Allison Chong Goes On A Group Tour In Eastern Malaysia
Aug
Please tell me where you went on your bicycle tour and how many days you were on the road.
I just did a 9 day tour of the East Coast Of Malaysia. The East Coast of Malaysia is mostly beach and Malay Villages. Sometimes we passed by fisherman villages. Due to the tour date (3rd August 2013 – 10th August 2013), the tour fell on Hari Raya (the Malay New year), so a lot of the food stores were closed and we were required to bring some food along with us.
3/8- (KL-Kota Bharu) By Bus- We are almost cannot make it due to the bus has no space for us to put our bike. Its took us 9 hours to reached.
4/8-(Kota Bharu-Kuala Besuk, 60km)-We start late, due to my bicycle problem, need to send to bicycle shop, Kota bharu is a small town mixed with Malay and chinese
5/8-(Kuala Besuk-Kuala Terengganu, 120km)-Woke up at 4pm rush for before the sun is coming out..along this road is flat road.
6/8-(Kuala Terengganu-Chukai/Kemaman, 175km)-its not our initial plan, its so tired and I managed to ate a nice lemak and i didn’t manage to eat crab which is famous over here. Is a small Malay Town
7/8-(Chukai-Kuantan, 24km)-we start at 9am, we reached cherating and we had fun at the beach. Club Med is located at cherating, I managed to drop by, but couldn’t go in. A lot of tourist.
8/8-(Cherating-Sungai Lembing, 88km)-I love this small town and its a Chinese village, we are cycle passing by the cemetery, because of holiday, and we couldnt get our stay, at the end we stayed at the malay’s Guest House and the owner cook for us a delicious Malay food. Its a bit hilly.
9/8-(Sungai Lembing-maran-Termeloh, 155km) 13 hours on the bike roller coaster
10/8-(Termeloh-KL, 155km) Long winded climb at karat highway and bukit tinggi.
We started out with 11 bicycle tourers in Kota Bharu. 2 departed in Kuala Terengganu and then 3 departed in Temerloh. With only left 6 tourers, we completed the entire East Coast Touring route.
What was the thing you liked most about your bicycle touring experience?
Because I was cycling with a group of people, we had a lot fun along our ride and when we at Cherating. We had a good time with each other, taking lots of funny photos and laughing.
If you could change anything about your bicycle touring experience, what would it be?
The distance we rode each day was too long and we had to rush. Sometimes we didn’t have the opportunity to explore the places we were passing through. I think it would be better if we could reduce our distance each day to a maximum of 70 km.
Name three things you learned from your bicycle tour:
Because I was on tour with a group of people…
1) I have learned how to compromise with others during the tour,
2) Share the burden of the organizer – like looking for places to stay, places to eat,
3) And be sensitive and supportive to other people’s needs.
Do you think you’ll conduct more bicycle tours in the future? If so, where do you want to go? And why do you want to go there?
Yes, I will. I love it so much. There are already a few places on my wish list.
The places below are places I want to go because of the culture, the people, the food and the scenery.
- Thailand
- Cambodia
- Inner China
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Australia
What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is planning their first bicycle touring adventure?
Be prepare for whatever circumstances might happen during your tour and take it as a challenge. Overcome it with joy!
