I watched the incoming ferry dock. I thought I spotted two bicycles! They were perfectly still with no cyclists around. As the ramp came down, I realized why. They were mounted on the roof of the first car off the ferry. The vehicles rolled off the ferry in a pretty organized manner. Bringing up the rear was a group of cyclists from the mainland. I was pleasantly surprised at the active weekend cycling culture in Penang.
On the ferry, I had a great chat with an off-duty cop. He shared with me a few useful tips as well as his experiences with touring cyclists. We wished each other well when we parted ways and I regretted not exchanging contacts. It’s such experiences that make touring truly enjoyable. On our way out of Butterworth, we met many cyclists out on their Sunday rides. I felt more motivated than ever to reach Alor Setar.
We missed a major exit off the highway out of Butterworth and had to take a small route up North. In Perak, it’s not uncommon to see miles and miles of paddy fields. On our distant right, mountain ranges lined the horizon. If we walked straight and pass the mountains, we would be in Thailand.
We reached Sungei Petani slightly past 11am and we explored the town a little, hoping to find a place for breakfast, or rather, lunch. We spotted a hawker centre but we had to give it a miss – there was no space to park our bikes safely. Several other stalls sold noodles but Dad wasn’t so keen on having them for lunch. Just as we were about to move off, he spotted a chicken rice stall.
The queue was long and we waited a good 20 minutes for our lunch. We weren’t disappointed though. For RM3, it was probably the best Hainanese chicken rice I have ever eaten in my life. The servings of chicken were generous and the soup was delicious. We had extra portions of rice.
We decided not to make a detour to the Langkawi Ferry Terminal at Kuala Kedah. Admittedly, we were tired. The climb up Penang Hill was no recovery ride and I was starting to feel the strain of the tour. I was contented to complete this stage, grab a day or two of rest and head home.
Under the scorching mid-afternoon sun, we finally pulled into the Pusat Bandar of Alor Setar. We checked out several hotels, finding none suitable but finally, luck was on our side and we found the very reasonably priced Hotel Grand Jubilee. The rooms weren’t great. In fact, they were pretty rundown and were just on the borderline of decency. For the rates we paid, there was nothing to complain.
We trekked more than 3km to Terminal Bas Shahab Perdana in the evening to check the place out. Thereafter, we caught a bus back to Pusat Bandar to check out the railway station. Unless we stripped the bikes such that we could hand-carry them into the train, we had to transport the bikes by a cargo truck which would travel to our destination by road. Also, the train would probably reach our destination earlier than the truck which might pose some inconvenience. Moreover, the KTM tickets were not cheap. We decided that a better bet would be to travel home by bus.
We had western food (RM10) which was satisfactory but not that value for money. There wasn’t much to look around at the shopping centers hence we headed back to our hotel. Alor Setar was really a dead town at night. Nearing our hotel, we decided to walk a few streets down to the 7-Eleven to get some water. Surprisingly, we found a good number of hawker centers selling a wide variety of Chinese fare!
Total distance: 96km
Money spent: RM104
Participants: LSH, Dad
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