Peter's Cycle Tour

Route : Penarik Inn-Selesa Hill Home Resort-Puchong
Expenditure:
Breakfast-RM$4.00
Lunch-RM$6.00
TOTAL : RM$10.00

Today is my final day of my tour. Beautiful sunrise greeted me upon opening my chalet door. Will be taking it easy today. First, I look for breakfast after washing-up and next will be lazing around to enjoy the beach and sunshine. Walked around Penarik Inn to take some photos. I really like the reception area where the big tree providing some nice shade and also added some coziness to the place. You could just enjoy a cup of coffee right under it. Oh! You need to bring your own coffee. Breakfast was 2km away. You got to cycle towards the round-about and the food stalls is located opposite the mosque on your right.

Cozy reception area with shady tree.

Nice to have breakfast here.

Round about next to the mosque. Breakfast stalls just opposite the mosque.

Yum..yum something different for breakfast today.

Breakfast was simple but different from my regular roti canai. Fried glutinous rice wrapped in palm leaf (triangle shape), spicy glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaf and steamed rice cube (ketupat) with satay sauces. Taste good!!

Chill up time. Sleeping on a hammock facing the sea and enjoy the day.

After breakfast I lazed around sleeping on the hammock enjoying myself.
However I need to clean my bike before the journey home. By 10.00am I was all packed up when a van pull over with the rest of the gang coming back from their Redang island trip. The bus was also waiting for us to up load all the items. One last group photo at Penarik Inn before a final good bye with handshake and some wet eyes. This group of scouts from Singapore and Malaysia besides doing their conversation project with WWF also contributed in helping the local at Kg. Penarik with some community work. Their contribution had been appreciated by the locals. It’s nice and touching to see how little contribution like this can make friendship last forever. River (that the guy name wearing the WWF t-shirt) and Nurul (standing on the right side of River) are both working for WWF.

Last group photo before leaving Penarik Inn.

All stuffs in the bus including the bicycle.

My cleaned bike in front of me also my leg rest.

The bus journey home was very comfortable but boring. With that, I end my blog with a good thank you to all that had taken time to read my solo cycle tour to the east coast. I hope you enjoy it and should you need to cycle pass this way, I hope those information I had share are useful.

Route : Rantau Abang (0km)-Merang(50.35km)-Maran(104.5km)-Pantai Penarik,Setiu(128.9km)
Distance covered: 128.9km
Total Distance : 520.8km
Time start: 5.00am
Time of arrival: 3.30pm
Expenditure:
Breakfast-RM$4.20
Snack & Drink-RM$3.50
Light Lunch-RM$4.20
Dinner-RM$7.00
Accommodation-Free
TOTAL : RM$18.90

I woke up at 4.00 am by the sound of my alarm. Took a nice cool bath and repacked some of my stuffs into my pannier. Cool breeze was rushing in as I push my loaded bike out the chalet. Aah!…. another day of good riding. Have a good feeling this would be my best ride of the whole journey and also my last long ride on this trip. I pre-arranged to leave the chalet key on the door so that the owner can easy collect them later. Only the sound of waves accompany me as I quietly pushed my bike passed other chalets allocated along the path.

Final photo with my bike before hitting the road. Beautiful lighted arch just a short ride from the chalet.

The road was straight and the traffic was light. The tarmac was flat and good. The ride was easy and great but I was not alone. Buses and trucks was also zooming pass me at a very high speed. My only worry was that they could not see me in time and acted fast enough from hitting me even though I had my rear warning light on. Every time they zoom passed, I could feel a strong tail wind pushing me forward. Even though it’s nice but it’s a bit scary. Always tell myself to be very careful. It only takes one vehicle to hit me and I’m history.

Never miss the morning sunrise. Even a simple combination of the colorful sky and coconut tree make a beautiful picture. The earlier part was lovely. I took many photo stops as I paddle along some of the beautiful fishing villages and beaches.

Colorful sky + Coconut tree = Beautiful picture. Nice flat tarmac road.

My bike was my model of the day. I apologize if you get bore of it. At Pantai Kelulut (Pantai- Beach) you can see a few islands. These islands are worth a visit. Back in 80s this islands where my regular diving spots. Pulau Redang, Pulau Lang Tegah and Pulau Perhentian, whereby there are some very interesting and attractive islands to local and foreigner as well. Very little or no accommodation back then. Those were my kind of trips. We used to camp along the beaches and what a paradise it was. It’s like you own the whole beach and it’s clean. At night huge crabs will craw out their hide out and turtle will come up to lay their eggs during their nesting season. I remember once as we were coming back from our evening dive, our boat passed over many turtle on the bottom of the sandy sea bed (visibility was 30-40 feet) waiting for darkness before the final push to the shore to lay their eggs. You could walk without your shoe to feel the fine sand without any worry of stepping on any sharp object. I’m not saying it’s not safe now but just be careful.

One of the island view from the beach.

Sunrise at Pantai Kelulut with my loaded bike.

Crossing the bridge before reaching Merang town.

After the spectacular sunrise, I was headed to Merang. Crossing the bridge leading to Merang was a sight by itself. Stopped to take some few photo. I didn’t turn in to Merang but cycle an additional 3km before my breakfast stop. My speedometer indicated I had cover 50.35km so far. Some good habit I try to instill into myself. “If you want to eat, you will have to work/cycle for it”. Roti canai, nasi lemak and plain water the usual. Total cost RM$4.20.

Breakfast just 3 km outside Merang. Roti canai and nasi lemak again.

With a quick toilet export (biggy) after the morning import (breakfast) I was ridding towards Terengganu again. The high vintage point on top of the bridge usually had a lovely view. Never fail to stop me from taking a photo or two. Traffic got a bit heavy upon coming to town. Passed Terengganu town and proceeds towards Pulau Duyung where the bridge across it will lead me on a parallel road to Pantai Penarik my final destination. I was greeted with a beautiful view of Masjid Kristal. On top of the bridge crossing to Pulau Duyung. Met up with a friendly cyclist who helped take a photo of me and also guide me on a nice beach “Kampung (village) road” towards my distination. We turn into 1st traffic light after the bridge turning to “Kampung Seberang Bukit Tumbuh”. The road runs parallel along the beach, passed the end of the airport runway (got to go around it and the end of the run way) before coming out near a small roundabout at the end of Kampung Batu Rakit. It was nice to have some company after 3 day on the road and we chatted away as we rode passed some nice quite fishing villages. My speedometer indicated 80km and we stopped to have some drinks together before we depart and went on our separate ways.

Bridge view (left & right) before entering Kuala Terengganu town

Good reminder of the leatherback turtle signage welcoming visitor to Terengganu. Beautiful Masjid Kristal resting on Pulau Wan Man along Terengganu River.

Beautiful back drop of Masjid Kristal, me, my loaded bike and a friendly cyclist (Forgive me I forgot his name).

It was really hot with the sun right on top of my head. That reminded me what my dad asked me when I did my first cycling trip to Langkawi Island during my teenage year. Why am I being so silly to suffer under the hot sun travelling on a bicycle when he could just easily buy me a bus ticket and travel in comfort? It’s not the comfort that I’m looking for but the satisfaction from the challenges and the sense of adventure getting there. That really given me the thrill and add more spice in my life. Beside how offend you get to do that in life? Maybe NEVER! I suppose I wouldn’t like to be in that category. With that in my head, I smile and rode on.

Aaah……Pantai Penarik just 30km.

I took more regular stops to cool down and to be away from a sun knowing that I’m not far from my destination. Magic word written on a small road side stalls ‘KELAPA’(coconut). Time for a cool juicy coconut drink…yum…yum! How about some Pisang Goreng (Banana Fritters) too. Great stop from the heat and my stomach.

Magic word ‘KELAPA (Coconut). Always remember to stop when you see this word. Cool coconut juice and Pisang Goreng (Banana Fritters).

At Kampung Telaga Papan, the breeze was strong blowing from the sea. Even though it’s hard to paddle but it did add some comfort from the heat. Some small resting huts along the Telaga Papan Park were inviting enough to make me stopped take a short rest and enjoy the breeze. Beautiful and lovely!

Fishing boat at Telaga Papan beach. Road entrering Kg. Baru Penarik. See… no car!

The road to Pantai Penarik is an dead end road, so there no traffic at all. I could even stop my bicycle in the center of the road to take a picture without any worry of any oncoming vehicles. That was my kind of road.

Signage to Kg. Baru Penarik and a long free from vehicle road. BEST!!!!!!

Finally at 3.30pm and a distance of 128.9km from Rantau Abang I reached Penarik Inn. For the 4 days cycling I had cover a total distance of 520km. What can I say. It’s a lovely and a satisfying ride.

The chalet (Penarik Inn) is a bit isolated but nice and quiet. The beach is clean and the owner is nice and friendly. It’s a backpacker heaven. By the time you read this blog, the chalet would have been replaced by a better one. The owner’s son whom run this place is Encik Riyad and you can contact him at 012-626 7947 on his hand-phone. The new rate for his new chalet I believe should between RM$ 50 - RM70. The air condition chalet is about RM$120.00. They even have a cable TV near the reception area. I’m supposed to meet up with the gang here. Upon my arrival there’re in Pulau Redang and only coming back tomorrow. That means that I will have the whole chalet to myself for free. Lovely!

Anyway the bed was occupies even during their absent by their begs and belongings. Not to worry, there were camp-bed and I have no complaint with that. After a nice cool ‘mandi’ (bath), camp-bed outside and breezy time. Not fair! Only when I arrived, the sun when into hiding. The cloud looks dark with lightning flashing across the sky. The wind got even stronger. However the wind was blowing the cloud inwards and changes are it might not rain but the wind help cooled the chalet. Nice!

Dinner was early and was located near a truck tire signage 1 km away. With still some light left toward the late evening, I hopped onto my bike to do a bit of exploring. The evening sky was beautiful. Villages are mostly wooden houses with some having a small jetty just a walking distance from their house. Sungai Setiu runs parallel along the beach until enter the sea a few kilometer north worth. Because of that, Penarik village have the best of both world. South China Sea on one side and river on another.

Nice wooden kampong houses (houses on stilts) with lots of shady coconut trees.

Beautiful cloud formation before the storm.

South China Sea on one side and Sungai Setiu on the other side.

My evening ride took me towards the end on the tarmac and into a coconut plantation along the beach. You will not miss it. At end you can see a nice Balinese resort under construction and the sandy road run beside it. The off road is worth an hour of exploring. I would suggest you go early because I have to turn back as the sky was getting dark. Another beautiful day had ended and WHAT A DAY!