*Updated: Some links at the end of this post*
This morning we woke up at 5:30am. With a mission. Me and Asa were going to hitchhike to KL from Butterworth,
a distance of 382kms, and get back by 6pm on time to celebrate my mum's belated birthday.
We left the guesthouse at 6am, after asking for directions to the NS Highway. The guesthouse manager, after asking us where we wanted to go (KL), what we wanted to do (hitchhike) and if we had tickets to any public transport (none at all), had "you guys are nuts" politely written all over her face. She wasn't much help. We decided to wing it as we went along.
We walked to the ferry station and took the ferry over. Part of the reason why we got up so early was that we weren't sure how long we would take to get to a good spot, and how long the subsequent waits would be. The other part of the reason was that we wanted to have a good start before the sun became scorchingly hot. We reached Butterworth and walked to the intersection towards the direction of South. And started thumbing.
7:19am was the time when we started waiting. Within fifteen minutes, we were slowing down cars with curious drivers, with confused looks on their faces, and motorcycles with uncles who either avoided our smiles or smiled back. A Bas Sekolah (school bus) stopped, but he was going to a nearby kampung and not towards the NS Highway. A Malay uncle called Man stopped and gave us his number, and said that he was busy right then but if we needed help later on we could call him.
So far so good. But it was apparent that we weren't at a good spot, as most people going towards the highway went onto the flyover, missing us entirely, and most people driving past us weren't going to the highway.
At 7:36am, a bus stopped for us, and we decided that we might as well take it to somewhere down the road where we had better chances. So take it we did, cost RM0.60 each, just 500 meters away, where we continued our career of rigorous thumbing.
Less than 5 minutes later, a man pulled over and asked us if we were in trouble. Apparently he had overshot us earlier at the first spot, and took the trouble to make a U-turn to go back for us only to find that we were already gone. (In his own words, "I didn't know if you were humans or..." =D) Disappointed, he continued driving and to his relief, he saw us 500meters down the road and stopped.
The man, Mr. Oo, couldn't understand why we were doing what we were doing. He offered to buy us bus tickets back KL, which we of course declined, drilled us on the possible hazards, and asked us repeatedly if we were
definitely not going to give up. Hell no. He finally agreed on bringing us to the Juru rest station, a better spot just 15minutes away, and gave us his namecard, to call him if we met any trouble. We were to call him whenever we went to Penang and he would bring us around. Then he took down our numbers. Satisfied that we were going to be somewhat safe, he left us at the rest station and went to work.
At 8am we started thumbing at Juru. Right after we put down our luggage and lifted our thumbs, in less than a minute, this Malay bloke drove by and asked us where we wanted to go. He was going to Ipoh. Sweet! Again, our luggage went into the car, and I got seated at the front and Asa buckled up at the back. The driver's name was Mr. Roshidi. He was a driver for the army, in a camp somewhere within Ipoh. He had been working there for ten years already.
Roshidi had been driving since 5am from Bukit Kayu Hitam, as he had gone back to see his sick mother. His wife was going to give birth to their second child, and she was based in Perlis, taking care of
her sick mother. They saw each other once a week. During the weekdays Roshidi would drink beer in Ipoh with his Chinese mates ("Minum banyak kerana ada kawan Cina"), and we had an animated discussion about beer prices in Southeast Asia.
Roshidi was always sleepy because of his hectic travelling and lifestyle. Although I worried a little over his driving, he seemed to be a happy and simple guy, content with what life gave him and made the best of what he had. I can't believe I actually held a conversation for more than an hour, in Malay, with him actually understanding me. As the windows were wound down because he was smoking, Asa couldn't hear a word of what we were saying in the backseat, so it was up to me to keep him entertained (and awake). He asked us if we wanted anything to eat and he could treat us, but we were alright.
Roshidi left us at the Jelapang toll, a great spot since the cars had to slow down after coming out from the toll, and could see us clearly. We exchanged numbers and he said that he could take us to the Ipoh bus station if we needed it. Our spirits were sky high and we didn't think we would need it, but the thought counted a lot.
After relieving ourselves at the (extremely clean) restroom, we came out and within 15 seconds a car stopped. Two men asked us if we were in need of any help. They were going into Ipoh, so we decided not to take the ride. They smiled at us good-naturedly and sped off.
Another three minutes later, around 10am, a Chinese guy pulled over. He was bemused about what we were doing, but offered that he was going to Puchong. Puchong!!! We were stoked!
"You're not carrying any drugs, are you?" He asked, half-seriously, in Cantonese.
"No, not at all!" We gave our best angelic looks. Hell, would we admit it if we had our backpacks half full with marijuana? Deciding that we looked innocent enough, he helped us put our luggage into the boot, and off we were again. To KL, at 1oam.
Andy was from Perlis as well. He seemed to travel a fair bit himself, and was a rather interesting character. His ancestors worked as the type of monks (?) who are hired to pray and chant at Chinese funerals. I don't know what it's called in English, but in Cantonese it is "Nam Mo Lou". According to him, the occupation has to be passed down one generation to the other, if not their family would be cursed for three generations. Turns out that his father died of an accident, as with all his other uncles (seven of them) but one. They would be safe from the curse after they turned 40, but his dad died when he was 39 years and 10 months old.
I was beginning to be concerned for Andy's safety but turns out that he is of the fourth generation, and should be safe from the curse. =D Phew! And since his dad knew that he might die, they bought insurance (since insurance policies did not take into account family curses) so I guess they led a pretty good life as well.
In Andy's car we went through a car wash in Ipoh (just RM3 per wash, super cheap!) and later got caught by a speed trap. By the slick way he handled the police, a straightforward offer of money and the transaction that took less than a minute (bribery of RM30), I think he probably gets caught speeding very often. Bribery is totally against my principles, but I couldn't bring myself to preach to this guy who had just picked two random strangers off the road, so I chose to remain quiet. We sped all the way back to KL, at times going up to 190km/h.
We drove off the NS Highway at the Sungai Buloh toll and he sent us to my doorstep, although he actually had some work appointment to go for at 12noon. We reached my house at 11:55am.
So this is the story of how Asa and I managed to get from Butterworth to my doorstep by only using RM0.60 per pax, within 5 hours, with 3 rides (not counting the bus ride), with an average waiting time of less than 3 minutes. We had hell more fun than taking a bus, and calculating the time waiting for a bus, and getting back home from the bus station, I'd say that taking a bus would probably cost us more time, not to mention money.
Seriously. Malaysians rock. This is probably the first time that I have wholly agreed with Lonely Planet (which you should still never trust your life with), which prints that "Malaysia has long had a reputation for being an excellent place for hitchhiking and it is generally still true, though with inexpensive bus travel most travellers don't bother."
In NZ the average waiting time was like 30-50minutes. The concept of hitchhiking doesn't seem to be quite strong here in Malaysia as everyone we've met hardly understands what hitchhiking is and why we are doing it. (To reinforce faith in humankind. To travel in an environmentally friendly manner. To save a measly 30 bucks. But mostly for fun.)
The guys who stopped were actually concerned if we were in any sort of trouble and wanted to help. Then when they realized what we wanted, they'd already stopped and might as well just let us tumpang anyway. None of the three guys who picked us up believed that we would make it, although they did pick us up out of the goodness of their hearts. I think they stopped partly because they thought that if they didn't, noone would. There's so much goodness out there but so little faith.
Though, a little caveat here is that all three did mention that they picked us up because we were girls. Andy the third guy nearly got mugged before, when he stopped for another guy previously. Yet he still stopped for us. It's a good thing that we don't look like drug addicts or pushers, although we do look rather worn out after a week of nonstop travel!
I'm really really happy that we did it. Only Asa would've been mad enough to go through it with me (I love you Asa!), and who knows when we'd have another chance travelling together again. And I really wanted to do it in Malaysia. Not many were encouraging when they knew what we were going to do, and I felt a bit intimidated at first, but it's been a huge success. Better than in NZ. Didn't expect it, aye?
I'm overwhelmed with gratitude right now, and extremely sleepy. Had less than 4 hours of sleep yesterday =P
Love you Malaysia. Muakmuakmuakmuakmuaksss!
*Updates*
By googling "Hitchhiking Malaysia" I came across some interesting links, as below:
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A simple bet turns into a wild ride across Borneo - This article is a must-read. It's about how a Canadian guy hitched his way from Gua Niah to Kuching, as a race with another guy taking public transport. My favourite part was when the military set up a road block for him to waylay a ride for his last leg of the race. Priceless! =D
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Hitchhiking - A story of hitchhiking from Penang to Singapore. Not sure when it was done though.
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Malay Hitchhiking Phrases - you never know when you might need it ;)
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Awash in the Jungle - an article that I came across, nothing to do with hitchhiking but it is about hiking up Gunung Tahan by two girls. Without the mandatory guides, and halfway through their boots got washed away by a flash flood and they had to climb up wearing socks. Good read.
