Last and Final Month:
Malaysia
A few months ago, while in Romania, we found out that our
route was changed. Instead of finishing
the race in Vietnam we were switched to Malaysia. So now we are in Malaysia for our 11th
and final month before coming home. We
are in Sungai Petani, in northern Malaysia, working at a Tamil speaking church.
Month 11….in Ecuador I never thought I would make it this far. Only 21 days now separate me from American soil
once again.
Our travel day from Cambodia to Malaysia was typical of any
other World Race travel day…chaotic and exhausting. It was a great way to start month 11 in
typical World Race style. At the end of
Cambodia all the teams met up in Phnom Penh before flying to Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia the next morning.
thinking we would have a quick and easy travel day since we were flying instead
of taking a bus like we have done most months. We landed in Kuala Lumpur after a quick two hour flight, cleared customs
and immigration, and hopped on a bus to the main bus station. We got to the station and found out that the
next bus heading north was leaving in 15 minutes. We quickly bought our tickets, rushed to the
bathroom, and bought a chocolate waffle sandwich to hold me over for what was
supposed to be a 4-5 hour bus ride.
We rushed down to where we were supposed to get on the bus…and
waited, only for the bus to arrive 2 hours late. We got on the bus and were shocked at how
nice it was. Malaysians know how to bus
around in style. Each chair was about
the size of a Lazyboy recliner. 4 hours
passed on the bus, thinking we were almost there, we found out that we were
only about half way to Sungai Petani.
At 1:00am- we finally made it. We were told Sungai Petani was the end of the
line and it would stop at a bus station there. Little did we know the “bus station” meant we would be thrown out on the
curb in the middle of nowhere. The bus
pulled to the side of the road and the bus driver shouted to us in his broken
English that we were in Sungai Petani and we needed to get off the bus. At 1am we were hanging out on the side of the
road in the middle of nowhere waiting for someone to pick us up. About 10 minutes later our contact pulls up
in a pimped out van and took us to the Malaysian version of Steak-n-Shake or
Waffle House for some snacks and drinks. But after traveling for almost 24 hours straight all we wanted was a
bed.
Around 2am we were finally on to where we would be staying
for the month only to be pulled over by cops asking why our contact was driving
around a van full of white people and huge bags. Finally around 3:30am, our sleeping pads were
blown up, and we were passed out until 1pm the next afternoon.
9pm. Dinner is at midnight or later, and
sleep doesn’t begin until 2, 3, or 4 in the morning. At least we get to sleep in until noon…or 2pm
each day. So far we’ve performed at a
wedding reception, been to an engagement/Mother’s day party in Penang, and even
helped record an album in our contacts studio the other night at 2am. The World Race is definitely going out with a
bang.
