Around Malaysia In 20 Days III

Cukai-Kerteh-Kuala Terengganu

The journey from Cukai to Kuala Terengganu had nothing interesting, unless you’re interested with the beaches.

See what I mean by "FOG SO THICK YOU CAN'T SEE A THING!"?

Very helpful people I met at Cukai served me this. 

Passed by the Petronas refinery, and the Ma’ Daerah Turtle Sanctuary was closed, and the Rantau Abang Turtle Information Centre.

The road to Ma' Daerah Turtle Sanctuary wasn't accessible to motorcycle, so I had to walk.

Walking through the rough terrain, with jungle all around you (I saw wild monkeys, and Dhole too) for 15 minutes.

And I saw cow tracks. 

Beautiful sandy beach

This bunch of riders riding across the country by superbikes. Envy~

I believe those are Pulau Nyireh and Pulau Tenggul (larger, right).

The rest of the day was spent walking and exploring kuala Terengganu.

Kuala Terengganu-Jerteh-Tanah Merah

I tasted Nasi Dagang today and it was really nice.

Nasi Dagang

He was attracting unwanted attention while I was having my breakfast

Saw this HUGE baby on a tree at the rest station near Kampung Hulu Caluk. The circled thingy is the male spider.

Coming to Tanah Merah made me realized two things: Malays and Chinese in Terengganu and Kelantan live peacefully together, unlike the states on the western coast. I had a brief chat with the owner of the inn at Tanah Merah, and he told me that Tanah Merah was initially opened up by Chinese migrants. It’s old name, “Chi Tu” (赤土) which basically means Red Earth. Most Chinese here are of Hokkien ethnicity.

Funny eh?

In the evening he offered to bring me out for a tour. And I noticed something on his car: Kerabat Diraja Kelantan. And his name card:

WT=Wan Tuan, is a title for members of the Royal Family. And yah I got into his car.

OMFG.
Enough said.

Tanah Merah-Jeli-Tasik Temenggor

I departed from the chalet in Tanah Merah today, heading towards Tasik Temenggor. Midway through I passed by the Jeli Hot Spring (Kolam Air Panas Jeli).

Beautiful, beautiful scenery there. Why would anyone want to visit places with less spectacular scenery than this?

I went down and regretted it because the slope was so steep I worried for my bike. The spring itself was pretty isolated, I was the only living Homo Sapien there, and there were leeches everywhere. One even got up on my shoes and I dipped it in the hot spring and fed it to the lemon ants.

Hello there lil' buddy

Parasitic vampire.

AHHHHH!!! HOT!

Then it was my turn to try the water, and gosh it was HOT! I could see bubbles and smog coming up so you can imagine how hot it was, at least 50 Celcius I’d reckon.

Then I continued my journey through the mountainous area, and there was nothing but trees beside the road.

Mountainous area, so it was really cold even at 1030am.

I passed by the Titiwangsa Rest Station and it was then I saw something hairy moving in the bush. I though it was a baby elephant so I turned around and gosh that fuckin shit turned and stared me straight in the eyes, it was the embodiment of Pumbaa the warthog, just multiple times larger. It WAS A FREAKIN’ WILD BOAR! A WILD ONE! You know I’ve heard about people attacked by wild boar and they could inflict serious injuries. And this monster was probably larger than a perodua Kelisa. When I took out my Nokia C7 and looked up the beast was gone. Holy motherfuckin’ banana it was pretty agile given its size.

Then I reached my destination, Banding Lake Side Inn and the rest of the day was spent on jungle trekking and internet surfing.

View from my hotel room.

Next stop: Baling, Kedah.



Malcolm