Four days in Kuala Lumpur

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Bryan Keith

Not really bicycle touring. We took the bus from Penang to Kuala Lumpur and rode about 4km from KL Sentral to Chinatown. Four days later we left KL by train to Tampin, and we didn’t cycle at all during our days in the city. It appeared to be a very unfriendly city for cyclists, but we can’t really say firsthand.

Back in Lanta we bought plane tickets from Singapore to İstanbul, and in Penang we planned out the rest of the days. We will have time for a little riding — from Tampin to Singapore — but we basically skipped the whole bit from Kangar to Tampin. I don’t really know what we missed.

Before getting settled in Kuala Lumpur, it took some time checking quite a few hotels before we found a good one that would accept our bicycles. What a surprise then to see this view of Merdeka 118 from our balcony!

20250326_193102 by bryandkeith on flickr

A lot of what we did in Kuala Lumpur was walk around and look at buildings. We didn’t even have to leave the hotel to see the second tallest building in the world! For good food all it took was walking downstairs to the street where there were many options. On our first night we had this chicken and rice clay pot just in front of our hotel.

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Six days in Penang

Posted on August 27, 2025 by Bryan Keith

Penang Island was the first place I visited on my first trip to Malaysia over 30 years ago. What I remember best from that trip was the time we spent snorkeling on the Perhentian Islands. Those islands are much more popular and developed now, and I knew I didn’t want to go back there. But after reading The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, I was excited to go back to Penang.

Penang has a lot to offer: Indian, Chinese, and Malay cultures, Thai and Burmese Buddhist temples, British colonial architecture. It’s quite the variety in a small, accessible area. Where to start? With the Indians, because, well, their food was the best! Heavy, rich north Indian curries in the equatorial heat? Yes! and loved them. The bread was fantastic.

IMG_20250318_124542 by bryandkeith on flickr

This Tamil meal reminded me a bit of Sri Lanka, still my favorite country for eating. There’s even bitter gourd and moringa on the plate here.

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Bicycle touring Thailand: from Koh Kradan south to Malaysia

Posted on August 17, 2025 by Bryan Keith

Ferda and I are pretty lazy bicycle tourists. We rode with Jack for about three weeks from Cha-Am to Krabi. Then we spent the next three weeks island hopping with more time sitting on the beach than sitting in the saddle. After a week on Koh Kradan we pedaled four days to Kangar, the largest city in Malayia’s smallest state, Perlis.

In these last days in Thailand we were reminded of the good things about bicycle touring here: it’s very easy to be in Thailand, the food is good, the hotels are clean and comfortable, and the people are wonderful. We never did find an adventurous side like in Sulawesi or the Philippines. Whether that’s an advantage or disadvantage depends, I suppose, on your point of view.

On the boat from Koh Kradan to Kuangtungku we got some views of Koh Muk. We’d heard good things about staying there.

20250314_085449 by bryandkeith on flickr

That evening we found a great hotel in Yan Ta Khao

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A week on Koh Kradan

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Bryan Keith

With the excuse to practice the freediving skills that we learned on Koh Lanta, Ferda and I spent a week at Ao Niang Resort on Koh Kradan. I had read that Ao Niang has some of the best beach-accessible snorkeling in Thailand. It’s the best I’ve seen, but that doesn’t say much. There was enough in the water to entertain us for a week. The coral’s not great, but I have lots of lousy photos to give an idea of the creatures you might see underwater at Ao Niang.

Above ground is kind of pretty. Here’s Ao Niang Beach with the resort bungalows.

20250314_081902 by bryandkeith on flickr
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A week on Koh Lanta

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Bryan Keith

We continued our island hopping, less cycling, and a little snorkeling — from Koh Phi Phi to Koh Lanta. A week on Koh Lanta went by really quickly. Ferda and I spent three days taking a freediving course with Lion at Phoenix Divers in Ban Sala Dan, the same town where the ferry from Phi Phi dropped us on Lanta. We had a classroom day, a pool day, and an open sea day. Mostly we learned techniques: relaxation breathing, duck dives, kicking with long fins. In the pool we did both static apnea (how long can you hold your breath under water?) and dynamic apnea (how far can you travel underwater with fins?). In the open water we practiced our duck dives and rescuing a disabled diver from 5m. Our goal was to learn a bit to improve our snorkeling. Along the way we earned PADI freediver certification for whatever that’s worth.

Here’s Ferda rescuing our instructor, Lion.

PICA0052 by bryandkeith on flickr

As a little bonus, almost as soon as we had completed all our skills tests for the certificates, a zebra shark swam under us.

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