Sunstroke!

Friday, Nov 9th
Muar, Malaysia




We knew that yesterday was going to be a long day...46 miles between towns...but it was longer than expected due to heat and sun scorching. We got a fairly early start out of Pontian...8:00 (ok, not THAT early, but come on...we're on vacation here!...and getting up any earlier than 6:30 just isn't happening...not here...not now...not yet, anyways!)

So off we pedaled to all the usual cheers and honks and waves and smiles:) It is fun...for a while...being a celebrity. Then it started to feel a bit burning on my legs even with the SPF 50 on them, so up popped the umbrella. And we stopped every 5 miles for juice...then rice and veggies...then more juice (this time cane juice in a bag with a straw for 30 cents US)...and I got hotter and hotter and hotter. Hot flashes! When I get hot...I get HOTTER!!! It just isn't fair. And I hadn't yet planned on how I would handle the heat, other than trying to ignore it...and it wasn't working. I finally told Sylvia I needed ice and pretty quickly. We found a store with bottled water and I dumped it on my head. But I was feeling like vomiting. Not good. Gotta keep going. "Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles...pedal on..." Eclectic Motorbike




This photo is all the kids going home after stopping by the "Restaurant" after school. So adorable!

We managed to pedal our way into town, turn on my old iPhone (for which we've bought a SIM card so the GPS works - Sylvia's Garmin is tracking our route (Facebook "Myrtle the Turtle Tour"), but not picking up SE Asia during the day for us to use) and searched for a hotel. We'll took the first big one...big so that there's room for the trikes...inside:) I was too beat to go any further. Got to our room, got a shower, and collapsed on the bed...for the night...except Facebook time. Sylvia tried to go down for dinner about 7 pm (I passed...out) but there was no food in the hotel and it was pouring out and there was no restaurant nearby. So crackers and Nutella for dinner, pour girl. Me, I had no interest in food. Just sleep.

Today was a different story. Not going to let that happen again. Carrying a bottle of water just for soaking the bandanna to keep my neck cool. And it worked. I had a great day! Another fun day of greetings from the locals, juices at the roadside stands, taking in the sites as we pedaled by. Had a lot of fun with the girl at a fruit stand where we got the little bananas and a small pineapple that we could eat for dessert...just the right size. She was able to answer our many language questions: what's the word for meat, milk, lemon, sugar, fruit...and no. Oh, we're ready now!


We also picked up a follower. This guy with few teeth who had been biking the other way, turned and fell in behind us. The girl at the fruit stand told us his name was Laymon. She seemed concerned that he was following us, stopping whenever we stopped, but we weren't. He seemed harmless especially since there was two of us. We stopped to shop for some danglies for my trike...I got purple plastic flowers...he stopped with us. We stopped for lunch...he stopped with us. So I told him to go get something to eat...or should I say, motioned to him...and he did. The least we could do was feed our fan club:) It's so funny how our conversations at these tiny Ma and Pa lunch places go. Sylvia's good at just talking away like they understand her and she understands them...and I guess they sorta do. We seem to get what we want. She has the knack! After lunch, Laymon shook our hands and headed on his way. What a treat meeting him was withour our being able to communicate one word.

Tonight we're in the lap of luxury...a 5 star hotel...for $50 total for the night. Splurge! That's $10 more than we've paid for scuzzy hotels...like last night...where we needed a 3rd towel to put on the wet bathroom floor and the front desk gave Sylvia a very difficult time, finally relented, and then someone showed up at our door asking for the towel back because we could only have TWO towels in our room (we gave him the wet one off the floor and asked for something to put down...Towel Natze!)

Goodnight!


Sent from my iPhone

BagLady

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