Malaysia - Terengganu

Cherating to Dungun – 103km

Today the flat plains with their endless palm plantations were left behind and in their place small steep sided hills covered in forest and regular glimpses of the beautiful coastline. The road itself was still relatively flat, weaving its way between the hills and over some impressive wide rivers. Within a few kilometers we entered the state of Terengganu.

At the village of Kajal we turned off the main road to explore the beach side. There were many fishing boats and nets along the beach and lots of little fish spread out on mats to dry in the sun.

The fishermen invited us into their shed where they were boiling the morning catch of tiny fish in large vats then putting them into wicker baskets to cool before they went to be dried.

Kampung Baharu demanded a photo stop and some more water. Further along the road a group of motorcyclists with a police escort came towards us. They were followed by a huge convoy of about 1,000 young Malaysian motorcyclists who all pipped their horns and waved to us. They were taking part in a government campaign to try to educated young motorcyclists about safe road use called 'Ride it Right'.

The sun was "scorchio" today and suntan lotion was splashed on liberally. We stopped for an ice lemon tea at a roadside cafe and found to our delight, banana fritters. A plate full plus two teas for only 4 MR. We chatted to a young Malaysian who had two mountain bikes and two road bikes. He'd done a lot of cycling around the country and gave us advice about the offshore islands and cycling the East – West highway over the mountains. The most important part of this was how to avoid the wild elephants.

Travelling through Kerteh we passed the extensive Petronas oil company offices. The whole coastal part of the Terrengganu seems to have benefited from oil money, from the cars to the housing. The roads are better maintained dual carriageways with hundreds of trees and shrubs in pots and manicured grass. There are miles of fancy lamp posts with coloured lights strung between.

At one set of lights there was a large bill board advertising Emerson – “Consider it Solved”, Steve's old company. Further north was the industrial area and we rode for 5km past refineries, oil terminals , chemical complexes and power stations. Steve was reminded of his visits here in the nineties to the Esso (now Petronas) Oil Terminal.

As we approached Dungun, the skies started to blacken and the wind got up. We needed to find accommodation quickly before the afternoon thunderstorm. The centre of Dungun is very run-down and the two town centre hotels were closed down. Another was now a museum. Eventually we ended up at the Mayangsari Resort hotel just as the heavens opened. Steve negotiated to try to get a reduction on the room price of 120RM. Eventually he offered a room with no hot water for 90MR, who needs hot water in this climate.

The room was in a block right at the back of the complex. We just got in in time before the downpour. It was a typical Malay hotel room, built about twenty years ago and had no maintenance since. The outside paint was covered in mildew and mould. The door paint was peeling off. The walls were grubby and had various holes and electrical wires poking out. There was just a bed and a small table with a black and white telly on it. The 'wardrobe' consisted of four coat hangers hung from the curtain rail. There weren't many other guests but they were keen on karaoke and kept us awake with their out of key and unidentifiable renditions of famous songs.

Dungun to Kuala Terengganu – 82km

Dungun used to be a thriving town with a large iron ore mining industry. Since that ended in the 1970's the place has become a sleepy backwater. As we crossed the bridge over the river we could see the effects of the mining on the surrounding hills, denuded of trees and soil. On our right was the old town, run down and dilapidated.

About 4km along the road there was a nice looking guest house called Johanne's Villa which was a much nicer overnight option than the Dungun resort for just 30MR extra. We checked out the room which were large, air conditioned and well furnished.

Until the 1960's,this part of Malaysia used to have a large population of leatherback, green and hawksbill turtles. We stopped to visit the turtle Information Centre in Rantau Abang. It is heart breaking to realise that 50 years later their numbers are so depleted that they are critically endangered.

It was hot again and the road continued straight and flat. There are always stalls at the side of the roads. For quite a few miles there will be unused ones then suddenly there will be a whole group of them, all selling exactly the same things. Today it started with sweetcorn, boiled in large vats over a small wood fire, the counters piled with raw corn and soft drinks. A few miles further and it was fresh fruit - pineapples, dragon fruit and durians. Then we moved to sweets, crisps and roasted nuts. Finally, there was a whole village of craft shops.

At lunchtime we saw another police escort coming towards us. This time they were escorting a group of school children who were cycling from their home town of Kuala Besut to Kerteh. They were very excited to see us and insisted we join them for a group photo.

After lunch it was even hotter and the wind which had cooled us in the morning had dropped. The road passed through a lot of traditional Malay villages with wooden long houses on stilts. At Chendering we stopped briefly to visit the famous 'Floating Mosque', built on the shore of a lake. Like the hotels, it could also have done with a coat of paint.

Terengganu was a town of great contrasts. Large concrete blocks of houses, offices and hotels, smart promenades along the river and beaches, but in between traditional wooden village type houses with dirt yards holding cockerels, ducks and chickens.








There is a tiny China Town on the river bank with beautifully painted ornate shops and more ramshackle houses and warehouses.

We managed to get a nice room in a newish hotel called Ming Star for 100MR and it had a WARDROBE! It was so nice and the beds so comfy that, after the best nights sleep for weeks, we booked in for another night. On our day off we planned to do some sight seeing but learnt that Friday is not a good day to do much in a Muslim country. Most things are either shut all day or closed from 12.00 till 15.00. It was a scorching hot day so a good idea to not be cycling.  The central market though was open and we enjoyed walking around looking at the veg, fish and meat stalls.

As it was the Muslim holy day, many of the men headed for Friday prayers at the mosque. Some of the young men rode up and down on their motorbikes dressed in their colourful, silk suits and traditional hats.

In the scorching afternoon heat we climbed to the top of Bukit Puteri hill, which is the old fortification where the sultans defended themselves from attack. We had a great view of the Maziah Garden.

Kuala Terengganu to Kuala Besut – 112km

Getting out of town proved quite a challenge. The sat nav directed us the wrong way down a one way street and we took a couple of wrong turns so we'd done almost 10km before we were over the Trengan River.

There was a good view of the Crystal Mosque, part of the Islam Civilisation Theme park from the bridge. This theme park has 21 small scale reconstructions of famous muslim sites from around the World, such as Spain's Al Hambra, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Masjidi Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

It was a cloudy morning and after an overnight storm the air was cooler. Coming out of Terengganu the road was very busy but after about 20km it was quieter. At our first cafe stop we met a Malaysian couple from Kuala Lumpur who spoke very good English. They were taking part in a horse riding endurance race that evening.

Later we met a Belgian couple cycling south on a short supported cycling trip. As the day wore on the clouds cleared and it got hotter. We rode hard to get to Kuala Besut, ready to catch the ferry to Perhentian Besut in the morning. We found a friendly Chinese hardware shop that also sold beer. The owner advised us where the cheapest Chinese restaurant was which sold beer. The town is small and not a lot to endear it, so after a lovely dinner and another beer it was early to bed.

We stayed at the Nam Hotel, which was a budget place. The bed had strange thick patterned sheets that looked reasonably clean but did have a few black specks that could have been bed bug doo. Our fears were unfounded and we didn't seem to have any bites in the morning.

The “bathroom” was about 1m wide by 1.5m long. The wash basin and toilet cistern were loosely attached to the wall. The shower head just sprayed over the whole room and drained out through a half blocked grating in the floor. The washbasin was plumbed in, the drain outlet going neatly into the wall, only to reappear coming out of the wall near the floor. The result being that the waste water just bubbled back all over the floor. The space was so tight that as Steve squeezed out of the bathroom, he bumped into the washbasin and water started spraying up to the ceiling. We promptly handed in our key, and left to catch the ferry to the Perhentian Islands.