2019 Peninsula Malaysia Ride, Part 1

Finally decided to ride Malaysia after 20 years growing up there and not exploring most parts of the country. Looking at the map there seems to be enough twisties to satisfy any rider, and words have it that the roads aren't too bad either. I've elected to skip most of southern Malaysia as I'm based in Singapore and can visit the south very easily in the future.


Route Overview:

Trip itinerary:
Singapore - Bukit Mertajam - Kota Bharu - Cherating - Cameron Highlands - Cameron Highlands - Fraser's Hill - Bentong - Bentong - Singapore

Useful information:
Tropical climate, hot and humid with regular scattered thunderstorms year-round.
Average daily highs of 30-35C, lows of 25-30C at sea level.
2 Monsoon seasons:
- Northeast monsoon affects east coast (Oct - Mar)
- Southwest monsoon affects west coast (to a lesser degree) (May - Sep)
Rains are usually heavy and passing, and all underpasses have area for riders to take cover and wait out the storm.

MYR 10 = USD 2.40 = EUR 2.10
Street food cost about RM5-6 per meal.
Restaurants cost about RM10-15 per meal.
Hotels generally are about RM50-100 but with varied standards.
Road condition is generally average to good, but below that of Thailand's.
As with most of Southeast Asia, vehicles flashing their headlight means for you to get out of their way.
Petrol stations are everywhere, range anxiety is never a problem.


----------


Day 1

After some poor experience with the rental company I managed to get a Honda CB400 SuperFour for my trip. Not to be confused with the more pedestrian twin cylinder CB400F, this is a 4 cylinder high performance naked bike introduced in the 90's with 53hp and redlines at 13,000rpm. Oh and it has VTEC too- one of only two bikes with it (the other is the VFR800). Originally a Japan Domestic Market model it was then made available in Australia, Singapore a few other Southeast Asian countries, and it is still available new.

It was my first time trying to use the much raged about ROK Straps and my bag almost fell off within 5 minutes. Well it actually did fell off and I had to ride to the right hand kerb (fast lane) immediately to stop the bike and rescue my bag. Turns out I didn't fasten the strap tight enough, my stupidity for sure.

After clearing the Singapore custom in a breeze I rode over the causeway to Malaysia, and witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. The morning sun cast a pink hue over the mangrove forest by the sea, covered with dreamy sea mist against the orange sky. It was simply unforgettable and unfortunately I did not manage to take a picture as there was no place to stop.

Clearing the Malaysian custom was unusually quick as well, thanks to the lack of traffic. After that it was a boring ride on the expressway to Muar, a bustling town close to Malacca. Had breakfast there at a cafe called 434- some amazing nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) and ice coffee. Apparently the Johor sultan comes here from time to time for their coffee too.

My condominium carpark uses vintage motorcycle icon.

By the time I reached KL it was bang on midday and the city was jammed up as usual. After some uncomfortable riding I quickly made my way to my home in KL to rest and prepare for the next leg of my journey. It's a long ride today (about 730km) as I have to reach Bukit Mertajam (BM) for a family event the next morning.

By the time I headed up the north-south highway again it was close to 3pm. Then it was miles and miles of arse-numbing highway ride. Before Tapah it rained heavily and I had to stop under a bridge for awhile. No need to put waterproof lining on as the rain passed within 15 minutes. However close to Taiping it rained heavily again, but I couldn't be bothered to stop so I just let myself soak through ha ha. Road condition was real dangerous then though but I just kept riding with my hazard lights as the wind wasn't too strong. Traffic has became heavy too as many Malaysians are on the move for the Malay new year (Hari Raya, or Raya for short).

Finally reached BM at 7pm with my hands tainted black from my gloves.



Day 2 & Day 3

Spent the weekend catching up with family, sampling all the good food that BM has to offer and visited a few familiar places too.

Day 4

Started my ride late today around 11am as I was settling bank matters in the morning. Today I ride across the East-West highway to Kelantan, a conservative Malay state close to Thailand.

Immediately my impression of Malaysia's A and B roads dropped. The supposed highway is marred with lots of patches and bumps. The first half of the highway, although twisty, is not suitable for spirited riding as the road condition is bad. Only perhaps 30% of the road was fun. Second half of the road was much better with probably 70% of enjoyable ride. If today's road is an indication then Malaysia's road condition is definitely not as good as Thailand's.

When I was close to midpoint it started to rain again. These few days have been quite wet in Malaysia with regular afternoon rains. Luckily I was near the only rest stop on the highway so I promptly turned in and had some snacks and milk tea while I waited out the worst of the rain. After about half an hour the rain lightened so I continued my journey downhill and immediately met with a huge crawl of around 5-10km long due to an accident. It was just miles after miles of pileup, and I was feeling lucky to be on a bike even though the it was raining.

Around 5pm I reached the border town of Tumpat, with significant number of Thai communities and Thai-style Buddhist temples. One of the most famous temple here is Wat Phothivihan which houses the largest reclining Buddha statue in Malaysia at 40m long.

After visiting the temples I headed to Kota Bharu which is the state capital of Kelantan. I stayed at OYO Ridel hotel at the city centre in a room overlooking the Kelantan river. Costs about RM50 only.

The city shows the poor state of Kelantan's economy- there are many homeless families and the infrastructures are derelict. I went wandering around the city in the evening and bought some Briyani rice with chicken and ate at the riverside with other locals. Felt slightly awkward at first as everyone talks so softly and I was trying to eat with my hand like the locals, but it was a good experience nonetheless.



Day 5

In the morning I headed back Tumpat to tick off a beautiful Thai temple that I've missed out yesterday- Wat Maisuwankiri or "Dragon Boat Temple".

Back to Kota Bharu I visited the Siti Khadijah Market (central market) where many locals were buying groceries for Raya.

Then it was time to ride down the east coast. I am riding down the long coastline of Terrenganu today, with hundreds of kilometres of pristine white beach. It's a beach lover's paradise. However the weather was very hot too- there was no rain or cloud cover all the way and it was quite uncomfortable requiring frequent rest stops. Traffic lights are a nightmare. Road condition was pretty terrible in Kelantan with countless bumps and potholes, while in Terrenganu it has noticeably improved and it's obvious that it's a richer state, oil money perhaps? (there's a huge offshore oil & gas industry there)

In the end I did not visit any of the beaches even though I rode the whole stretch of Route 3 which hugs the coastline closely. Shame there was no coastal view though. Numerous signs pointing to the beach along the road however it was really too hot and I only wanted to reach my destination ASAP. Upon reaching the popular backpacker/local tourist town of Cherating I was surprised to find it absolutely empty and could hear the wind blowing and rubbish rolling across the street. There was only 1 local Chinese restaurant open and it was a literal ghost town as most Malaysians were away for Raya. I was told that tourists will start coming back 2 days later but until then Cherating is a lonely place.

Well at least the beach was nice and clean, and my room has unobstructed sea view so all is good.

----------


Continued in part 2.


LY