Malacca. The city of colours.

We started our cycle out of Singapore with quiet excitement. Something about the idea of cycling over a bridge into another country at sunrise felt electrifying. On the road at 5am, we anticipated a long but unique journey and started the ride with our heads down on the smooth and large roads of the central highways. We made excellent time, travelling straight through the island and arrived at the complicated road junction at the Singapore-end of the bridge. We joined the queue for motorbikes and were funnelled through, 3 bikes wide, into an immigration check area. It was chaotic but organised (as you’d imagine from Singapore!) so we were through in no time and cycling on the bridge with views of the strait as the sun kissed the horizon. After a brief crossing, we joined another queue to enter into Malaysia. More immigration checks and some trial and error we managed to get out onto the road that would take us north west. The trail and error did not sit well with immigration officers who had clearly been watching us on cctv, as we zig zagged around the maze of roads inside the port. After an officer raced after us on a motorbike and a less than helpful exchange, he left us to our motorway cycle. 

The cycle through Johor was certainly electrifying but for the worst reasons. The roads are not built for cyclists, or anyone not in a car to be honest and our only option to get to the smaller roads was to cycle along motorways in the hard shoulder. Coupled with the intense heat from a cloudless day (37 degrees) we were not ‘living our best life.’ We stopped at a roadside cafe to have some breakfast and realised that we’d failed to get out Malaysian cash. We’d fallen into the ApplePay trap of Singapore, paying for everything on our phone! With a quick culture adjustment and no ATMs for miles, we were stumped. However, a lovely local couple overheard our predicament and offered to buy us breakfast. It was such a lovely gesture and we joined them for a traditional Malaysian buffet style Malaysian – chicken, fish and rice. It was super tasty and super spicy! We were blessed with amazing travel stories from Amir and his wife, including their extensive USA itinerary. Their kindness was unmatched and I'll be forever grateful. 

Due to the ever increasing heat, we had to get real about the 80km we still had to cycle. Neither of us were in a happy mood and the sarcastic humour was out in force. Somehow we psyched each other up and agreed to break up the ride with a brief stop in an air conditioned 7-Eleven every hour. Almost fortuitously (or more likely the seed that grew this plan) a 7-eleven was available on route approximately every 20km. So on we went, up the motorways, exposed to the sun and I honestly couldn’t tell you much about it. All my effort was concentrated on ignoring the cars and thinking of witty comebacks to our incomprehensible conversation – seriously, none of it made sense. Although we did agree that we needed to jazz up our bicycles. 

Fast forward, with 8 hours cycling in the bag, we crested a small hill and entered the pretty (and thankfully smaller) roads of Malacca. We saw our first roundabout in 3 months and started to celebrate. Our hotel was super cool, with an abandoned industrial feel with lots of plants, plaster falling off the wall (in an artistic way!) and a courtyard that felt a lot like Bali. After a shower, we took a quick nap on our bed, right underneath the air con and waited for the intense heat to subside. Safe to say, after 2 days of cycling in the exposed sun, I’ve got some pretty hilarious tan lines. A 3 level gradient on my legs, t shirt tan and very pale feet. To help with this, we went shopping in one of the Chinatown markets and purchased some breezy, colourful items that covered up the offending lines and help us fit in with the locals.

Malacca was a great place for roaming around, exploring the small side streets and experiencing the tasty food around every corner. I loved the vibrant river walk, with colourful murals, quirky cafes and boats that ABSOLUTELY MOTORED up and down the river. In the evenings, the town seemed to get even brighter with an array of neon lights, flashing LEDs and outrageously loud music, all competing for your attention. It’s enough to give you a migraine, but if you lean in (and don’t move too quickly) it’s a fun vibe to experience whilst munching on tasty food! We found ourselves in a tiny cafe bar which had a record store upstairs. The owner’s brother plays records there every day and he had a fantastic collection ranging from Elvis, to Rolling Stones and Adele!

We spent an afternoon walking around the Dutch Square full of red buildings, down the river and up to the top of a hill to visit the A Famosa. We bought some tourist hats to keep the sun at bay and admired the different influences from Malacca’s past. Once occupied by the Dutch, Portuguese and the British, you really get a sense of the colonialism. It was particularly noticeable when we ascended 80m on Malacca’s revolving tower – you can see the different period of housing in little pockets throughout the town. There’s such a fantastic 360 view from this tower that we felt like we’d seen everything there is to see! We were ready to move on from the bright lights and the noisy rickshaws with their bangin’ electro/Disney music. 

Turn up the heat.

Cue montage of more cycling in the heat, we were back on the road. However, with our new routine of 20km then a break in an aircon shop scenario, things were going a lot smoother. Well, until we had a few bike issues. This was unfortunate as we had a really long day into KL and time was not on our side. Aaron’s bike suffered a broken spoke and we spent a considerable amount of time on the grass verge in the dark (pre sun-rise) trying to remove it and loosen the others. We didn’t have much choice so chose to continue riding to the nearest town to see if we could fix it. Cycling behind Aaron, I’ve never seen a wheel wobble as much as I saw his shaking that morning. When we got to the next town we distracted ourselves with another buffet breakfast (delicious) whilst we waited for the bike shop to open and subsequently fix the wheel. Handily we’ve brought some spare parts with us which made this fix quite simple. Next up I got a flat tire. However it seemed to be a slow puncture so we considered our options and decided to pump it up and hope for the best. Later in the hotel we swapped it out and it was indeed, the tiniest of holes you’ve ever seen. 

The cycle into and through Kuala Lumpur was possibly the sketchiest we’ve done so far. KL is a nest of snake-like roads with cars zooming along and swerving off at junctions without indicating. I didn’t like this at all but I’ve got more comfortable on my bike recently so I managed to find it bearable! We were rewarded with an excellent hotel. A little apartment with a mini kitchen and space to spread out. Now to reward ourselves with a well-deserved drink at one of the fancy bars!