The Great Outdoors

Day 2 Starts from Kuala Sepetang.

Our rooms.

After the dinner and chat sessions where I slept through half way, I just plonked away and when I was conscious, the time glared 6.30am on my phone.Stealthily without waking up Chris, I went to the bathroom and switching on the lights only when the doors are almost fully closed. Cleaned up myself, brushed my teeth and ..............errrr, empty the bowels. By the time I am done, Lilian climbed down from the loft bed and it was her turn to use the bathroom. After we were done, I saw Chris was awake but I will leave the room to himself now taking all our bikes and stuffs out.

I have to carry the 2 bikes down 3 flights of stairs and I left it near the lobby while I took a seat near the balcony and ordered breakfast. Fenn was already there and we were joined later by Winson and family, Cikgu and Cikgu, Irene and a few others. When we have finished, we were instructed to set up our bikes outside and when we carried our bikes out, almost everyone was already there. We checked out and I was introduced to Mr. Ho who resides in Taiping nearby and will be our guide for the rest of the ride. I was glad that someone will take the helm today!

Our breakfast which was inclusive.

We started off and we went up the bridge that connects Sepetang to a village on the other side named Kuala Seberang. We did not cross it but just stayed at the apex of the bridge to enjoy the view of the rivermouth, watching boats sailing to and fro. En Khairul was there too, he was guiding a whole troop of students around. From there on, we rode to the mangrove forest reserve. I knew the rangers won't allow bicycles on the boardwalks which was a pity because the boardwalk was extensive. For that, I wasn't really interested in the place so I just hung around and finally after a group photo we left the place. The next stop is an interesting one, the charcoal factory and this will be my second time visiting it.

The picturesque view of the Sepetang river.

The charcoal factory's supervisor now charges RM3 per person for guided tour around which I think is fair. Since I have been here before, I strolled around the factory compound hunting for subjects to feed my camera.

The charcoal factory.

We spent quite some time at the charcoal factory and some had ice cream from a vendor there. After that Mr. Ho leaded the pack to Taiping using the former railway route. Sadly the 14 kilometers railway track was dismantled in 1987 which I felt was much better if left alone as a heritage site. It was the first railway line in Malaysia. It's kind of sad that , older generations have to learn of our history through surviving pictures. The whole route is now a paved road, going through villages and palm oil plantations. It also weaves under the North South Highway. Halfway past the NS highway, I felt the pedaling getting harder and I was swaying. I knew it was another flat tire.

Puncture break!

So, the whole group stopped and while I replaced the tube, the rest was happily chatting away and Jotaro even took photo with a local villager on a motorcycle. The puncture was caused by a tiny little sharp pebble and it was still lodged in the tires. I have to get a pin from Sherine to dislodge it out. I think the tire is a bit soft and thin already, time to change. After huffing and pumping and off we go again.

Taiping is actually very near using this route. Before we know it, we were already in Aulong, a small village on the outskirts of Taiping. It is here that we also recorded a GPS point of interest from the internet. The famous "Au-long Heong Peang". Mr. Ho was surprised that we knew about this place as he has no idea about it. Lilian and a few others rushed in and bought some while others went in just to have a "look see, look see". The only reason Lilian bought the rack and panniers was in anticipation of buying the biscuits. Then again, after tasting it at home later, she found out the Gunong Rapat ones in Ipoh was better. Hahaha. 

The An Tong coffee mill.

Aulong Biscuit Factory.

We proceeded to town and our next destination was the AnTong coffee powder mill. Reaching there, I was suprised that they were very welcoming and we were asked to taste any kinds of coffee available. There were local ones, white ones, expresso, lemon tea and even Durian Coffee ! I went to the older part of the factory to see some old machineries used in the olden days. It was quite interesting and Chris bought a whole combo of coffee making utensils. His T.bag is getting heavier by the minute.

It was then decided that we will now have some refreshing 'cendol' and where else in Taiping? Ansari in Barrack Road. Where else?

Cendol time!

When we rode, the group was split into 2 to 3 groups because of a fast changing traffic lights. When we regrouped, we were guided to the right stall by Mr. Ho as there was a few stalls under the same name. They were offshoots of the original one. When we were enjoying the 'cendol' , Irene called and they were lost! After a few direction advises and complicating directives, I decided to ride out to look for them. Mr. Ho was already moving and he came back without spotting them. I back tracked further and Chris spotted me. He rushed to call me and I guided the 3 lost sheep back into the flock. Although late, Chris was adamant on having his share of the 'cendol'. Hahaha! So, we just have to wait a little longer. So, after the last satisfied their thirst, we will now hunt for food and what else, Taiping poppiah!

Mr. Ho again lead us to the shop and he also showed us his company where he owned. A pawn shop passed down from 3 generations. The poppiah was closed as today is Sunday and was sold out. The next option was Yut Sun Hainanese Restaurant but that was also closed on Sundays. This is the second time I failed to try the Hainanese chicken chop there. We then rode to the Larut Matang food court and once there, we splintered into many groups as the palce was also busy with Sunday patrons. I had a Hainanese chicken rice and it was good too, while others had wanton noodle, local cakes,char koay teow etc.

The must take picture of Taiping Lake Gardens.

We headed to the Taiping Lake Gardens after the meal and after the customary shots of the rain trees, we were taken around the lake. Time was running out as we have scheduled the bus trip back to 3.00 pm as Kimmie and Seng Yeap needs to be in Ipoh by 6.00 pm for the earlier ETS  back to KL. 

On the bus to Ipoh.

The bus is scheduled to wait for us at the Zoo car park and while they were riding along the scenic gardens, I rushed off to meet the bus and a few riders followed me. We rode directly to the zoo car park and the bus was already parked there and was already greeting us. It was already 2.45 pm and we need to load 19 bikes onto the bus and this will take time. The larger group was still not in sight and I called Irene who was among the group to hasten up the rest. We then loaded our bikes first and after a short wait, the rest of the group appeared. We quickly loaded the rest and many bikes were sitting on the seats of the bus, hahaha. We managed to load all and off we go now to Ipoh after a big thanking was given to our gracious guide Mr.Ho. 

Ipoh also has murals.

Once in Ipoh, after unloading both bikes and passengers, we said goodbye to Kimmie and Seng Yeap. The rest of us rode slowly into town or city now, and can't decide what to eat or drink. Funny mountain soya milk is closed and I suggested 'thong sui kai' or dessert street. while some of them were busy buying some biscuits, I sped there to check if there are stalls opened. There were a few that was opened and that was good enough. I rode back and leaded them to the stalls and we all sat down and there was an ordering frenzy. We rested and took our time enjoying the sweet desserts and I must say, desserts like this, Ipoh is still the best. After satisfying ourselves we then rode past the mural back lanes. It seems every town now wants to imitate Penang. We did stop for some photos and after that we rode to the riverside and slowly strolled along the river. We stopped at a majestically looking rain tree and took pictures there. 

The group photo with me standing at the highest point. Pic. taken by Siew Yung.

The grandfather raintree on the Ipoh riverside.

We headed for dinner and KK guided us to an old part of town to a place called 'Sun Yoon Wah'. We choose a table at the rear of the shop where there was a big car park. We sat on 2 tables and ordered the food. The food was not really good but we were famished so, we still finished it. The service was a bit haywire with the restaurant operating 4 outlets in the same area and with the number of tables served, you really need a battalion of workers which the restaurant sorely lacked! When we were almost finishing, it started to rain and the workers were hastily carrying sheds over our table. We were finishing anyway and the rain slowed down a bit and this was our window to rush to the railway station. We managed to get to the railway station, still DRY!

Packing to leave.

Here we found out that there was a major rail derailment in KKB and our train will be delayed. We are still able to board the train and we might have to scramble for buses again for the shuttle back to KL Sentral in Tanjong Malim. Later, we were told that we won't need to take the bus and the biggest surprised was yet to come. We did board the train, we did managed to load our bikes, and the train did leave on schedule. Once we were on the way, we were hoping that the derailment will be cleared. We finally reached Tanjong Malim and the train stopped! Will it proceed? Hopefully we were crossing our fingers.

Alas! the train did not move and we were not allowed to disembark. Then Fenn and Jotaro called a taxi and headed out of the train telling the conductor that their tickets are to Tanjong Malim. The rest of us, we were left guessing when the train will be able to continue. Passing one hour, two hour then came news that the station master has mistakenly called all the buses to leave. Now they refused to come back.  So, we will have to wait till the track is cleared and news was, the track was OK but the electricity supply to the train was still not ready.

Finally, at 2.30 am or somewhere there, the train started rolling and we rolled into KL Sentral at 3.30 am.

And the stinker!

I said my goodbyes and went straight to the car park. I paid a whopping RM116 for the parking fee and a part of it was KTM's fault. Anyway, I was just glad that we arrived safely and headed back for a good rest. The wait in the train was more tiring than the whole ride from Parit Buntar to Taiping.

Well, that's the end of another exciting ride and it going to be hard to plan another ride that can cram so much into 2 days! We actually had train rides, boat rides and bus rides. Visited, Parit Buntar, Bagan Tiang, Tanjong Piandang, Kuala Kurau , Kuala Gula, Kuala Sangga, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping and Ipoh. We also ate many kind of food and probably drank too much! And when added up, we were not tired as the route is flat and spread over many hours with hot showers comfortable beds to rest. We were also never in a rush and that helps. Till another ride................Ciao!