Kuantan to Cherating.

After a couple of days in Kuantan, a bit of shopping and a visit to the fabulous mosque at the centre of town (where Bella ran off up the stairs and was found with all the women and girls, on her knees praying), it was time for us to hop on our bikes once more.

We enjoyed Kuantan, particularly the hospitality of the staff at the Vistana hotel where we stayed. We also were happy to track down a post office and send home a box of very superfluos cold weather clothing!

With, our panniers packed we headed onto the busy streets around 9:00am.  It was already boiling hot, with not a cloud in the sky, but the roads out of the city were good.  The kids slept for a couple of hours as per their usual riding routine, however once they woke up we were all suffering from the heat. Fortunately the route was full of roadside stalls selling fruit and drinks, though good shade was hard to come by. As we rode under any shade over the road we would stop pedalling for a second just to enjoy the massive temperature difference and both of us discussed the merits of a street tree program for the benefit of cyclists.

This route took us through some beautiful coastal areas as well as a dusty mining site.  After this point the feel of the area really changed, with old wooden houses and tall coconut palms framing the road.  We also came across lots of little goats and some lovely cows too.

It was an interesting ride, but was way too hot for us all and in hindsight we should have left very early in the morning to avoid the midday melt.  The upshot was that the Cherating Legend Resort where we are now staying has lots of great swimming pools and jumping in was all the more rewarding after riding.

Desaru to Tanjung Sutera

We left Desaru with a headwind and light rain. It was actually quited refreshing once we took our raincoats off (these coats will almost certainly be posted home when we find a post office - along with some vests and a whole heap of other extraneous stuff that is weighing us down). The temp was 25 degrees and it was excellent riding for ten kms north to our planned stop. We knew that beyond this point it would be hard and long going so we had planned to break the trip with another night at a different resort.

However, after covering the distance in a record time of just over half an hour, we couldn't justify the hassle of packing and repacking and staying another night so close to where we had been so we decided to press on to a resort we had seen on the internet.

It looked to be about 40kms distant. It turned out to be 70kms away.

The ride was tough, with many long ascents and lots of rolling hills that stopped us getting a good rhythm up. Luckily the kids slept for almost two hours at the beginning of the trip, and their waking up coincided with flatter riding towards the end of the leg. Mark had the cycling computer up and running and it told us that we averaged 17kmph over the course of the seventy kilometers, not too shabby considering we were riding at what seemed like less than walking pace up some of the hills. To Bella's delight we also clocked in over 40kmph down one of the hills!

The landscape was a mix of jungle and palm plantation, with some cleared farmland as well. Arriving at our target resort near Tanjung Sutera we were stuffed and settled in for the night after a dip in the rather unimpressive pool.

The resort was ok, perched on a headland with good views of the ocean but no beach. Lots of mozzies despite the breeze too. Lesson learnt from today - pack heaps of dates and nashi fruit as the kids really loved snacking on these.

Ramunia Beach to Desaru Beach

We spent the morning before the ride having breakfast with Siva and Sharmini's family (whom we had met at Changi Village the day before), and they very generously filled us in on some key Malay phrases and yummy things to eat.  After some great times playing in the surf it was time to go and we reluctantly said goodbye.

It's never the same on the ground as it is on the map.  Such was the case with this leg of our trip, where 20kms as the crow flies over flat terrain turned into 35kms over rolling hills in 36 degree heat.  We are not complaining - on the contrary, we really felt like we got to stretch our legs - however we both were dipping into our reserves on some of those hills.  We also managed to finish all of our water too!  Suffice to say we were happy with our progress.

We arrived at Desaru Beach in the nick of time, as we were fatigued and thirsty.  The first resort we hit had no rooms available - which was very worrying and very unexpected (everything we had read said it was low season). The second resort fortunately had space, and it was at this point we found out it was a weekend and Monday was a public holiday in Singapore hence the high occupancy.

The Damai Desaru as our hotel was called was great, despite the monster cockroach we terminated in the bathroom on the first day.  Biggest. Insect. Ever.

We soon forgot all about it when we saw the beach and the view out the window.  10kms of practically deserted beach (the locals seemed to prefer the pool and we were the only foreigners around).  The owners of the hotel were very friendly, shouting Bron dinner and giving Bella a lovely cowrie shell.  All in all the hotel was spectacular so we stayed two nights. Wait, who are we kidding? Our legs hurt too and we needed a break!

Changi bumboat and bike to Ramunia Beach Malaysia

We woke early for a delicious breakfast at the hotel before heading across the road to the ferry terminal with kids and gear in tow.  We had to wait for a few hours at the terminal for the ferry to show up- the wait would have been trying were it not for a chance meeting with a lovely Malaysian family who were travelling in the same direction.  We all got along splendidly and committed to meeting up once across the border.

The bumboat ride was interesting, though our ears were ringing from the unmuffled diesel after the hour long trip.  Thankfully, nobody got wet and Marks fears about losing the bikes overboard were unfounded.

Arriving in Malaysia mid afternoon we were surprised to find no one at immigration, indeed there was almost nobody around with the exception of some ladies who formed a curious circle around us while we got ourselves organized.  We saddled up and rode into Malaysia proper... Until it occurred to us fifty meters down the road that awkward questions might be asked in five weeks when we attempted to leave the country without entry stamps in our passports.  So back we went to have a more thorough search for the elusive officials, who it soon turned out had been holed up in a back room we had unknowingly walked right past.

Passports stamped we headed out again, and 15 minutes into the ride with both kids napping soundly in the chariot we both had a great sense of "this is what we came here for". The pedals felt light underfoot as we cruised along a very well maintained road bordered by palm trees a scant few meters from the sea.

25km and many interesting sights later, with the sun just dropping below the horizon, we breathed a collective sigh of relief as we arrived at the Ramunia cabins kindly recommended by our friends at the ferry terminal.  It took us only minutes to stash our gear in the little cabin on stilts before we all jumped into the calm warm waters of the south China sea with a full moon above us.  Welcome to Malaysia!

Bukit Timah to Changi Village

Exciting. Sooo sweaty.  Wrong turns. Impassable obstacles (stairs, expressways, drainage canals, massive curbs, dead ends).  And lots of well wishers, waves, and friendly cheers.

We tried to mainly stay on the footpaths but soon discovered that this was not an option as many terminated in storm drains or narrowed so suddenly that the Chariot got stuck, requiring us to lift/drag/haul our entire weighty ensemble around 180 degrees and backtrack. 

As you can imagine, this led to some frustration and reduced our inhibitions about riding on the road.

Our ride to Changing Village was really fun other than this and a really nice way to look at the city. We had a few stops for food, directions and a play in a park, arriving at about 4pm.

Conveniently, the last ferry to Malaysia had already left, but it was fine because we were all ready for a shower and a swim and a dose of air conditioning at this point - especially Bella who had managed to get absolutely filthy in the park.

The Village hotel where we stayed was exceptional, and the pool was a hit with the kids.

We both coped well with the riding and our bikes handled the fully loaded panniers without issue.  At one point Mark got a headache, but our first aid kit came to the rescue with a triple dose of strawberry flavoured baby Panadol.  

We have found a new favourite drink called 100 PLUS. Its a slightly zingy, lemony concoction which also has electrolytes.  Lightly aerated so you can slam it down fast!!! (our new sponsers with any luck).