Day 1: 60km Shah Alam - Kuala Selangor

Shook hands with my brother and off I go, 9.30am from my mom's place in Shah Alam and pedaled for 4 hours to Bukit Malawati, Kuala Selangor - 60km away, whilst singing along jolly-a-good-day with my mp3s. Cars with wilayah plate numbers are not very nice drivers I'm telling you, especially worst with P stickers. Like come on, I'm here at the edge of the road taking up just 1 feet of space and still the cars drift really close.








Reached Kuala Selangor and I swung by Hotel Zande where they were cool enough to let me put the bike up in my room. For RM30 it had AC, TV and its own loo - so that's pretty ok by me. I've stayed in FAR worst places before for more than RM100 (Koh Lipe sucks during Christmas) so this is awesomepuffs. Had a massive lunch and a 2 hour nap, I decided to do the tourist thing and go up Bukit Malawati since the tram that takes visitors up the hill is only next door from the hotel.




Its pretty scenic up here and there's a big huge light house that you can climb all the way up that has a nice panoramic view of the Melaka Straits. I got distracted fooling around with the friendly Langurs instead of checking out the lighthouse. Hahaha. As opposed to the usual wild ill-bite-your-head-off-if-you-come-any-closer wild macaques that snatches stuff away from you, the langurs are a polite bunch off hairy small people. They were like hey-thats-a-nice-looking-what-ever-you're-holding-can-i-have-that then they'd stretch their hands out. Awww cute.

By the way stay away from the cendol, the guy scooped the ice and pulut with his bare hands. Fuck that shit. No wonder nobody buys his cendol.




The tram takes you up the hill then goes down passes by a couple off attractions but I was just too knackered to move to check it out. Eventually the tram stops at a freshwater fish park off some sort, where honestly, its the most depressing looking park - ever. All it had was algae infested pools, dead fishies and scary (but interesting) looking trees that has roots growing out from its branches.

Day 2: 138km Kuala Selangor - Sitiawan

Woke up to a wet rainy morning, and started at 7am. Reached Sungai Besar at 9.45am, roughly about 50km away. Had a massive massive (extra rice please) lunch at Pekan Sabak Bernam.

Then after the main junction from Hutan Melintang to Teluk Intan / Sitiwan route - all along the Seri Manjong road there was a mad crazy headwind. It felt like I slammed into a wall. Could barely muster anything above 10kmph. Realising that I only covered 10km in 2 odd hours is fuck depressing. Also because all along the road were palm oil plantation, there was hardly any shade available. It was so hot I finished what ever water supply I took with me, about 2.5 litre of water. 

Finally, never have I was so glad to see a petrol station. Aircond! Water! Gulped down a whole 1 liter of isotonic drink, cashier auntie thought it was funny.

After going through all that crazy wind and heat, I reached Sitiawan about 6pm. That's about what? 11 hours off pedaling? My legs were jiggly jelly-o. I checked-in at the first guesthouse I see. But unfortunately it was a prostitution den. Anyways it was RM30 for a room, so meh I'm not complaining. Had mixed rice with half a chicken for dinner then went straight back to my room to rest for tomorrow.








Day 3: 90km Sitiawan - Taiping

Again, woke up to a wet morning, which was a good thing. because the drizzle kept me cool all the way till afternoon. Easily pedaled my first 50km in under 3 hours.

Left Sitiawan at 9.30am and reached Simpang, Taiping at 3.30pm - thats a nice 6 hour leisurely ride, covering a distance of 90km.

One thing I noticed is that, once I've passed Kuala Selangor and going further north, the passing vehicles were giving me a huge berth around me. Was seriously grateful for that because anytime in between any mid sized towns, there was hardly any space to pedal off the main road. All i had was the white roadside painted line, and I rode on that.






I reached a town called Simpang, which basically translates to "Junction". A small town sprouted from a 4 junction road. Loadsa has shops, Mcdonalds, hotels and where surprisingly there was even a competent bike shop that fixed my creaking bottom bracket and replaced my brake pads. There was a few guesthouses to pick but in the end I ended up with the one that has a night market right on its door steps. FOOD!

• Ride Preparation, Equipment and Notes
• Day 1 - 3. Kuala Selangor, Setiawan and Taiping
• Day 4 - 6: George Town and Satun
• Day 7 - 8: Trang 
• Day 9: Krabi