Cycling in Malaysia, The Cobra

Although I am living in Sitiawan Malaysia, I don't see many cobra's.

I do a lot of cycling in Malaysia and when this story happened it was time to leave. My 3 months tourist visa was ending and I had to leave. Thailand is the nearest country so I decided to go to Butterworth, take the train to Hat Yai and then cycle back.

And so I did. The plan was pretty simple. From Hat Yai to Sitiawan can be cycled in only 4 or 5 days. You can take several different roads. You can follow the trail of most travelers and use the train to Penang, or even cycle from Hat Yai to Alor Setar and Penang and then Sitiawan. You could also cycle to Satun and then take the ferry to Langkawi and another to Penang or cycle through Betong. But whatever road you take, for this story I ended up near Bruas, a little town 37 km north of Sitiawan.

Cobra
Cobras are common in Asia but I have seen them seldom

I had started the day in Kuala Kangsar. It's a small town and forgettable if not the beautiful Mosque was build just outside the city. For the mosque alone a visit is not wasted.

After a night in Kuala Kangsar or KK as many people know it (not to be confused with Kota Kinabalu at Sabah) I left in the morning. It's easy to find the right direction, just follow the signs for Lumut.

The road swindles around the hills, it's a very pleasant ride. When I was approached Bruas I decided to take a shortcut.

I had a local Perak provincial map bought in Ipoh. The map showed me a road parallel from the usual I took from Bruas down south.

Snakes are hard to get on the photo. This is one of the few I found crossing my path further in Malaysia, it's NOT the cobra of the story!

According to the map the road seem to be good enough for cycling, maybe a small path, but a path.

So I took it. And it was a good road, at least for the first 5 km and with another 20 to go I knew it would be hard on dirt paths. But I had little luggage with me so what the heck! I went into the hills and in no time I was lost in a cluster of dirt paths and sand holes. Obviously there were no signs, houses, no people, no NOTHING except sand paths and hills surrounding me.

And in that moment I wasn't paying attention. At the very last moment I saw it! A brown cobra. My front wheel ran over it. Immediately the cobra jumped up. His (or her?) neck swell up and I could see very clear the "eye" in his neck.

The cobra came at least half a meter from the ground but fled away in the bush. The whole thing had not taken more then a few seconds. It was my first (and only) encounter with a wild cobra. Cobra's (and other snakes like Boa's) are common in Malaysia but rarely seen unless you move to rural areas. Sometimes they can be found in villages and towns too but, as a I said, it happens seldom. It was a rare luck to see one here in the wild.

Monitor lizards or Biawaks are common

Meanwhile my problems were not over. On the contrary, I was lost in the Bruas Forest Reserve. Paths were all over but I had clue which one to take. So choose the biggest following the rule that the biggest path usually the main path is.

I choose the wrong one and for a while I was drifting through the hills, sometimes walking and even carrying my bike. I had no choice, go back. But again, that was easier said then done.

Typical kampong houses in the Bruas area

Luck is always there when you need is, it seems. I found the main trail back (but not the cobra!) and cycled back to the main road. In an abandoned village I found water. I showered (yes, literally) which gave me fresh energy and cycled to the main asphalt road. Done about 25 extra kilometers in the wild and nothing further, that was the conclusion. However, it was beautiful there.

I went straight to Bruas, followed the road straight south for 20 km. Nice and quiet until this road met the main road that connects Ipoh and Sitiawan. What it means? Busy! But from here it was only 17 km more back home and with the wind in the back it wasn't a problem.

It was my first confrontation and strangely enough, I haven't seen many since. Only once when I cycled back from Kampar to Sitiawan, I saw a cobra crossing the road. Unfortunately the poor animal was hit by a car driving right over him. The animal was hurt. I went directly back to see if there was anything left of it but the snake was slithering into the high grass at the road side. One can only wonder if the snake (and it was a cobra, I saw the "eye" in his neck, has survived.

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