throw the unexpected at us, at least for me. I was still trying my best to get use to the heat here. It was that brutal that on my fourth day into RAB, I was still swearing while riding in the heat. Ok, I can handle the sunshine but not when it gets hot from 8am and lasted up until 5pm.

Day 4, we stayed at the Youth Centre. Though it was cheap, I think it’s not ideal for cycling touring. We woke up really early as we have decided to leave from wherever we are staying earlier than before to avoid the heat. I didn’t get enough sleep as I was trying my best to finished the day3 report. By 430am, I was up and started to pack. At 5.45am, I saw Heather who was sleeping in the girls side of the hostel all smile with her panniers in hand. By 6am, all our bags were loaded on our bikes and I was brewing coffee. Somehow I could feel today’s ride was just going to be rough. We had aimed to be in Miri, Sarawak by 5pm but I doubt that will happen as we have t-shirt delivery , at Jerudong and the shop only opens at 11am. After a mug of instant coffee each, we set off to our first “tourist destination” that Heather had arranged for us to visit. I am always, game. Nothing to me is a waste of time.

BSB Mosque at sunrise

Heather at one of BSB's tourist sites

After the formal touristy visit over, some photos taken, we were off. First checkpoint, Jerudong.  I was told by our Bruneian contact that Jerudong is about 30km away. We should be there by 9.30am, this after factoring in the slopes, early morning traffic and stopping to ask for directions. It was really slow getting out of Bandar Seri Begawan with traffic, we only managed to do 10-15km/h.  Once we are out, both Heather and I picked up speed. I was clocking an average of 25km/h and smiling. I can feel my mojo coming back, though not fully but I am enjoying this morning’s ride. It was pretty straight forward to Jerudong with clearly marked signpost. A city dude can never get lost in BSB. Sometime around 9.20am we stop at a place name Kampung Tutong. Heather took some shots of a beautiful kampong house and when I saw the sign “Ketua Kampung”, I called out to Heather to come where I was and by chance, I casually asked the gentleman that welcomed me how far more to Jerudong?

“Oh Jerudong? It’s 20km back from where you came from.”
“Really? Back there?” I asked with a slight dismay.
“Yes, you’re now in Kampung Tutong...Tutong District...”

In my head, the word panic ran all over the place. We ain’t pedalling back 20km. Those slopes back there, don’t get me started.  We needed breakfast anyway and the house owner pointed us to a restaurant just next door. We were just lucky we met a helpful waitress who gave us her handphone  to make calls with our contact. Heather got everything sorted even, topped-up the waitress’ phone card so we can continue making and receiving calls. While waiting for the buyer, Faiz’s arrival, I managed to get some tailoring done, my bike cleaned and checked. Faiz arrived at 10.10am, collected the RAB t-shirts and gave us some navigational instruction to Tutong and beyond. All in all, we stayed 2 hours at the restaurant. We get moving again at 10.45am. We have a huge distance to cover today. 110km to Kuala Belait, Brunei. Another 18km to the border checkpoint between Brunei and Sarawak, then another 40km or so to Miri. I mentally worked the distance backwards and told her we should be able to be in Miri town by 6pm. Oh boy, how wrong I was. For the record, I have been pretty accurate with my estimation of our time of arrival in all my previous cycling tours. In Borneo, I am not going to estimate anymore, I am just going to take one checkpoint at a time.

After leaving the Mono Restaurant where we met Faiz, we didn’t stop and aimed to hit Tutong within an hour around 11.45am to 12.00pm. I don’t remember us stopping at Tutong as we didn’t feel hungry and we get on the new highway towards Kg Lumut. As our water was running low, we made a quick stop along the highway to get water and bananas. All look set, we have the sun up directly above us on the highway and I am ready to call it a day anytime. That was how hot and brutal I felt on the highway. 5 minutes into the ride, Heather pointed the cloud and ahead to me. I saw a shaded highway as far as my eye could see. I picked up speed going riding between 23-25km/h taking advantage of the 1-2 degree drop in temperature. Not long, the highway ended and we are back on the old road with no shade to be seen. I was by now swearing on the lack of roadside trees or at least shade. I kept focusing to be behind Heather, and the moment I saw her signalling left and slightly ahead, I saw something like a roadside stall, and I knew we were going for a water break. No, better than that, It was a watermelon stop, and to top it off, it was free of charge. The owner thought it was just a small gesture.  The stall owners, both husband and wife cut one water melon each between them. I kept going as if I haven’t eaten for days. I also found out the stall owner was actually from Kalimantan (Entikong). I took down his handphone number in case we needed someone to talk too regarding Kalimantan at a later stage. Not that we do not have Kalimantan contacts, but to have a few more as insurance wouldn’t hurt. I laughed when the husband told me he saw someone on a “sleeping bicycle” a day before us ride by right in front of his stall. I told him it was Simon Sandi attempting to ride Tip-to-tip of Borneo.

Before we left, we gave some money to the stall owner’s daughter as we thought it was the right thing to do.

Next checkpoint, Kg Lumut. About 20km from the watermelon stop. It was like 40km! I kept pedalling like Kg. Lumut was in front but nothing was ahead, not even a blardy tree. We kept going up to 2pm when I saw Heather stopping at a traffic junction and as practice, I came alongside to hear her.

“KFC?” Heather asked and smiled.

The next thing that came to mind was, is she having heat exhaustion or something? We are in the middle of the freaking nothing (well there is one oil refinery on our left, along the coast) and she asked me if I wanted KFC??? Just playing along, I thought to make our ride slightly fun, I asked, “really? Let go! But where?”

Heather pointed me to a KFC signboard on my right shoulder diagonally across the traffic junction. Seeing the KFC sign was like heaven, something which I would usually have ignored back home.

I just let Heather make the choice, for me at that point of time, I was ready to eat anything. And very quickly, it was 3pm and we had 36km more to go to Kuala Belait and by now, I realised it was going to be impossible to make it to Miri. We stopped couple more time as the heat was on my face. We reached Kg. Lumut and was greeted with nothing, really.  There wasn’t anything at Kg. Lumut but a name. So avoid it if you’re Riding Around Borneo next year.

After the stop and go, heat on my face with my teammate being patient enough, we saw the sign, Kuala Belait – 22KM. It was the most brutal 22 KM so far. We took the last stretch real slow as there was a road widening construction going on. At some stage, we were on the newly paved road. Just the two of us, pedalling and pedalling. After pedalling like an eternity, I saw the sign, K.B 14km. “What????”,  I hear myself screaming in my head. Time check 4.20pm. We need to be at the border crossing before dark. Heather stop ahead of me and I saw her popping one more electrolyte (her third I believe in a single day). If Heather need another electrolyte this late in the day, I am screwed. She is the team’s strongest rider! I took a sip from her bottle and we made the decision to get back out to the old road and sped. She flew right in front of me and I was fairly closed behind. We were at Kuala Belait junction in no time at all and talked ourselves to go on to the border crossing about 18km away. At this stage, 18km can multiply if we factor how long we were already on the road, the amount of water left and our fatigue level. At the toll, we checked with the officers if there were any accommodation across the border in Sarawak. No, was the answer. We made the hardest decision to pedal back 4km to Kuala Belait town for dinner and to look for a place to stay.

RA's refuelled and recharged look

Well, it was one of the longest day though the ride was short. 110km in Borneo is brutal. We didn’t find any cheap hotel and when pushed came to shove, we had to find shelter. Heather suggested the Police Station and I suggested the Fire Station. We ended up at Kuala Belait Boat Club, and was taken care by their senior staff Helen, up until we left the next morning.

I had to admit it was one of my toughest rides.

View from Kuala Belait Boat Club verandah

Heather:

We started to get back on track by making Nescafe 3 in 1 with the camping stove at the BSB Pusat Belia (Youth Center). We took advantage of the magic light in the early hours of the morning to take photos of the national mosque and nearby water village. Then we joined morning rush hour traffic slowly rolling along, stopping at many lights, and breathing in exhaust. A group of young children getting their exercise by playing soccer were distracted when they saw me. The teacher went with the flow and called them all to wave, then got their attention back.

Heather savouring coffee before hitting the road

We were on our way to deliver t-shirts to a bicycle shop in Jerudong, but missed the turn. An outstanding kampong house caught our attention so we stopped to speak to the owners. It had recently been featured in the film Jasmine, staring a top Indonesian actor. (I’ll have to check it out on YouTube someday). From the owners we found out we missed the turn and were 15km from where we wanted to be. Faris was kind enough to drive out to meet us for a tea and collect the shirts. He taught us that the Brunei government pays its citizens to go to school. Any program they choose is paid for and they are given an allowance. What a fantastic policy! Invest in the people and watch the society flourish. The full name of the country is Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Abode of Peace.

While we waited we had delicious nasi lemak (coconut rice) and coffee. As soon as we were rolling again I felt the caffeine and maybe because the previous day was short I had a bit of speed. It was a fun ride. With Miri as our goal, we tried to keep a decent pace, topping up our water regularly but not taking long rests. For about 10km a large dark cloud blocked out the sun and I felt the heat drop by a few degrees, again spurring me on. Ra was suffering from the heat. Knowing he liked watermelon, I stopped at a road side stand. The Auntie immediately began cutting up a sweet juicy watermelon for us- offering it for free. Ra chatted with the husband and received some information that may be useful for Kalimantan.

Just about time for another rest I saw a sign for KFC, another one of Ra’s favorites. He thought I was joking when I asked if he wanted KFC, and jumped at the opportunity when he saw the sign thinking that it would be air conditioned.  It was wide open but breezy and cool. Ra stripped down and probably could have camped there for the night, but I insisted we move along.

Along the way I saw a burning dumpster. It’s common along the routes in Asia to see trash piled up along the side of a highway. This was at least organized into a dumpster and was intentionally being burnt. I didn’t make much effort to learn about their recycling system, if they have one. The road sides were very clean, not much litter. Roadkill was more prevalent. Cats, dogs, snakes -garden size up to 4ft long, some coiled ready to strike- one baby turtle that was headed inland instead of out to sea. That’s what highway riding is like.

At Kampung Lumut we were able to turn off  the main road and visit a kampong (village). Remember Brunei is a wealthy country, so this village was full of mansions. The houses were gorgeous, there were 2 to 6 cars in most driveways, and all had satellites; the people were obviously flourishing materially. I hope their inner worlds are as rich. I happened to be ecstatic. It wasn’t until we turned into the village that my whole body eased in the quiet of small roads where the only sounds were birds and wind. We found our way to a beach line with pine trees and rested in the shade. Just off the coast the shoreline was dotted with oil rigs. It was tempting to jump in, but I didn’t want to ride in wet shorts so I resisted.

The beautiful Brunei sea

All day the conversation had been about making it to Miri or not. We’d been warned that the stretch of highway from the border to Miri was dangerous and we’d need to pass it before dark. (Since we’ve been told that is ridiculous.) Feeling satisfied by spending just a bit of time in a neighbourhood and getting a taste tiny taste of life in Brunei, I acquiesced to finding accommodation near the border. I was hoping for something on the Sarawak side because of the cost. Prices look the same between the two countries, but the value of the currency in Brunei is 2.4 times that of the Malaysian Ringgit. The words dollar and ringgit are used interchangeably, but the difference is significant.

About 18km before the border we were about to pass a toll booth and Ra needed water. He was signalling to the cars, desperate. He admitted he could not go any further and so the wisest thing to do would be to turn back 1km and stay in Kuala Belait. At 4pm the heat began to get to me too. The sun is usually waning in strength at that point, but it was still strong and my skin was beginning to burn. When we chose to turn back it was about 5:30 and I was red. I’d been able to spend a full day on the bike on peninsular Malaysia at the same latitude without burning. The sun is stronger here. (Why? Anybody know?)

We went for food first, then scouted for hotels. I wasn’t comfortable with the prices 110BND/264MYR/88USD and Ra agreed to seek an alternative. I suggested asking the police (who had been gracious hosts in Thailand), Ra preferred the Fire station, and we ended up at the sailing club. The manager accepted us immediately giving us three options- to set up a tent down stairs, lay out our mats on the veranda upstairs in the restaurant away from his guests who were still dining, or take the couches by the fan.  He also offered showers! We took long enough cleaning up that the diners cleared out and Ra made himself at home on the couch.  The rain which was a sprinkle when we arrived which grew to a heavy down pour as the night went on.  The staff of Filipino women took good care of us. They gave us the wifi password and we did a bit of work before turning in. Feeling that our planning was insufficient and contingency plans should be in place, I tried to gather information up until I could no longer keep my eyes open.  I chose my Thermarest mattress and Ra curled up on the small love seat.

In the night I woke once to catch a glimpse of the full moon as is dropped just below the roofline.

Kuala Belait Boat Club - home for the night

Army Memories and The Boat Ride

Day 3: Tuesday, 23 April 2013 – Lawas to Bandar Seri Begawan - 54km (plus a boat ride)

Team RAB Day 3 Route

Rahim woke up in quite a bit of pain. Yesterday he’d pulled his neck and the situation seemed to worsen through the night. He conceded to allow me to carry the excess baggage. We decided to carry on at an easy pace, hoping his neck would loosen up as we rode. Before beginning we had fruit and coffee with a plan to travel 27km to the Brunei border for our first stop. As soon as I loaded up my bicycle, a woman walking past on her way to work gave a thumbs up. I took it as a good sign, but as the day unfolded it turned out to be quite stressful.

By 8am it was quite hot. The highway was surrounded by lush green wild plants, but none of them provided shade. This section is well developed and modernized. There was very little happening along the highway and I began to wonder when the ‘adventure’ aspect of the ride would actually begin. Kalimantan...still a few weeks away.

Our base camp manager had been concerned about us making all the check points along the route. There are four checkpoints as we cut across the winding border between Sarawak and Brunei. He was here on a four wheeled adventure a few years back when things were less developed. So far, thankfully, the checkpoints have been too obvious. Due to the relaxed attitude, the staff might be off to a tea break, so it would be easy to pass through without a stamp. It is really the traveler’s problem because without the stamp they’d be turned back.

Base Camp Manager’s / Editor’s note: was more than a few years back. Even the road from Sindumin, Sabah to almost the border of Sarawak was just a dirt road back then. I remember it was a 12 hour drive from KK to Miri.

Before passing out of Sarawak we had a meal and took some time to study the maps. Having read that Brunei is a very conservative country, I opted to put on a sarong before entering. I appreciate people who enjoy fashion, but I’m not one of them. Even so I knew this outfit was a bit ridiculous, it fulfilled a function: keeping as much of me covered as possible. And it brought my temperature up a few degrees.
The first indication that we were in a new place was the signage. The main lettering is in Jawi a script adapted from Arabic to fit the Malay sounds. It came over with trade and religion a while back. Some signs include a transliteration, while others include other scripts like Chinese.

Over lunch Rahim told me about his time serving in the military. Singaporean men are required to serve for 2.5 years, or spend that same amount of time in jail. Ra did some special training in the jungles near by and remembered his boat trip in many years ago. He wanted to retrace his steps and take a boat to Bandar Seri Begawan. I was unenthusiastic, irritated even, because I wanted to cycle. I tried suggesting that we split and meet up the next day, but that isn’t what a team does. It took a while for me to come around. Ra was willing to ride on. After watching him wince every time he moved his arm or neck, I accepted that the best decision would be to get off the road.

Heather at the jetty waiting for boat to

Bandar Seri Begawan

On the boat, to distract myself from the disappointment, I enjoyed watching a family play with their daughter who was just learning to walk. I was a bit surprised to see her mom with hair exposed, in a t-shirt, and wearing shorts the same length as my cycling shorts. In the city I saw women dress more casually and some school girls in uniform without their hair covered. (On Peninsular Malaysia it is usually covered.) I can’t take my shirt off to cool down the way Rahim does, but I think it’ll be safe and not too disrespectful to carry on in my cycling attire.

The boat to Bandar Seri Begawan

A former student of Rahim’s helped us find a youth hostel which provided comfortable rest for the night. Brunei is the fifth wealthiest country in the world due to an abundance of oil and natural gas. The economy is linked to Singapore’s with an exact 1 to 1 exchange. Each country has their own printed money, but Brunei accepts Sing Dollars. We knew it would be expensive, so it was a great help to have a contact to point us in the right direction. It was easy to find, but we arrived just after the receptionist had stepped out for a few hours. Ra sweet talked the office into allowing us to shower, do laundry, make coffee and use wifi until he returned.

A communication break down with a group of Brunei cyclists meant to meet us and ride with us led to our meeting being prematurely cancelled. There was a lot of frustration around this which meant we needed to reorganize meetings with everyone who ordered t-shirts. Instead of enjoying the architecture and life in a new city we were tied to mobiles and computers unsure if we would be able to continue riding, or if we’d be stuck waiting to deliver t-shirts.

I’m sorry we will not have a chance to meet the Brunei group. It seems there are some superb athletes in the group. It would have enhanced our visit to experience Brunei hospitality and spend time with people who share our love of cycling.

We didn’t make our distance, we missed our chance to experience local culture and possibly make friends, we stayed in hotel again instead of camping, we went beyond triple our daily budget, and both lost our calm: failure on all counts, so early on. We are lucky to be here and have time to make up for the losses. Hope for a better day tomorrow.

Editor’s note: Be positive guys, it will always be better tomorrow…. chins up guys!



Ra:

Other than the stiff neck, we started the morning in a bit of a rush to avoid the morning heat. To save sometime, we had cut papaya and coffee in the room. The morning suddenly looked promising until I smashed the phone screen. Small matter, I can get it change along the way.

We got all gear our loaded and left sometime around 8 in the morning. First check point, Trusan about 20km out of  Lawas. Sounds straight forward? Not exactly. I was still struggling with the slopes throughout the entire 20km. Though it was a lighter load today as Heather took the duffle bag with the RAB t-shirts on her rear rack, but I still needed to get use to the heat.  My biggest enemy of all, continuous slopes and I really hope that after my first week in Borneo, I my fitness level will be back and I can get stuck into enjoying the ride and taking pictures again. One thing that made me smile this morning was that even with those slopes, I managed to pedal continuously the 20km until the border town of Mengkalap.

Heather at the immigration check point

We had a reasonable rest before crossing the border and by now the sun was scorching. I can either chose to stay until sunset and get nowhere or go on out and get on with it slowly. We rode towards the immigration post slowly and after clearing the Brunei checkpoint, the going got slow again for me. I wasn’t in form at all. Everything seemed to be going wrong. My stiff neck didn’t help at all. About 6km out of the Brunei checkpoint, we stopped at a park thinking I can jump into a stream or a river. I felt bad holding Heather back. We didn’t get to jump in the stream but we managed to freshen up using the tap water provided at the park toilet.

After a slow ride towards Bangar, about 5km from where we last stop, I passed by my old army training base in Temburong and old memories came back. The thought of the hard training there brought back smiles. The temptation to take some pictures got abruptly stopped. Long story short, I did miss the life then, and the idea of taking the boat out of Temburong came up, it would be a different experience, moreover with my stiff neck, it was a good break. We have a long way still to go and most of the time we would be on the road. We talked about it and the decision was made to be on the 3.30pm boat.

RA riding in Temburong, Brunei

The Hot and Tough Day

Day 2: Monday, 22 April 2013 - Beaufort to Lawas, 110km

Team RAB Day 2 Route

Heather:

Today waking up early was a bit easier. I was so happy to see a clear sky knowing our day would start out without rain. Ra pulled out the stove and made us some instant coffee so we could get a little computer work done. We delayed our start time one hour to get the work done, so we started out in the heat.

Back out on the highway, I passed a wooden kampong house with a man in a wheel chair sitting on the porch. He saluted me. His sincerity was touching and I was reminded to be grateful for everything I have that enables me to be on this journey.

The Kampong House

The scenery was beautiful, but not remarkable for photography.  I took a few road shots and then let go of thinking and simply enjoyed being in Borneo. At our first coffee shop things that I take for granted started to pop out. With the people in USA on my mind I started to shoot photos for people who have never seen local food, clothing, or cafes (warung). 

Our breakfast stop was planned for Weston, a small town on a bay. I imagined sitting facing the water, enjoying the scenery and fresh breeze while we ate. This isn’t typical Asian style, especially in a small town. There were no cafes near the water, but the one we found had my favourite Malaysian treat- a rice pancake, flavoured (and colored green) with pandan  filled with coconut and sugar. Ra was already feeling the heat and the weight of his load on the small hills. It was only 10am.

The heat continued to grow and the route provided no shade or wind. The extra heat radiating off the asphalt was perceptible. This is not to complain. We will be on unpaved roads before too long, possibly longing for the smoothness of a modern highway. It wasn’t long to our lunch stop, but it was necessary to stop for shade just to cool down. The idea is to make it fun, it’s not a race.

Sipitang was our lunch stop where we had our meal with a view of the sea. The food stall (semi-permanent restaurant) was set up in a public parking lot with seating arranged so that the kitchen blocked the view of the water.  Ra had them set up a table in the shade of a tree off to the side so we could feel the cool breeze and take in the scenery. I ordered in Malay, apparently well enough to convince Ida, the waitress, I had some command of the language, but only understood half her response. Ignoring Ra’s heat exhaustion, I pestered him throughout the meal to teach me words and phrases in Malay. Little by little I hope to communicate better in Malay.

I adored Ida immediately, her excitement was contagious. She was interested in our journey and with a huge smile said she’d like to do it someday. That was a first! I’ve never met a Malay woman with that adventurous spirit. As a gift, she brought over a local specialty fish, which I took a little bit of only because it was a gift from her. (Normally I prefer not to eat any meat or fish.) Wishing I could take her with us, I settled for a photo.

Before leaving town we stopped photography the jetty and the aunties fishing from it. (Any woman older than you can be considered an Auntie.) On the way back along the pier some strangers said hello and used Rahim’s name. They had read the article about us that was in the Sabah Daily Express two days before and recognized him.  This was the third conversation of the day that went on as if I was invisible. I grew up believing men and women are equal.  I know cultures are different; one is not right or better than another. Discovering the diversity of cultures is what attracted me to travelling in the first place. I am happiest and most comfortable where people of all races, religions, genders, etc. are given equal respect.

RA and his admirers

Sabahans are the most courteous drivers I’ve ever shared the road with. They allow so much space when they pass. If they need to overtake, they wait until the opposite side of the road is clear and give a wide berth. All day I was waving hello and thank you to smiling drivers and passengers. On the way to the Sabah/Sarawak border we stopped for a cool down in a small flower shack. Before setting out we tried some energy gel packets. I was skeptical and surprised to enjoy the banana flavour. (Thanks Gracie!)

Sarawak is the only Malaysian state to have its own immigration- even Malaysian citizens from other states need a stamp to pass. I don’t yet understand why, but I hope to gain more insight over the next week.

Editor’s note: Heather: both Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak requires Malaysian citizens from other states to stamp their passports or fill in a yellow form to be stamped if they are using their Malaysian Identity Card, more commonly referred to as IC. This internal immigration is one of the 10 points agreed between Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia on the formation of the modern day Malaysia. One of those 10 points is that Sabah and Sarawak has autonomy over immigration. This is a very simplified explanation to the internal immigration in East Malaysia.

Just after passing immigration we spotted a fruit stand. Like moths to flame we were drawn to bananas- a favourite among cyclists. No one was around, but there were prices written on the skin of the fruit, so I went behind the stall to grab a plastic bag. It became clear that this was run on the honor system. A Tupperware container with cash was off to the side. We paid, bagged our fruit and marvelled at the trust. This is my first time in Sarawak and I’m intrigued.



There were quite a few decent size hills into Lawas. I was tired, but knew I had it easy since Ra has the heavy load. He has about 20 t-shirts to deliver to people who have already ordered. And there are about 8 spares. If anyone between Brunei and Kuching would like to support us by buying a t-shirt we’d be happy to deliver it to you. Send Rahim a message with your preferred color and size. Tomorrow should be short and easy and we will make a concerted effort to begin early.

The Lawas River

Ra:

Day 2 was tough that I could only write this report a day later. We are now in Temburong, Bangar, Brunei waiting for our boat to bring us to Bandar Seri Bengawan, the capital city of Brunei. Read about it on RAB Day 03 report.

Now back to our day 2 report. As usual I woke up early. Day 1 was an introduction to Ride Around Borneo. In fact it was just a ride in a park other than the angry rain. Day 2 was something else. The moment we got out of Beaufort, the sun was in my face. I still remembered the first picture I took of Heather, it was nothing on the screen but the glare of the sun. It was already that hot at 8.30am. I have this relationship problem with the heat.  The rolling hills didn’t help either, what more with the additional load that I have (RAB t-shirts)

RA riding in the scortching sun



Our first check point for today was Weston. We picked it up while having coffee in the room. It wasn’t in our initial plans but we decided to give it a go. What do you know, there was nothing there. The place was like a retirement village. So, my advise to those of you thinking to head down to a fancy place called Weston, don’t!

We left as quickly as we got there. We were heading to Sipitang next.  I call this stretch the “blue stretch”. There is more blue than you can imagine. Have a guess as to what it is.*

The heat was bothering me throughout the ride from Weston. Sipitang was just about 40km but it felt like 60km. I took my time riding 2km behind Heather and tackling the small hills one at a time.
At last lunch in Sipitang. I saw a nice place that we could chill, eat and dry out my shoe and socks from yesterday’s rain.

During our quick lunch we met one excited waitress which was into Heather and her strength to cycle around Borneo. I thought the toughest was behind us now as we pedalled slowly towards Lawas. We found the border post easily. Just a little drama before crossing into Sarawak with my bike stand giving way. Small problem which was fixed later.

Immediately after crossing into Sarawak, we stopped at a fruit stall to get a bunch of bananas and a papaya for next morning’s breakfast. It was cool, shady and flat riding towards Lawas. But not long after, the sun was on us again. It was blistering hot and what was best was hills were thrown in along the way. A good combo. My speedometer drop from 20 to 15 and a little later after much battling with the hills, it dropped further to 12 and towards the end 10km/hr. “Another hill climb?, I am going to stop and have a break”. I hear myself saying. By now, Heather would be about 3km ahead of me, and knowing there is no way I could catch up with her.  I decided to stop at a small stream 20km out from Lawas to take a dip. The heat was going to slow me down. I went back to my bike and kept telling myself, in an hour or so we would be in Lawas. No, 15km outside Lawas, I was texting Heather, “Hey go ahead find a cheap hotel. I will ride in slowly”. I was with a friendly villager who served me an ice-cold mineral water and a can of coke. I return the kindness and gave her girl RM 4.00.

The lady from my last rest stop told me that 4km ahead I would cross a bridge. There I stopped to take a quick picture and I was told the contractor working to upgrade the bridge that there was no way I would make it into Lawas before dark.

I took a quick look at the time and it was already 6pm (here in Borneo, 6pm is just like 7pm), and I was still 11km out. I can do 10km in 30 minutes usually during training, in an ideal world, yes 10 km in 30 minutes. In Sarawak, no. A lady stopped her car before the bridge and we started chatting. I kept making excuses to leave but she kept talking away. In my head I kept telling myself, “we are late Ra!!!! Get the fark out!”.

Even at the last ten kilometres , the slopes just didn’t want to go away. It was getting dark so I kept goin until I saw the 4km marker to Lawas, and then road flattened out. I sped all the way to Lawas. It was a relief to read Heather message saying that she was at Sugar Bun having a well deserved break.

*For anyone unfamiliar with the current situation in Malaysia, the blue has to do with political campaigning. Blue represents the colour of the ruling party’s flags. Malaysia is heading to the polls in a couple of weeks and so the politicians and the political parties are full swing into campaigning. 

Getting Ready for Ride Around Borneo - RA's Story

Prep for Borneo took me a year - to get back in shape after the lull period of post Sumatra and to get my equipment upgraded or changed. A year was just enough to set everything up, I had thought. Not true. Well, more or less I got what I wanted but there are areas for improvement. Equipment wise, I had about 90% of the gear I wanted with me. No JVC video camera, No Toughbook Laptop, No satellite phone (all these would have been ideal for Ride Around Borneo).

Physical and mental training started way back in April 2012. I began with short distances. I did 10km fun rides on the park connector for a month. Just cycling, having fun and getting the groove back. After Sumatra, I kind of lost a little confidence to be on the road. Next I brought up my ride to 20km around where I lived and getting use to the traffic again. Slowly I progressed to 30km, with climbs, 40km with climbs and in August 2012, I was cycling around the island regularly with regained confidence. I knew then physical alone was not enough to ride around the third largest island, so by September 2012, I include mental training with every ride. One example is once I am done with a pre-planned 60km ride, I would try to convince myself to do another 20km. By December 2012, I was happy to see the results. I didn’t miss or skip much of my training schedule but something else failed -meeting potential sponsors or the lack of it. Team RAB has not secured any sponsors and there was no way we could secure anything this late. I can’t do much but just let friends know that if they know of somebody or any company that wanted to support Ride Around Borneo, get them to contact me. Nothing happened, no one called.

In January 2013, in need of a break, I took my training to Kelantan, Malaysia and rode down to Kuantan (in Pahang, Malaysia) with Abang Dzul and Ken Kassem. It helped to take my mind of chasing for sponsorship and just enjoy the ride. From the Kelantan to Kuantan training trip, I knew where I was in terms of my physical, mental and my equipment and quickly I got into action to get everything sorted. My bicycle was fine, it was just in need of some part upgrades. Physically, I am 80% fit and mentally I am at 70%. It was January and I had two month to peak.

During Chinese New Year 2013, Azman, Katya and I did the Batam to Barelang (Indonesia) route. I thought it was one of the toughest training I had.  We had so much fun though and I truly want to encourage all my cycling friend to do this at least once.

Come March 2013, I was so busy with work I didn’t have the chance to train regularly. Panic set it and I tried my best to squeeze or make time to ride my bike. This was also the month where I decided to change my bike and bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker from Robin Teo. (You can read my review on the bike in later post).

April 2013 came and I was still busy with work, and then suddenly I was in Sabah and getting myself ready for Ride Around Borneo. No doubt this going to be tough but I am going to do this one day at a time.

RA and Surly

Ride Around Borneo Preparation - Heather's Thoughts

When I was invited to join Ride Around Borneo, I was hesitant to accept because it is a different style of touring than I was accustomed to. At the time the distances appeared daunting. In the four months preceding the start of RAB I toured Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and East Malaysia. That tour allowed me to train on the road to get comfortable with longer distances and camping. I still enjoyed the freedom of making fun first priority. This meant I could explore cities for a few days, get off the bike and trek into the mountains for a few days, and change and adapt my route as I went. No one knew where I was or if I was alive or reaching my planned destinations or not. I enjoy that anonymity. Having only been on solo tours I wasn’t sure how I would handle the interpersonal elements. A lucky chance meeting also gave me a taste of sharing the road and touring experience with another rider for a few weeks.

After four months on a solo tour I took a few days off on Pulau Pangkor to shift gears. It was clear that I was at my limit for touring and if it weren’t for the charities benefiting from the ride, I would have dropped out of RAB. I took the time on the beach to consider why I was doing the ride and to read a bit about the land and the people we’d be encountering. My interest and curiosity were renewed. With the number of supporters turning up to donate and buy t-shirts growing and the thought of people benefitting, I felt inspired to accept the challenges ahead.

In Kuala Lumpur the day before my flight I indulged in a few things that I might not have access to for a few months and did some last minute shopping. I picked up a box to pack my bike, then decided to meet a friend for coffee. When I returned to my hotel I set about packing. When it was time to take off the bike pedals I was stuck. They wouldn’t budge. Failed attempts to solicit help left me stranded and mildly stressed. Good conversation over dinner distracted me for a while, but when I returned to pack the problem was still there. I imagined the possibility of calling Rahim to tell him I’d missed my flight because I couldn’t pack my bike. Finally at 12am a maintenance worker from another hotel agreed to help me. He tried using a special tool and a lot of sweating and pushing, eventually he resorted to a lubricant spray and it spun right out. Packing was complete at 2am leaving me 2 hours to nap before setting off to the airport.

Reassembly was much easier. Actually it was done for me by Rahim and Alex Voo while I was being interviewed for an article in the Sabah Daily Express.

Heather being interviewed at Borneo Beach House

RAB IS ON THE ROAD!!!

Here is the day one report from Team RAB riders Heather and RA..... enjoy their story..... QH-BCM

Day 1: Sunday, 21 April 2013 KK-Beaufort - 97km Heather: At 6:15 Rahim gently tried to wake me but my eye lids wouldn’t stay open. A few lazy days on Pulau Pangkor spoiled my early morning habits. In my half waking state I couldn’t believe the day was finally here to begin Ride Around Borneo. Dragging my lethargic body and heavy limbs out of bed I began moving very slowly. Having taken care of most of my packing the night before I was grateful I didn’t need any mental faculties to prepare my bike. The boys running the guest house had been up late thoroughly enjoying themselves with drinking games, so no one was around to unlock the office with our bikes. They stirred just as we brought out all our luggage. As soon as the bikes were loaded, Alex Voo arrived to accompany us part way. He took our photo at the gate and we were off. If Kota Kinabalu sees much morning traffic it doesn’t begin until well after 7am. We headed out of town, past the airport to a market for breakfast. Nourished and caffeinated we continued on the highway. The ride was smooth and flat with many photo stops. The three of us played leap frog- one rider racing ahead to take photos of the others as they passed, then the next leader gaining some distance to do the same. When we turned to scenery shots different things caught our eyes. I went for birds, flowers, and houses. Alex was into construction and railway equipment. Ra was into landscapes shots. I was happy thinking of the variety of perspective our followers would see through our various lenses.

Heather, please do send me those lovely photos you took and going to take so that it can be shared with our followers.... QH-BCM

It was a pleasant warm morning that brought us to Papar for our first rest stop. At the roundabout, waiting for everyone to come together I got alot of friendly waves, a few gentle honks, and some flying kisses. Being Sunday the Kopitiam was run by the whole family, from Grandparents to Aunties and pre-teen girls. Not something I’m accustomed to seeing in the west. We commented on how lucky we were with the weather and loaded up to continue. A few kilometres down the road it began to sprinkle. The intensity of rain grew and being well ahead of schedule we sought shelter. Alex chose to turn back at this point, so we wished him a safe journey knowing he would be joining us again in Tawau, or maybe greeting us on our return to KK. Rahim and I continued a bit and the rain became even stronger. I spotted a cafe and turned back to check with Ra about his preference to continue or rest and he was already pointing at the cafe. We sat through alternating waves of torrents and light rains thinking it would eventually pass. After two hours and two rounds of hot drinks we decided to carry on. Wet clothes gave me a chill so I set out quickly to warm myself up. Ra took his time able to continue shooting with his waterproof camera, so we were separated for a short while. We rode into Beaufort together and had some rojak before finding a warm hotel with a hot shower. I promptly fell asleep while Ra jumped on facebook. Now, with a belly full of nasi goring (fried rice)I’m ready to call it a night. Hope we see more sun tomorrow! RA: “Do you want to start Ride Around Borneo tomorrow?” I remembered asking Heather, when I got back from the bathroom. I didn’t sleep well the last 2 nights at Borneo Beach House, some guest were watching the television until the early hours of the morning. Besides that, the stay at Borneo Beach House was great. The boys’ hospitality was superb. We got dinner cooked for us on Friday and Saturday nights, simple but yummy meals. We got all our stuff down by 6.50 am and was ready for the start of RAB. It was really a simple affair. Heather and I took one look at each other and inside I softly said, “Here we go teammate”. Her smiled signal that she was ready. Alex took a few shots of us at the start point and we, Team RAB rode off with me leading and Heather not far behind. About 10km out, we stop for our first coffee break. A great start! I needed coffee for all my systems to function. I did manage to walk around the market next to the coffee shop to check out the locals, bought some Malay kueh (cakes/snacks), and took some photos before heading to join Heather and Alex for coffee. I was happy. Next stop, Papar, about 25km away. So far our ride has been good. With nice people on a Sunday morning giving us the thumbs up and friendly honking. I even witnessed how a big lorry slowed down behind Heather and waited for the other side to be clear before overtaking. A very considerate action. Getting in to Papar wasn’t as straight forward, at least for a Sunday morning. Simon Sandi lied to us. He told us it was flat all the way! Not true, Simon! Man, the second climb was, “smack up yo!” I almost dismounted my bike to push. But all in the spirit of cycling I kept going and promised to write this small piece just for Simon Sandi. Anyway, we all made it to Papar as happy as the bird Heather and I saw high up on the tree in the middle of our first climb. Whilst having our coffee at the corner coffee shop at Papar, we saw the dark clouds rolling in. The immediate thing on my mind was to get moving before the rain came. As anticipated the rain came just 10 km out Papar. We didn’t expect to the rain get heavier but we did encouraged Alex Voo (RAB Local Liason/Co-ordinationg Officer) to turn back. He did, leaving Heather and I to ride on, and less than 2 km away, the big angry rains came. Heather at the front turn back to me and immediately I gave her the turnaround sign (read: turn around, I saw a chicken wing shop). We got 3 boiled eggs, paid for by a fine gentleman, 4 hot drinks and a simple vegie with white rice, and spent two hours at the coffee shop. Heather managed to get the laptop out and to do some writing. At 2.30pm, we made the decision to get going in order for us to reach Beaufort by 4pm. The rain was still falling but we have no other choice but to carry on. Riding in the rain reminds me of my younger days, so I didn’t actually mind. I rode slow and steady, and tried scanning for outstanding scenery or subjects to shoot. Heather was way ahead of me. I didn’t mind either, as we had already established where to stop, how long to wait and all the SOP of Team Riding. I caught up with Heather at the last 12km mark before Beaufort, and handed her a packet of Papaya which I bought earlier, about 5km back. We rode into Beaufort together and the first thing on our minds were, get soya bean drinks, with the Indian Rojak being a bonus. Found a reasonable price hotel in the little town of Beaufort. I was happy with our first day’s performance and no doubt, Ride Around Borneo will get tougher. We are going to do this one day at a time.

Well done guys.... QH-BCM