November 5, 2012
The Aman Sari hotel was a real find. The room was comfortable and we were able to use the elevator to get all our gear to the 4th floor. Interestingly, there is no 4th floor because it is superstitious for the Chinese. We had to hit the 5th floor button to get the 4th floor. The hotel had a nice buffet for breakfast although I wasn't really feeling so well. I had some tea the night before that had milk in it and then took some magnesium to relieve my tired muscles. Kathryn had also found some maca at the organic store yesterday and I think the combination left me with a serious case of the runs. Even though I wasn't feeling the best, I decided to brave it hoping that riding would make me feel better.
After looking at today's route on the map, we had an inkling that the ride was going to be rough. There didn't seem to be an easy way out of Johor Bahru without getting on an expressway. And we weren't sure bikes are allowed on the expressway.
We loaded up the trikes to find that the hotel staff had covered our trike seats with big plastic bags to keep them dry. They had been out in the driveway all night under the watchful eyes of a 24 hour security guard. The morning was cloudy and the roads were still wet from the nights' rain but the skies looked to be clearing as we took off.
The riding was alright for the first 5 miles getting out of Johor Bahru but then we had to get on an expressway. Johor Bahru is a big city that is deceptive because everyone talks about it as a suburb of Singapore. It's like Portland's Vancouver but on a huge scale. We tried many times to find another way but we always had to get back on the expressway. This was a long, stinky, smoggy, hot and difficult ride. Especially crossing the on and off ramps. At one point we missed an interchange and then it was miles until we could make a u-turn. Uuuggghh!
I think this was the longest 20 miles I have ever ridden. O my goodness it was hot. We had orginally planned on getting to Pekan Nanes but settled for Taman Nusa Perintis. We were both completely spent and tired of riding in the auto exhaust. This town had a lot of very large factories all around and so we figured there must be a hotel. It was a bit tricky but we eventually found the center of town where there was a decent hotel that let us keep the trikes in the lobby. There was a large area around the corner that had many wonderful food choices which was very welcome. I am truly loving the fresh melon juices.
It sure felt good to somewhere safe for the night. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.
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