Oiling The Wheels

Miri, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: catching up, and hanging out with other travellers in an otherwise boring city

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The river at Miri, the closest we got to local sights

Malaysian Borneo has huge oil and gas reserves, and the city of Miri is a hub for all that sort of thing. That doesn't mean loads of dirty-faced men and tankers filling the streets, just that there's a load of money around and whilst being a clean, tidy and modern place is pretty dull with it with few discernible things to see and do. Everything is centred around a pleasant wide street of shops, malls and restaurants. A good spot then for a couple of days catching up with pictures and writing, sorting out the next leg of the trip, and hanging out with other travellers. This is therefore a bit of a general update without any of the mad stories like you might have got from India - Malaysia is a much calmer and more organised country in comparison.

My travelling gang on-and-off since arriving in Malaysia now comprised Rene, a 24 year old French-Canadian self-confessed computer programmer who's into every sport out there and has been travelling for about the same length of time as me, Christophe from Belgium - a laid-back 30 year old music-obsessed 'computer nerd' with a sense of humour that often has us in stitches, and Max from Germany - a 21 year old traveller in-between college and uni, always organised, thinking ahead and looking for the perfect way to see or do everything. We all have a similar outlook and get on pretty well, so it's been a lot of fun hanging out and travelling as a group for a change.

As soon as we arrived in Miri, we met three young Americans who are in Borneo for a year teaching English in schools and we went for a few drinks with them at the popular Ming Cafe-Bar nearby. It was obviously a popular spot for all the ex-pat oil workers as there were loads of foreign faces who obviously weren't there as tourists, and we had a lazy fun evening there chatting with these high-achieving Americans from the hostel - one of whom was on a year out from studying Stem Cell research and unbelievable clever, very interesting to talk with. The following night we went out for dinner with a different gang, this time three Malaysians on holiday from Peninsula Malaysia (the country is divided into two), who were ultra creative and funny, and with their local knowledge we went to a hidden-away food court where all the locals eat. I had a Chicken Porridge, which despite the odd name isn't what we see as porridge, but instead rice that has been boiled for hours until it has a mushy consistency, and was surprisingly tasty.

First night out in Miri: L-R - Canadian Rene, Belgium
Christophe, American girl, myself, American guy

Second night out in Miri: L-R - The three Malaysians,
German Max, Christophe, Rene

Teh Special C - the local speciality of tea, condensed milk,
and syrup, served with ice and very nice

Talking of food, the food in Malaysia is mostly localised versions of Chinese dishes, since Malaysia has so many Chinese immigrants - with all dishes based around noodles or rice, meat and vegetables, and either served 'dry' on a plate or all together as a soup. It's not often spicy, and the flavours relatively simple. Whilst it's all very tasty it can get a bit repetitive, and I must say I much preferred Indian food with it's mix of spices, greater variety and tasty breads. It's quite common for Malaysians to eat out at the large number of simple local food courts that you find, where £1 (5 ringgit) will buy you a decent meal, and I've done the same the whole time here so far. Beer-wise - being a Muslim country there are no local beers so you only find imported tins such as Tiger from Singapore or Tsingtao from China, and they're pretty pricey with it.

After having rooms to myself the whole time in India, with costs now quite a bit higher in Malaysia unfortunately it's been back to staying in dorm rooms at hostels some of the time to keep the costs down. At Dillenia Guest House though I really didn't mind, as we had a perfect spot run by the delightful Mrs Lee. With a dull city, but digs with free breakfast, aircon, wifi, and computers to use we barely had a reason to leave, turning into a bunch of hermits for most the time we were there. A shopping mall, a couple of food courts, a bar and a look at the river was as adventurous as it got. And do you know what, as great as it is to be out and about seeing the world, sometimes a slice of normality is quite welcome.

Berlin brothers

Berlin, Germany

The past few days in Berlin have been brilliant. Despite it being bitterly cold at times, having my brother Chris in tow has been great, making everything more enjoyable and given me a fresh perspective towards this trip. 

He's in his first few months working as a doctor in Lincoln, and the hours and stress have taken their toll a bit, so he was equally as pleased to be out here for a break. Monday therefore started with a lie in, for him anyway, before heading off to be proper touristy and see the main sights. We stopped first at the Brandenburg gate - an icon of Germany due to its prominence through WWII and the Cold War, followed by a walk through the park past the Reichstag - the German parliament, down through the park to the Viktoria statue and a bus ride down to the other end of town via 'Checkpoint Charlie', before getting off by the cathedral to look in the DDR museum which told the story of life in East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell. Phew. With Chris finishing looking round way before me, I realised I sometimes spend a bit too long looking at everything in these places without necessarily taking it all in. He has got a short attention span mind.

Brandenburg Gate

After, a stroll to the Alexanderplatz area, a Currywurst and chips (classic Berlin fast food) for lunch then a bus ride back across town for our booking to go up in the Reichstag dome. This glass and steel dome hovers over the main debating room of the German parliament, and is a real icon of the city. It, along with the parliament was burnt down, slightly suspiciously, just as Hitler entered power and was only fully rebuilt in the nineties after the two Germanys became one. It's a stunning building, and the dome above had great panoramic views over the city, and some info on the German government today. To round the evening off, we went for my first pizza in three months, accompanied by a decent German wheat beer. Proper.

The Reichstag - German parliament 

Tuesday was Berlin Wall day. Chris doesn't cycle much, but I somehow managed to persuade him to join me in hiring a bike and following part of the route where the wall used to stand. It was marked right through the city by a line of bricks in the road, and in a few special places the original wall still stands, as well as various info and photo points showing then and now. One piece in particular opened our eyes - they had restored a hundred meter section to exactly how it was in that era, comprising a double concrete wall with barbed wire and access track between, and watch towers looming over. It would have been a pretty grim time to be a German. Further along we managed to track down an unrelated sight - that of where Hitler's underground wartime bunker was located. It's now completely filled in and exists as a car park, but the information by it showed exactly where everything was. It was here that he committed suicide, then was burnt outside by soldiers. We kept cycling after this until dark, ending up at the east side gallery - an original section of the wall, nearly a mile long which various artists and painted muras, mostly based around peace, the wars and the city.

Berlin Wall section

It was my last night, and nearly the end of Chris's flying visit already, so we went out to a German restaurant for tea. He had a bad stomach so kept it simple with steak, I went proper German and had rolled beef and bacon, with red cabbage and potatoes, followed by Apple strudel. An excellent final meal. Chris's stomach soon improved, so we found a traditional pub to try a local brew, then for the true German experience, drank out of one litre glasses back at the hostel.

The final day was to be a bit on the short side because we both had flights later on, so we headed to Berlin Olympic stadium. This was another Hitler idea - to host the Olympics in 1936 and show what a great country they were (but hide all the racism and murders). After falling to rack and ruin post-war, it was gutted and rebuilt for the 2006 football World Cup. With Chris being a big football fan, we paid to go in and have a look about. The grandeur of it all was pretty impressive, though it wasn't as stunning as some of the other Olympic parks I've visited. 

After this it was time for both of us to be on our way to the airport, which was a bit drama filled but that's a story for next time...

1936 Berlin Olympic stadium

East side gallery

The last supper... In Germany

Antwerp

I'd planned to have a rest day in a couple of days time, but Antwerp seemed quite happening so I decided to stay a day. The beauty of making it up as you go along eh!

Rather than rest as I should, I've managed instead to walk miles and miles following a tour route on a free map. It was well worth it, even if my legs are even more tired than before! Great city.

I also thought I'd give an insight into how I'm doing the cycle trip as it might not be very clear. I'm riding a lightweight road bike, with about 10kg of luggage in a pair of bags hung over the back wheel. Basically- one change of clothes, snacks, basic tools, toiletries and a few bits and pieces.

I'm staying in youth hostels to keep the cost down and meet people, and trying to ride about 80 miles a day, though this is often more, just because of the distance between hostels. They vary from modern quiet ones where I might have a dorm room to myself, to the current 16 bed bed-bug-ridden dive with no curtains, where midnight is an early night it seems. Takes what you finds.

I also need about an extra 2,000 calories a day from the riding apparently- so just have big meals and lots of carb based snacks. I try not to stop too often as it ruins the flow, but take pics and videos as I go.

Holland tomorrow!