Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: The final few words.......

To summarise, our trip has really been an A to B voyage, with little sightseeing.  The problem on this south-north trip up the west coast of Malaysia is there are very few alternative small roads without making large detours.  The highlight was visiting Penang.  Would we recommend this trip as a cycling holiday?  The answer is no, since there are many more rural and unspoilt parts of Asia to discover.  That said, the people we met were friendly, warm and very helpful.  The food in Malaysia is varied and generally good, as we have tried to show in our photos.  This trip has been a rediscovery of forgotten flavours.  For us, it has been an adventure and we have learnt a few things in preparation for our next long haul trip.

Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: Photos

How many rotis would you like?

5am, ready for the off

5 o'clock Singapore Day 1

First roti canai

Guiness sponsors temple

Traditional Malaysian house

Tauhu bakar

Assam laksa

Breakfast selection at Indian Muslim restaurant in Banting

Helpful bikeshop outside Klang

Kampung house

Kapok tree

Tapioca

ABC

Sugar cane

Oil palm fruit

Red rice wine chicken noodles in Sitiawan

Morris Minor and still running

Small mosque

Papaya

Mee rebus

Amazing rain trees in Taiping

The workhorse, you can hear it coming half a mile behind.  They must be 40 years old.

Pineapple plantation

Curly Hetchins in Sitigun

Pork belly drying

Carrot cake and Chee cheong fun

A novel way of protecting concrete piles.  For how long?

Meeting Alan at the Penang ferry

Mechanised rice harvest in Kedah

The Gleam Resort, Satun

Rubber tapping

Drying latex sheets

Bicycle and motobike lane

Em route from Krabi to Phuket

One for Marguerite and our French friends

Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: 19 Jan 2013, Trang to Krabi

We started early again with the objective of trying to get within 20km of Krabi.  But after a slow start, we gained momentum and managed to make it all the way to Krabi town.
The road was pretty hairy as it was Saturday morning and maybe people were visiting.  There were lots of rubber and palm oil trucks collecting the harvest.  This area also seems to grow a lot of pineapples and they were being sold at the side of the road for as little as 3 baht.
The entry into Krabi was tricky - heavy traffic, double and irregular parking - we could have been back in Italy!  We were overtaken at one point by 6 or 7 Porsches, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and super cars, all with foreign registrations, showing off their full throttle and dodging through the busy traffic.
Tomorrow, we leave Krabi by ferry for Phuket and not ride around Phang-Nga since we would like to see our friends before they leave Phuket on Wednesday.

Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: 18 Jan 2013, Satun to Trang

We knew it was going to be a long day, so we set off at 6am and managed to leave the key at reception without awaking the night watchman. So we thought.... as we got to the main junction, the family of the hotel were there to wave good-bye!
The dragon's back was a long line of lumpy ups and downs, great going down!  We noticed that the Thais seem to be spreading their bets between coconut and palm oil.  For sure, coconuts have had it.  The coconuts seem to have been allowed to die off, whether by disease or natural causes is unclear.
South Thailand is a mix of Buddhist and Muslim people with the odd Taoist temple thrown in for good luck.  There are fewer cars on the road than in Malaysia, but those that are, seem to be 2.5-3 litre pickup trucks or SUVs that zoom by at crazy speeds.  There is a bicycle and motorbike lane, except on the narrower roads.
Today was our longest ride and we managed to find a hotel in the centre of Trang.  In the evening, we had Chinese stir fry and steamed fish.  We sat very close to the chef; the heat of the flames was just amazing.  The flash cooking of vegetables took less than 30 seconds before they were plated up.  The fish was steamed and topped with a spicy lemon sauce.  A couple of Leo beers and we were ready for bed.

Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: 17 January 2013, Langkawi to Satun

Breakfast buffet was spaghetti, bolognese sauce, mashed potatoes - we skipped.  The ferry was quick although it was a bit hairy loading and unloading the bikes over the gap between the boat and shore of more than 1 metre.
We cycled from Tammalung Pier to Satun, just 8km and found a really lovely small chalet hotel, The Gleam Resort.  It is owned and run by an ex-lawyer from Bangkok, who has returned to her hometown.  We would highly recommend this to anyone making a trip to Satun.
Tomorrow, we set off towards Trang which will be really tough as the winds are expected to increase and be against us.  Apparently, the road has been described as the dragon's back.  If we can get in 80km, it will be a good start.

Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: 16 January 2013, Penang to Langkawi

The day started with the sheer coincidence of meeting Alan Tan on the ferry.  We had been in contact with him as he had cycled from Penang to Trang in August 2012.  We recognised his colourful 'bangla' bike and introduced ourselves.  We really enjoyed the chat and missed the first ferry as a result.
it was a very long hard slog through northern Kedah.  This is the rice bowl of Malaysia, producing more than 40% of its production.  It seemed to be well-mechanised with large combine harvesters much in action during our ride.  We had a very strong headwind of about 25km/h against us.  It was exhausting. There was no cloud cover.
We boarded the ferry at Kuala Kedah for Langkawi.  Kedah is quite unique as this year, its Sultan was crowned the Agong for the second time.  Malaysia's royalty rotates every 5 years amongst the states.  The last time the Agong was king was 41 years ago.
We grabbed the nearest hotel from the ferry terminal as we plan to take the first ferry in the morning into Thailand.
Total mileage: 108km

Roti Run through Malaysia en route to Thailand: 14 Jan 2013, Taiping-Butterworth-Penang

A long hard slog of over 100km - some parts OK but riding into Butterworth was 
sheer hell on Route 1.
The last time David visited was after a long train ride from Singapore with 
Peter Davies, both young subalterns from the Welch Regiment sent to train with 
the Australian Air Force as Forward Air Controllers in preparation for a spell 
in Borneo.
As the hunter jet climbed almost vertical and had just a few seconds to describe 
its target, "Reference attap hut, 2 o'clock, 100 metres clump of trees in rice 
field"- that is your target.  Afterwards we were debriefed by the pilots and 
being Aussie, were quite direct with their comments!
Now in Penang in an old army barracks converted into a hotel.  We are having a 
rest day ahead of the last stops in Malaysia before entering Thailand.
The food in Penang is varied and probably the best in Malaysia.  So we are 
building the carbs and resting the limbs.
Total mileage: 109km