Jetstream Adventures Series 04: Taiping - Part 1

Some sort of spontaneity..

We haven't been cycling for a month.
And Michelle's got her clean bill of health from her surgeon to cycle.
She had a mole removed from her thigh and the effort to keep the stitches clean and dressing it everyday drove her nuts.
I thought that a weekend excursion to Taiping would be good.
So, I booked a room at West Inn, a motel I once stayed during my solo-ride from Taiping to Port Weld.
The plan was to pack everything into the car and drive out of town on a Friday night.

And so it begins..

I wrapped up at work around 06:30pm and an hour later, I was out of the office. I left without looking back.
My eight-hour/day commitment was done.
On the highway, I braved the traffic jam to get home and as soon as I got back, the plan of action went into full-swing. Pack the bikes, gear and clothes, load them into the car, feed the dogs and get the hell out!
We drove out to the Elite Highway and turned into the Guthrie corridor.
Then, took a dinner break at the Rawang R&R which was packed to the brim.
And the horror stories about stale food and dirty stalls in R&Rs are true as claimed.
We had nasi campur and shared a can of Coca-Cola before pushing on towards Taiping.
The traffic was unbelievable. 
From Ipoh, we endured the traffic jam until Bukit Gantang until we exited the Taiping Utara toll. 
It was a smooth drive as we rolled into Kamunting and found our way to town.
Eventually, the motel was within sight and we checked-in. By the time we got there, it was already 2am in the morning.
The man behind the counter was Pak Najib, the same guy who manned the night watch.
We paid RM78 for the room and called it a day..

Up and about after setting up the bikes at West Inn

Hardcore is an understatement...

How many adventure cyclists would deprive themselves of sleep and drive a few hundred kilometres just to cycle around the countryside?
People think we are mad.
And we're just happy to get out there and cycle instead of talking about it.
Taiping was a good example.
It's a small town, historical and the food is really cheap!
I woke up at 06:00am, got into the shower and freshened up.
We checked out of the motel and collected the deposit of RM52 to splurge it on food.
After setting up the bikes, we rode out towards town and headed straight to Tai Chen coffee shop in town and ordered a plate of Char Koay Teow.
Here in Taiping, it's done right! 
And for RM3 a plate, one cannot complain. Even the Kopi-O peng costs RM1 a glass.

Michelle admiring her breakfast..

Rolling into town

Cheap and good!

Taiping: A charming little town..

If you love Colonial architecture, Taiping is the place to be.
The town's Lake Garden is deemed as one of the best in the country.
There are a lot of old buildings that you can explore in the town square and sadly, many of these structures are slowly fading away.
We rode towards the Taiping Railway Station where its wooden structure is still standing.
I don't know how long the railway company is going to keep it, but I am glad to have seen and experienced the train ride to Taiping from KL Sentral..

The old railway station

Yut Sun coffee shop, famous around the country

The facade of an old building in town..

We rode past Jalan Stesen and worked our way towards Kampung Boyan.
The Garmin EDGE800 cycling GPS had drawn a route to Kuala Sepetang, which is formerly known as Port Weld.
The oldest railway track in the country was laid in 1885.
But what remains now, is just as straight line from Kampung Au Lang to Port Weld..