June 26. Buddha.

After a long night of dreaming, we have a light breakfast together consisting of fruit and a puree of green vegetables, along with cashew nuts. and raw cookies that haven't been warmer than about 45 degrees. I like it, I like the inventiveness of it, even though I am not a vegan or raw food adept. The dishes are very delicious and nutricious. Perhaps they don't make you jump and dance and attack as quick as a carnivorous reptile, but that't the whole point of it. Without eating chemicals, salty cooked food, msg, caffeine, our minds will get a lot more peaceful.

We want to take a look around, to get a better impression of Malaysia, and we walk off in the sweltering heat. We try to reach one of the rock formations that are scattered around the valley, but a man on a motorbike comes to call us back. Humans, I think, humans are more likely to mean bad news than good news. We go back to the man road and walk to the other side of the river, where we finally reach a rock formation and see some monkeys swinging on the roots of the overhanging trees. A little bit further is a huge golden Buddha statue guarding a cave with an altar inside. The site is interesting, and its low-key appearance (no signs, no tourists) create the illusion of discovery in my mind.

June 25. Follow the Road.

We take a taxi to the old bus station, and a bus to Bercham. The description our fellow travelers have given us is precise, I mean we can count the gas stations exactly as pointed out in their email and get off at the Petronas, from where a healthy little walk (on yellow-duck.tumblr.com you might find another adjective for this, but here I am supposed to celebrate my subjectivism).
So we walk on to the house where Katja and Augustas live and we receive a warm welcome.

June 24. Ipoh.

The morning train to Ipoh has all conveniences we need, and lacks the freezing AC we don't need. The delay is only one hour, after which the train rolls to the border for another hour idling, degorging its passengers that need to do their paperwork. In our case that consists of a simple stamp, a welcoming smile, and a routine glance at our pickles and medication bag.

Ipoh's central railway station is quiet at night, and it is easy to find helpful people. In our case, a British man who was based here as a soldier five decades ago, explains us where we can find a more suitable neighbourhood to spend the night. We share a taxi and say goodbye at a 24-hour restaurant, where we watch a worldcup game, and countless repetitions thereof.

We will meet two big time travelers tomorrow, and I am looking forward to it.