Deutsch
Singapore/Singapur Round the world trip 2007
7/7
Today was a gift. We awoke to a cooling rain that let up by the time we finished a buffet breakfast with an enormous selection of foods. The clouds covered us all day and at times we had a slight tail wind. We are getting use to Malaysia. The roads are wide, often with a dedicated shoulder for motorbikes and the traffic is cautious of us, plus we are greeted with constant thumps up, big smiles and laughter. The Malaysians are a warm and kind people. We quit today in a riverside town, Batu Pahat, with plenty of energy for a couple more hours on the bike, but the next town was 60kms, 3 to 4 hours for us. Tomorrow we hope for another cool, cloud cover day!
We are often asked why a tandem bike (as opposed to a car, motorcycle or even two bikes). As we passed over a small river, both of us caught a glimpse of a huge monitor lizard adrift in the water. Art went back to photograph him, but he submerged his 4-5' body. Art also sees snakes, but doesn't tell me until we are well past. Today he saw a 6' black and white snake and a Cobra, both dead - thankfully. There are over 100 snake species in Malaysia plus countless other reptiles, many poisonous.
We are learning about local and religious customs so we don't offend these gentle Muslim folks. We don't touch people with the left hand (used for toileting) or on the top of the head (spiritual center), and Art will try to discern where he whizzes and not pee in the ceremonial basin, like he did yesterday at the gas station. The prayer rugs should have been a sign he was in the wrong room?!
Cemeteries have always held an interest for us, seeing how different cultures treat their dead. Here we have seen Muslim cemeteries with head stones for a person, close together (head and foot? toward Mecca); Chinese burial plots like the one we saw in Lombok, a mound of land held back by a semi-circle of concrete embellished with designs and personage designations; and lastly, Christian sites with the familiar cross and parting messages. Cultures, here, do not clash, but honor and respect each others differences.
July 08 Singapore/MelakaWeltreise 2007 >
<
July 05 Singapore/Batu Puhat Weltreise 2007
Today was a gift. We awoke to a cooling rain that let up by the time we finished a buffet breakfast with an enormous selection of foods. The clouds covered us all day and at times we had a slight tail wind. We are getting use to Malaysia. The roads are wide, often with a dedicated shoulder for motorbikes and the traffic is cautious of us, plus we are greeted with constant thumps up, big smiles and laughter. The Malaysians are a warm and kind people. We quit today in a riverside town, Batu Pahat, with plenty of energy for a couple more hours on the bike, but the next town was 60kms, 3 to 4 hours for us. Tomorrow we hope for another cool, cloud cover day!
We are often asked why a tandem bike (as opposed to a car, motorcycle or even two bikes). As we passed over a small river, both of us caught a glimpse of a huge monitor lizard adrift in the water. Art went back to photograph him, but he submerged his 4-5' body. Art also sees snakes, but doesn't tell me until we are well past. Today he saw a 6' black and white snake and a Cobra, both dead - thankfully. There are over 100 snake species in Malaysia plus countless other reptiles, many poisonous.
We are learning about local and religious customs so we don't offend these gentle Muslim folks. We don't touch people with the left hand (used for toileting) or on the top of the head (spiritual center), and Art will try to discern where he whizzes and not pee in the ceremonial basin, like he did yesterday at the gas station. The prayer rugs should have been a sign he was in the wrong room?!
Cemeteries have always held an interest for us, seeing how different cultures treat their dead. Here we have seen Muslim cemeteries with head stones for a person, close together (head and foot? toward Mecca); Chinese burial plots like the one we saw in Lombok, a mound of land held back by a semi-circle of concrete embellished with designs and personage designations; and lastly, Christian sites with the familiar cross and parting messages. Cultures, here, do not clash, but honor and respect each others differences.
