Sleepless in Selangor

Distance: 80km
Weather: Hot!

We enjoyed a rest day at the Banting Hotel, where the friendly staff went out of their way to help us and we were surrounded by food stalls, an internet cafe and a supermarket.

We caught up on the latest House episode and some much needed rest, and during the afternoon when the rain poured down we were glad we'd chosen this particular day to have a break from the bike.

The day after our rest day was hot. Very hot. An English newspaper I found during the day had an article about the hot spell Malaysia was experiencing at the moment. We decided to ride hard until the early afternoon and then escape the heat in the afternoon.

We did a good pace on the flat road, but the scenery didn't change much and the biggest challenge was maintaining focus on avoiding potholes. At one stage, my focus slipped as I day dreamed and as a result I missed Sam's warnings about a massive pot hole. My bike thumped down and up the other side again. A few heated words were exchanged about the importance of missing these huge bumps. 


I was a bit shaken and my pace slowed a bit. I didn't realise how much though until I looked up ahead and I couldn't see Sam. I wasn't too worried, I knew he'd go down the road for a while and then pull over to wait. But as what seemed like miles (probably about 2km) ticked over there was still no sign of him. I scanned the front of every service station and food shop I passed for his bike, but no Sam. I started to worry that I had passed him, and where should I stop to wait for him... but just then I saw him sitting in the shade on the side of the road. We grinned sheepishly at each other and he told me he'd held onto a truck for a while and had gotten further ahead than intended.


We made it to the town of Kuala Selangor at about 2pm and quickly found a hotel on the main road. The price was ok, it had air-con, wifi, food stalls nearby and seemed quiet. Perfect. We planned to get an early night and be on the road by 6am.

But the other 'guests' of the hotel had other plans. From 11pm until 3am we were kept awake by a constant stream of loud, drunk people returning to the hotel. Where they had been, we had no idea, as we were about 3km out of the town. And during the afternoon we'd seen only one other person in the lobby, so assumed they didn't have many guests. But we heard them all loud and clear during the night. Every time we would be close to falling back into an exhausted sleep, another group would return, yelling their conversations. Just when we resolved that next time that happened we were demanding our money  back and leaving, the noise must have stopped. Because next thing we knew it was 7am and we couldn't get out of bed. We were so tired. Angry that our plans had been ruined again, we packed up and hit the road.