Backpacking Asia

Buses and Intestinal Fortitude… or lack thereof

June 26, 2008 at 7:28 am (Uncategorized)

So, you knew this was coming.  Andrew and I have been very very lucky so far in the digestive department.  But a trip to Asia just wouldn’t be complete unless there was some excitment…. right??  (I do realize that by writing this, all of my wonderful students, our bosses, our families…. pretty much everyone but our dogs will be reading about our issues, but what the heck!)

Our last night in Penang we went to the most awesome night market where we both ate ….. everything.  Here is a list for those of you who have lived in Malaysia….  curry puffs, bananna pancakes, bubble tea, wan ton mee, dosai w/curry, sticky rice wedges, pink sponge cake, cream puffs, lime juice and a few other things.  I have never in my life been so full…. but the food was AMAZING. The overall problem here is that Andrew had started the evening with issues, and this little outing didn’t do anything to help.  I was fine until about midnight.

Oh, and did I mention that we had a 7 hour bus trip ahead of us in the morning to Melaka????  Lets just say that it wasn’t pretty.  Especially in a country of “squat pots” (google it if you aren’t familiar with the phrase). 

Oh, and then there is the Malaysian bus system.  We pulled out of the bus terminal and instead of beginning our trip to Melaka, we stopped a the local “Goodyear Tire Store” and had not one…. but all the tires on the coach bus replaced!!!!!  Are you kidding me??!!!  Thats not to mention the sitting at our first stop for a half an hour…… (everyone just sat, nothing happened).  The funniest thing was that when we got the the tire shop, all the Malays got off the bus to watch the Goodyear guys replace the tires…. like this was a normal occurance.  Finally, we started driving to Melaka and we had to pull over to the side of the road for another 45 mintues because a gigantic trash bag had been caught in the wheel.

Our 7 hour bus trip ended up being 10 hours.  The Malays are very relaxed when it comes to time, none of them seemed concerned that we were late.  We notice the same things with the stores in each city we visit, some of them open at different times everyday, or just really late in the morning (10-11:30 AM), depending on whenever an employee arrives. 

We ordered tailor made suites and they said to come and pick them, and I quote “anytime on Tuesday ma’am, anytime on Tuesday”.    Andrew and I arrived at 10 AM,  “Oh no!  This is too early, we’re on Malaysian time here”….. no kidding, that’s what she said. 

Anyway, I had a point here….. oh intestinal fortitude.  We don’t have it, especially when it comes to 10 hour bus rides.  And we still feel a bit weird.  Both of us have stomach cramps.  And now you’re probably wishing you hadn’t read this post.

Andrew says I’m starting too many sentences with “and”.  But I don’t care b/c my stomach hurts.