White sand beaches and Coconut Trees (21st - 28th April)

Kuala Terengganu

We spent 3 nights in Kuala Terengganu, the largest town on the east coast. There we plenty of sights to see so the town kept us busy. The first night we arrived we headed to the night market. Unlike usual night markets (pasar malam) in Malaysia - which usually have a seated area surrouned by food stalls - this one was next to a beach so after choosing some scrumptuos treats everyone sat on the beach watching the sunset.

We met a young malay couple - Faizal and Zan - at the market and when they heard we were from NZ they were stoked. Faizal plays rugby for the state and is as mad as any rugby head in NZ. So after answering some questions about NZ rugby they invited to take us around town the following day. So with our local guides we went to the huge state museum (touted as the largest museum in southeast asia!!) and visited many other sights. They also took us to some great restuarants to sample some local delights. Faizal and Zan were so generous and they spoilt nat by giving her a beautiful batik sarong. Batik is a local art where they use wax to outline a drawing on cloth, following that dye is spread between the wax and then the wax is washed out, leaving just the dye. We wish them all the best for their first child, due in october!!

There were some beautiful mosques in KT (see photo), their architecture is refreshing and we feel we are bit "templed out" after Thai buddhist temples, Khmer temples in Cambodia, Cham temples in Vietnam and buddhists temples in Laos. The one on the water is "the floating mosque" and is said to be guarded by a white crocodile.

Mosques





Kuala Terengganu to Rantau Abang
Distance - 67km
Average - 18.9km/h


After leaving KT, we rode to Rantau Abang, a small collection of restaurants and guesthouses on the beach. But the main attraction is that it is an area where leather back turtles lay their eggs. Unfortunately we did not see any. But our bungalow which we only had to jump off our deck to be on the beach made up for the missed turtles. At these small places accomodation is pretty cheap. This place was 30 ringitt, or NZ$12 for a beachfront bungalow.

Rantau Abang to Cherating
Distance - 114km
Average - 18.9km/h


We headed on to Cherating, the so called "beach town" of the east coast. We had a long day's riding as their were no accomodation options in our price range (ie. cheap) along the way. After asking a few locals enroute about cheap chalets, they kept on recommending this 5 start resort, and couldnt understand why we wouldnt want to stay their (it costs upwards of NZ$300!!).

In reality Cherating is a small village with a dozen bungalow style accomodation options and some restaurants. There is two streets and the place has an eerie feel about it. Apparently not many people come here anymore, opting for the islands instead. There must have been only 50 or so other visitors there and most were malays from Kuala Lumpur who hit the beach for the weekend. We ended up staying 4 days, with our days revolving around swimming, reading and eating. We met two british women cyclists who were in their last days of a year long journey from London to Australia!! A huge achievement, but talking to them has given us some ideas......

Food stall On Cherating beach


Cherating to Kuantan
Distance - 47km
Average - 20.0km/h


We left Cherating with fresh legs and sand in our hair. A cruisy 47km lay ahead with a nice ride that hugged the coast and passed through some nice forested area also. We sped along and arrived well before lunch time and came across the problem of arriving before most people checked out of hotels. There were some great restaurants in Kuantan. We had a delicious banana leaf curry (nasi daun pisang) for lunch. This meal is when they give you a large banana leaf for a plate then load the rice on, followed by dollops of condiments and popadoms then you get a selection of curries. Again, very delicious.

Banana Leaf Curry


Tosai (breakfast NZ 40c)