Final Thoughts On Malaysia

I had no plans to come to Malaysia on this trip, and when I did decide to, it was completely last minute and only supposed to be for a couple of days. This somehow ended up turning into four and a half weeks which is partly a testament as to what a nice country Malaysia is to visit, but also due to the fact I meant such a good gang of other travellers at the start in Kuching who I spent the following month travelling with. 

Such a last minute change of plan might seem very unplanned but that's half fun of travelling - the spontaneity that isn't possible in 'real life', the fact that you're free to go wherever the mood takes you. It's good to have a rough plan, but even better to screw the plan up and go the other way.

The Borneo gang in Mulu National Park

I'd spent a couple of days in mainland Malaysia five years ago so knew roughly what to expect, but my time here surpassed those expectations by a long way. It's a nice country with nice people, good infrastructure, interesting sights, and a level of order you wouldn't expect in what is still classed as a developing country (though not for too much longer realistically). It was a refreshing contrast from my travels in India beforehand, in particular the lack of rubbish, conmen and noise, but ironically despite this, India is still in my mind the country I'd recommend first as a travel destination - it's just so interesting and different. The crazy encounters I had there on a daily basis just don't happen in Malaysia, and despite it making travel here a little more boring, is defiantly a good thing for the people who inhabit that land.

Malaysia is calm, mostly clean, and well developed, though in rural areas there are clearly still a lot of poor people living simple lives, and I say that without really getting that far off the beaten track to see real rural life.

British influence 

The British colonial influence is very obvious in many places, and English is commonly spoken to a good standard as a second (sometimes first) language by many people. As ever, I question what colonial-era Britain did to countries around the world, but from what I understand in Malaysia is was generally good, and helped it develop to what it is today. Certainly you only hear people say good things of Britain, and their love of English Premiership football is bigger that any foreign country I've visited - all over the country you see people are wearing club shirts, driving round with stickers on their cars, and see people watching the game in outside cafés.

Food

These outside cafés are everywhere, and very popular among locals for a cheap meal. The food is part native, part Chinese and whilst I've found it to be nice enough, it can eventually get a bit boring and repetitive - I much preferred Indian food (see, there into again). Despite the seemingly endless combinations of rice or noodles served dry or in soup, beef or chicken, this veg or that veg, this sauce or that sauce... it all seems a bit samey - it makes me realise just how varied our diet is at home these days. That said, I had some excellent stuffed rotis - an bread freshly cooked and stuffed with whatever you fancy, had some great fried chicken and fish, and loved the fact that Chinese Bau - stuffed steamed breads are available everywhere as a snack.

Kota Kinabalu

People

The population is a mixture of native Malays who are the most dominant, as well as Chinese and Indians who have emigrated over hundreds of years, and I found them all to be really nice people - friendly, helpful, and always willing to help. At no point did I get annoyed or insulted, irritated or conned by anyone I met, and I felt safe the whole time in Malaysia. Because it's a Muslim country, most women wear headscarves but I never got the impression that the women were treated unequally, or in an inferior way. Whereas in India the woman are often shy and seem locked-away in traditional roles, Malaysian women are very smiley, chatty and helpful

Travel

The country is set up well for tourists, sometimes too well which means things occasionally feel a bit restrictive or over-tourist as a backpacker, though I guess straightforward for a holidaymaker. It's not mega cheap to travel compared to many other Asian countries, beer and supermarket food both being comparable in cost to the UK, but relatively speaking is still good value except for some of the more touristy things targeted at Westerners. Dorm beds were generally £4-6, a meal in a food court £1-2.50 dependant on size, a small beer 50p to £1. If you're driving though, fuel is bargain basement at 40p per litre for diesel, and just a little more for petrol!

Because of Borneo's huge rivers and sparse population, there's not too many roads on the island, and sometimes it was cheaper and easier to take a ferry from town to town along the coast. Buses however were amazingly good quality, and great value at something like £6 for a 4 hr journey.

Group travel

Travelling as a group of four has proved to be a great experience. It was very fortunate that the four of us arrived in the right place (Kuching), at the right time, with similar outlooks on life, levels of energy, and places to visit in mind. The long narrow shape of Malaysian Borneo naturally means people follow a similar path unlike in India where backpackers were often going in many different directions, if you met them at all.

I've always said in the past that four people is too much to travel together and I still believe that for longer term travel, but for a month it worked out perfectly well. We were different enough to make things interesting and learn from each other, but not different enough that there were clashes of personality. Tof was by far the most laid back and generally followed what the others wanted to do, but it was impossible to think any less of him for this since he was such a funny, likeable and pleasant guy. Max, the youngest of the group at 21 was a clever guy who'd done a lot in his tender years, and a typical German with destinations read up on, a plan usually in mind, and a phone close to hand to enquire or book things. Occasionally I found this a little too full on, but overall I appreciated it as it was great to not have to organise everything myself for once and he was always democratic with it. Rene just floated along the whole time - he always knew something about everything and had things in mind, and when he wasn't fifty metres ahead of everyone, he was fifty metres behind taking a picture of something, or maybe just asleep upside down somewhere, another great guy to hang around with.

My only beef with travelling as four has nothing to do with these great people, but the fact that with any four people on such a trip you move at the pace of the slowest person, instead of one shop to stop in you have four, instead of one destination in mind - four. It's harder to be alone if you fancy a bit of space, the fact that you don't think for yourself as much means you sometimes miss out on seeing certain things, and you don't get to meet locals in the same way you do on your own. Such things have been documented time and time again, just like the pros and cons of travelling on your own (which breeds real independence) or as a pair (where you can share planning, problems and fun). That said, I feel fortunate that for a month these things never became pressing issues as they could have, and that we had such a good laugh together - the pro's outweighed the cons for sure.

Diving on Mabul island

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THE MALAYSIA AWARDS

Just like at the end of India, I thought I'd again pick out the highlights and lowlights of my time in Malaysia, which goes to prove how different the two countries are since this list is tiny in comparison!

Best Experiences

Winner: Hiking Mt Mulu - the three day trip up the 2,300m mountain was tough, fun, challenging and rewarding in equal amounts.

Runners up: adventure caving at Mulu National Park, seeing the worlds biggest cave at Mulu National Park, DIY rafting at Mulu National Park, watching late night street racing in KK, night nature walk at Lupa Masa Jungle Camp.

Worst Experiences

Winner: sleeping in open huts on the Mt Mulu hike

Runners up: sleeping on the floor of a bus, being awoken to see an armed Policeman in front of me.

Favourite places

Winner: Mulu National Park - only accessible by plane, and full of wonder and adventure

Runners up: Kuching, Lupa Masa Jungle Camp

Worst Place Visited

Winner: Semporna - we only passed through for an hour or so, but what a smelly dive

Runners up: Tawau

Best accommodation 

Winner: Dillenia Guest House, Miri - modern, good facilities, great owner

Worst Accommodation

Winner: Camp 3, Mulu National Park - a cold, bare floored, open sided hut 1,300m up a mountain

Runner up: D'Cave, Mulu National Park - a lashed up, large open-door dorm room which was noisy. Amazing views though!

Most Shocking Moments 

Seeing live chickens wrapped in newspaper for sale in a market, Sibu

Seeing live tiger prawns being sold in plastic coke bottles, Tawau

Waking up to see an armed Policeman stood in front of me on a bus, Lahad Datu

Best things about the country

Tropical rainforest everywhere

Huge meandering rivers

Huge caves

How developed it has become

How laid back it feels

The people

Worst things about the country 

Deforestation

Palm oil plantations

Rubbish in some smaller towns

Samey food

Things I expected but didn't see:

Wild Orangutangs - only saw them in a sanctuary

Other wild mammals - I expected to see more in the wild

Things I saw that I didn't expect:

The huge variety of exotic looking insects

A pit viper sleeping in a tree, Lupa Masa

Poor people in basic wood huts, Mabul Island

On India - Final Thoughts

In this blog: final thoughts, the India awards, and India insights

If you only read one of my India blogs, make it this one which sum up the whole mad experience (but get a cup of tea and sit comfortably first).

My route through India over 4.5 months. Interactive map here.

FINAL THOUGHTS
India was quite the travel experience. So much so that having now left the country after spending all that time there, I thought I'd bring together my highlights and insights on this weird and wonderful country.

I'd planned to spend about six weeks to two months there - I thought that would be enough. Somehow this turned into four-and-a-half months - that tells you something about both how relatively easy India is to cope with (after a bit of adaption), and how endearing it is to visit. It's probably the first country I've ever been nervous about visiting beforehand, you hear so many stories and everyone has an opinion, and it certainly took a while to get used to. I had total culture shock at the start but was so comfortable with it by the end that I struggled to leave, and now every comparison, story and reference I make ends up being about it.

They say you either love or hate India, and I'm a lover. It certainly takes a while to understand it, and I wouldn't blame anyone for disliking it if they only stayed a couple of weeks, but over time you learn to tolerate the bad things and enjoy the good. As masochistic as it might sound, I genuinely enjoyed my time in India more than Germany. Travelling in India is exciting - you never know what's going to happen next. It's raw - there's no gloss. The people are ever curious and friendly, the sights interesting, the cost of living unbelievably cheap, the food fantastic. It's often so old fashioned, and a trip back to days gone by in the developed world, what with the regular sight on the streets of hawkers, shoe shines, hot-coal clothes ironers, street typists, and ear cleaners. One of the things I like most of all about travelling around it is the feeling of freedom - the western world is so full of laws, conventions, rules, social norms, but in India you can do what you want. Jumping onto moving trains then hanging out the open doorway, walking across someone else's land without worry, or buying anything from a pharmacy without prescription. Sometimes the country feels pretty lawless and often it is a bit, it's often a bit sad, the way things work often isn't always right or normal, but as a traveller it's just fascinating to see.

India is a bubble. Despite outside influences and westernisation, they still often operate as if it's the only country in the world. Immigrants are minimal, they're fairly self sufficient, have their own way of doing things, many unusual traditions, their own style of dress, and a million festivals. It often defies logic, but somehow everything just about works, and I was quite taken with how developed it actually is. Though there's still a long way to go, and only by stopping government corruption will they finally get to where they deserve to be. 

Would I go back again? I have the route planned already. 
Might not be for a few years though.

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Indraha pass in the Indian Himalayas

THE INDIA AWARDS

So here follows the India awards - in a glitzy Oscars style manner, sometimes counting down and sometimes not, here's the best and worst parts of my travels through the country. You can follow the links to the updates they feature in:

Best Experience

5. The colour and energy of Holi festival

4. Being invited into many homes at the world's biggest kite festival

3. Following a wild Bengal tiger whilst sat on an elephant

2. Seeing a night sky full of thousands of Chinese lanterns

1. Winner: Without doubt, my highlight is hiking the Indraha pass in the Himalayas - sleeping in a cave with a dog, getting lost 4000m up the mountain, running short on food and plenty more, but the most exhilarating experience of my life.

Runners up: playing cricket with a group of psychiatrists, going skiing for an hour, nearly having my skin boiled off in a hot spring, cruising the backwaters of Kerala, Christmas Day at the Taj Mahal, Hassan literary festival parade, getting a free meal in a Sikh temple, going to a Bollywood cinema show, hanging out with Jodhpur locals, sea kayaking at Palolem, cycling around Hampi.

Worst Experience

Winner: getting bitten by a dog and having to have five anti-rabies jabs over a month.

Runners up: the freezing cold and rattly overnight bus to Manali which arrived at 4am, nearly being attacked by a pack of monkeys, loosing my credit card, multiple sleepless nightbus journeys, trying to organise a safari in Ramnagar, adopted dogs killing someone's chicken, getting ill in Udaipur, three bus breakdowns and one car breakdown.

Favourite Place Visited

5. Varkala

4. Munnar

3. Dharamasala

2. Galgibad beach, Goa 

1. Winner: Honey Valley, Coorg - a beautiful spot in the green hills of South India where the people and place combined to form somewhere beautiful, relaxing and interesting.

Worst Place Visted

Winner: Delhi - a schizophrenic city of two halves, not really fitting of a capital city. The old half is extremely overcrowded, dirty, noisy and a wild experience.

Runners up: Agra (away from the Taj Mahal, a dump), Srevenbelagola (underwealming).

Most Dangerous Episodes

Winner: bus journey up the Rohtang pass - going up a snaking single-lane mountain road, set into the cliffs with a big drop to one side, no barriers, on sometimes unsurfaced roads, with a driver who drove very fast, overtook everything in sight, and chanced it round blind bends. Terrifying. 

Runners up: having rocks thrown at me by a teenager, hiking Indraha pass, jeep journey to the flood disaster zone in the Himalayas, high-speed bus journey from Kumily to Kottayam, getting bitten by a dog, walking past a large Indian Python in the wild.

Most Shocking Moments 

There's no winner. In most cases these were the first time I saw such sights, the next time was often less shocking but no more right.

• Seeing a homeless man sleeping face down in the dirt, Jodphur
• Driving past destroyed homes in a huge flood disaster zone, Himilayas
• Passing through extremely overcrowded old Delhi
• The first time I saw cows eating from a rubbish bin, Kalka
• Walking past a young guy passed out from glue sniffing, Kanyakamuri
• Witnessing hundreds of people defacating by the railway tracks, Agra
• Seeing a whole family living on a pavement, Jaipur
• Finding out that ten people a day die on Mumbai rail, Mumbai 
• Cycling past farm workers living in tarpaulin tents, Pune
• Finding out the most firecrackers are made by kids, Pune
• Indians throwing stones at a bear in the zoo, Jodhpur
• Hundreds of people sleeping on and around train station, Ambala 
• The first time I saw wild monkeys, Dharamsala

Most Bizarre Moments

There were so many. Winner: Going to the home of a crazy prince in Udaipur

Runners up: 

• Going for a beer with a mad professor in Kochi
• Being blessed by an elephant
• Seeing a peacock eating out of a wheelie bin, Delhi
• Sleeping beside a dog in a cave
• The monkeys of Shimla running between rooftops
• Walking round a lake in socks whilst jumping over goose poo in Pushkar
• Registering at a hotel with my thumbprint
• Seeing a pavement full of tattoo artists sat cross legged
• Waking up to hear laughter yoga 
• Cows and ear cleaners on the beach
• Seeing a 450 year old corpse in a glass box
• The one-armed beach poet
• Meeting George Osbourne's drug dealer
• Visiting Galta monkey palace - a valley overrun with thousands of monkeys
• The constant stream of people taking my picture because I'm foreign

Best Accommodation 

Winner: Green View Hotel at Varkala. Spend a bit more, get a smart clifftop hotel, brilliant.

Runner up: Pearl Palace, Jaipur, homestay at Kumily

Worst Accommodation

Winner: Panchayat Bhawan hostel, Chandigarh - a huge sterile white room with dirty walls, no curtains, a window pane missing, no hot water and a nasty hallway. 

Runners up: Lahesh cave 3274m up a mountain (or was it the best?!), sleeping on the floor at the doctors hostel of a Delhi mental hospital.

The Most Lost I Got

Winner: hiking from Rishikesh to Kunjipuri temple - with no decent map available and only a rough idea of the way, I hiked a hill bigger than Ben Nevis and got extremely lost on the way.

Runner up: hiking at Indraha pass, roaming backstreets of Jodhpur 

Lowest Prices

Winner: 3p bus journey. OK it was only for a mile or so, but I couldn't believe my ears when the conductor quoted me this price.

Runners up: 4p boat ride, 50p hair cut, £2.10 a night guesthouse, 30p train journey for 4 hrs, 45p meal.

Most Hippies Spotted

Arumbol, Goa, closely followed by Rishikesh

Most Remote Place Visited

Kandara village, Himilayas

Most Pain Encountered

Trying Yoga in Rishikesh 

Most Humbling Moments

Tibetan guy telling me about his parents who were killed by the Chinese army

Visiting creches on building sights, Pune

Helping to give out blankets on a trip to a flood disaster zone

Best things about the country

6. Fresh produce grown locally

5. The relatively low carbon footprint (not by choice)

4. How tolerant and patient people are 

3. Beautiful scenery in Himilayas and Western Ghat mountains

2. The feeling of freedom you get as a traveller

1. Very friendly, curious, helpful people

Worst things about the country 

6. Architecture - everything is a painted concrete box

5. Poverty - still a huge problem

4. Slums

3. Pointless beaurocracy 

2. Litter (how even educated people overlook litter)

1. Child labour

Most memorable food

Poori bhaji, Vagator

Veg jalfreizi, Manali

Parota bread, Mumbai

Chicken tandoori, Pune

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INDIA INSIGHTS

You've probably read enough by now, but for anyone still interested, here's my personal insights into different India as a country. They're not extensive or necessarily well written, but it gives an idea.

The Streets

Everything seems to be done on the street - making, selling, chatting, eating, drinking, urinating. And they're completely dominated by men. I'd say on average only one-in-twenty people you see in a city are female, as traditional roles dictate that women should stay at home and perform household duties. Of course amongst younger women, and particularly in cities this is beginning to change, but right now it's certainly a man's world.

Era

Travelling through India is like a journey through time; I constantly tried to work out what era I was in, and there is no true answer. When you see people breaking rocks beside the road, wearing traditional robes around them, you think you might be in Medieval times. When you pass a man driving a bullock and cart along the road, maybe you're in pre-Victorian times. When you're on the streets with all the moustaches, side partings and tank tops you think you're in the seventies. And when people drive past in a brand new VW Golf, talking on the latest smartphone you know it is 2014. But to generalise, in terms of development, fashion, motorbikes and architecture, the seventies constantly come to mind for me personally.

People

Indians have character coming out their ears, a refreshing contrast to the often dull and conformist population of the Western world. Diversity is the key word - in terms of religion, levels of wealth, types of dress and everything else. They're overwhelmingly friendly and curious, as you might have noticed from my writings, and few would hesitate to chat with me. 

They're extremely tolerant people - we could certainly learn a thing or two from them. Occasionally this is a bad thing though as they're sometimes too tolerant to noise, filth, bad habits, discomfort, poor hygiene, rudeness, corruption, danger and so on, rather than demanding change, thus leaving things more stuck in the past than it should be. Violence and aggression doesn't seem to be in their makeup, of course you see arguing but I only say one mildly violent skirmish the whole time. I guess when there's so much noise and chaos all the time, you have no option but to be pretty mellow, they'd have killed each other a long time ago otherwise. 

Both sexes take great pride in their appearance, no matter how rich or poor, always wishing to try and look smart. The women generally dress in wonderfully bright patterned sarees, though in more affluent areas you see more tunics and trousers, and amongst the younger generation the odd female wears western clothing. The typical man conforms to the 'Side parting and neat moustache' look, often with a pen in his short pocket. Most men wear a shirt and trousers for both work and leisure even if they do very dirty stuff, but you commonly see them wearing everything from orange robes, to white linen outfits, to what looks like bedsheets. 

As a nation they are extremely conservative and old-fashioned, with exceptions of course. Couples rarely hold-hands in public and kissing is certainly never seen, not even in movies as it's considered behaviour for behind closed doors only. A bizarre flip side to this is that you often see men holding hands in public, or with an arm around each other, maybe even stroking each other's shoulders - it's not considered gay, but an act of brotherhood. So yes, men and women can't hold hands, but men and men can - It's a little odd to an outsider I must say.

Manners

Eh? Huh? What? The concept of manners barely exists in India, except among the more privileged and affluent minority, and certainly isn't generally seen in day to day life on the streets. Staring, spitting, touching people, being nosy, queue jumping, weeing in public, beeping, shouting, invading personal space - there is no issue with any of these. Please and thank you certainly don't get much use.

On the flipside, you never eat or pass things with your left hand (the toilet duties hand), and their lips never touch a drinks bottle that's being shared.

Religion 

India is the world's most religious country. Religion is not just something they do, it's an inseparable part of the fabric of being an Indian, and people are extremely proud of that. It's everything, and everywhere - many businesses have religious names, people pray as they pass a temple on a bus, everyone has shrines at home, at work and even in their cars. Whilst there's sometimes a little segregation and the odd tension, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and the other minorities all seem to get along and mix together remarkably well on the whole. However when it comes to Muslim dominated Pakistan next-door, I have heard the odd mutter between the first two - Pakistan and India are defiantly not a love match made in heaven. 

Road Transport

Chaos - the roads summed up. The standards of driving are fairly poor, road discipline is terrible, people don't always stop for red traffic lights, and everyone is out for themselves - there's never any courtesy. The roads are full of a mixture of buses, cars, lorries, auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws (in the north), and people with pushcarts, all vying for space. There are some big and fairly well built dual carriageways between the big cities, but the rest of the time roads vary considerable and occasionally on smaller roads the surface to turn to gravel for a while then back to dirt, or exist as permanently unfinished roadsworks. In the Himilayas, the roads are generally pretty terrible all round. Buses vary from the quality and order of the south, to the battered bangers of the north, and the same applied to the quality of roads. Buses rarely stop fully, you often jump on as they move. 

Rail

The railways work surprisingly well though the trains are often late. The booking system is unbelievable confusing, the trains often fully booked, but the standard of carriage in the AC classes surprisingly good, and more than comfortable enough. One of the biggest biggest problems as a tourist is actually getting a place on a train, as they are regularly fully booked on many routes, sometimes weeks in advance. The cheap classes are great fun for shorter journeys which in Indian terms means six hours or less in my mind, with an eclectic range of passengers and feature everything from ladyboys, chai sellers, beggars, and fruit sellers to keep you amused.

Architecture 

Dreary concrete boxes, poorly maintained, and sometimes painted garish colours is the norm. This isn't always just due to economics, often just a lack of taste or a desire for quality. Only in places like Mumbai do you see the odd cutting edge building which is a shame, as people are a product of their environments, and concrete doesn't make anyone smile.

Landscape

On the route I travelled, the Himilayas in the north were amazing, as were the western ghats in the south, but the scenery between the two was on the whole fairly arid and dull, save for the odd area like Hampi. The beaches are Goa were however beautiful. 

Food

Just fantastic. I ate Indian food three times a day, pretty much every day and loved it. That's over three hundred Indian meals my my rough workings! The food often isn't nearly  as spicy as you expect; a vindaloo is much spicier in the UK for example. I only had one meal I really didn't enjoy, and just two or three fairly average meals the whole, and whilst I started the trip avoiding meat entirely, after a month slowly weaned myself back on with no problems. I did eat western food as a bit of a break maybe every couple of weeks and a little more often for breakfast, but that was it. The only spot of illness came from, I think, eating some street food that had been sat around for a while - I should have known better. The standards of hygiene were a little questionable at times, and it was sometimes the case of what you don't see you don't know, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. 

Drink

Chai - Indian milk tea made mostly with milk instead of water, some masala spices and a whip ole lot of sugar is national drink and found everywhere, and I was an addict. Fresh fruit juices are both popular and cheap and a favourite, as was freshly squeezed sugarcane, though beer more heavily licensed and expensive than at home.

Waste

One of my biggest bugbears with India. Litter is everywhere, and people drop it with no thought whatsoever, no matter how educated they are. It seems to be a mixture of a lack of education, the assumption that it will rot like fruit and veg does, and the guess that someone else will pick it up which generally they don't.

Poverty

Still a big issue, and quite apparent in the slums in big cities. I made some insights into real life through the volunteering work, wandering from the beaten track, and getting invited into a few houses, but life is pretty basic for many. There was less people sleeping on the streets than I expected, but it still happens. Beggars are a regular sight, but generally not that persistent.

Language

Two things surprised me on this front. Firstly just how commonly English is spoken - there's more fluent English speakers in India than Britain, and it's rare that language is a problem, even if one guy did say to me on the phone 'I'm sorry, I can't understand your English accent!'. The second surprise is that there are so many regional languages - most states have their own language - Hindi, Malaylam, Karnataka to name just three. English is the universal language, and used as standard in politics and business.

Infrastructure 

On the one hand, India was much more advanced than I expected, on the other hand there's still a way to go. Power cuts are a big issue and away from big cities places get cut off often daily - many people have batteries and inverters, or a generator to see them through - a huge waste just cause the government can't get its act together. There's not always enough water either, and water tankers sometimes do the rounds delivering direct to houses.

Arumbol, Goa

Goodbye Sweden

Final thoughts on Sweden

And so after two months, I've finally left Sweden. As you might have guessed by my writings, I've been really taken by the country. 

It feels relaxed, comfortable, safe and friendly. Rural folks often don't lock their doors, no-one seems stressed and the only expression other than friendliness I encountered was that which I managed to provoke - with a train inspector, a runner I sped past and a pedestrian. All bike related!

I initially thought Sweden was just known for Volvo, Ikea and Abba but you soon realise there are a lot of famous exports. Scania, Ericsson, Saab (RIP), Electrolux, Tetra Pak, Aga, Koppaburg Cider, Roxette, Swedish House Mafia, Huskevana, the Nobel Peace Prize. The stereotypes all seem to be fairly true. There are a lot of blondes, many beautiful women, Volvos everywhere, and everyone skis.

Then there's their skills with English - they say 89% of Swedes can speak it. Out of the hundreds of people I met, only about five couldn't. And one of those was a 10 year old. It's incredible - partly driven by wanting to get on in the world, and partly because they have so many US/UK films and TV programmes with subtitles. That's been a major reason for liking the country - it just doesn't feel alien like some others. In return, I've learnt about 20 Swedish words, poor effort eh. Interestingly, as a language, it's not actually structured too dissimilar to ours. 

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Having my bike with me has been both a blessing and a curse. Having it provided fun, allowed me to explore places few other travellers would and kept me fit. But, due to stupid rules, to take it on trains around the country, I've had to take it apart, put it in a bike box then re-assemble at the other end every time, which has been a total pain in the bum. But at least I got to cycle in the Arctic Circle.

 Ten random good and bad things about the country:

GOOD
1 - Safe for cycling - cycle paths everywhere, wide quiet roads
2 - Municipal heating - people don't have their own heating in towns, it gets piped from one huge central boiler
3 - Old American cars everywhere
4 - Most houses are red
5 - Lakes
6 - Road changeover - one day in the 70's they went from driving on the left to the right. And no one died.
7 - Low Income- inequality - the gap between rich and poor is relatively small, which leads to happy people and not much crime or poverty
8 - Eco-friendly - half their energy is from renewables
9 - No litter - well very little anyway
10 - Forests

BAD
1 - Having to bring your own bedding to hostels or paying £7 a time to hire. Not seen that before.
2 - SJ trains no bikes policy - stupid for a country proud to be so eco-friendly
3 - SJ trains reservation seat fees - money for old rope
4 - System Bolaget - you can only buy alcohol over 3.5% through a chain of government owned shops in each town with limited hours. Old school.
5 - Costs - fairly expensive country, though nothing on Norway
6 - errr...
7 - ummm..
8 - give up

I've had a brilliant couple of months, and a lot of that is due to the Pålsson family, who I stayed with. Christer provided lots to see and do locally, and Ingeborg arranged for me to stay at her Dad's, her brother's and her son's homes. I've eaten many Swedish dishes, and tried pickled herring, wild boar, elk and roe deer. And I've even learnt how to cook a little better.

So hej då Sweden, you've been great. But guten tag Germany - I've just arrived in rural east Germany to stay on a smallholding doing a work-for-your-bed-and-food type scheme... more on that soon.

Cornwall to Sweden - day 16 - THE END

Copenhagen, Denmark to Krageholm, Sweden

So what started out as a mad idea a few months ago has turned into reality. I've managed to travel all the way to the south of Sweden powered by nothing but my own legs. It amazes me that this is actually possible but reality says differently! 

The final day started by exploring Copenhagen a little more, with a look around the Danish Design Museum then down to the southern part of the city where they've created a huge new area of flats, shops and offices on what was wasteland. It was pretty incredible, and quite futuristic in its layout and architecture. Almost like a sensible version of Vegas - the Danes seem to be a very forward thinking nation.

Back in 2000 they also built the impressive Oresund Bridge and tunnel to cross the seven miles of sea between Denmark and Sweden, but unfortunately won't let bikes on it so I had to cheat and get the train across from Copenhagen airport. Miki - I'm pretty sure you'll love it all when you visit.

The first thing you see as you enter Sweden is... you guessed it - Ikea! Just a 43 mile dash left, and after a perfect summer's evening, having crossed a lovely rolling landscape of crop fields, small lakes and red roofed houses I was finally there, greeted by a union jack at Krageholm Farm with our family friends, the Palsson family. What a feeling!

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It has truly been an incredible few weeks, one of the best things I've ever done. As well as the day of 36º heat, thunderstorms, car factories, breaking a 50 mph speed limit, seeing De La Soul over a fence, getting lost continously, Tour de France and Russian submarine, there's been a few things I've not mentioned. 

The people I've chatted with - the hippy cyclist I met in a hostel in Hampshire riding to a festival. The South African girl, who on the last night of the Tour De France was out to dinner with Chris Froome's fiance (great story in itself). The Afgan guy working in a German Kebab shop who fled the conflict to study languages. The American student who wondered why eveyone hates the Yanks so much. The disabled Belgian guy with downs syndrome, who waved the stump of his arm in my face for me to shake. The German schoolteacher who's been to Falmouth. Plus loads more.

In terms of problems, I've been very lucky really. A lost book, sock and a brake pad (the second two whilst I was riding!). A broken GoPro camera bracket. A bit of rain, a touch of road rage. Worn brake pads and a few squeels and rattles from the bike, but not one single puncture! My so called smart phone has been my biggest bug bear. It is head and shoulders above using a map for navigation when it works and has battery, but when it doesn't it drives me bonkers. A handlebar bracket and solar charger required another time.

I've learnt just how flat Northern Europe is (incredibly), how far I can ride in one day (128 miles in Holland), how fast I can go (51.8 mph in Dorset) and how much I can eat (lots). And the distance? 

Measured by the speedo on my bike, a grand total of, wait for it, 1,416 miles!!!

The Palsson's home at Krageholm