Thunderstorms and cycling

We're still making our way up the east coast of Malaysia. There aren't many people and not much to see but we knew that. It's nice to have some more of the earth to ourselves after java and Singapore, which were taken.

The monsoon season isn't for another month but the thunderstorms are starting. They come around 4pm. We didn't learn our lesson until the second time. Now we will ride in the early morning.

Yesterday we were still riding at 6 looking for a homestay and got caught in a torrential downpour that was going to last all night. We sheltered in a bus stop with some locals who gave us directions to a nearby resort. We made a dash for it before it got dark and got soaked to the skin. Today we ride in wet clothes. they should dry off pretty quick.

There aren't many homestays along here, just a lot of unfinished or closed resorts. I don't know the story. It's even hard to get food for breakfast or lunch because of ramadan.

Only a few days left of this episode of the tour. Ramadan ends soon with the hari raya festival, then we'll cross into Thailand, then we'll head to the west coast to avoid the storms.