Jetstream Adventures Series 04: Taiping - Part 3

Riding back to Taiping..

We checked out Port Weld and it was a brief affair.
After taking some photos at the famous train station, we rode off.
The afternoon sun began to strain our progress, but we gained ground by moving forward to Simpang Empat...

The famous signboard in Port Weld..

Workers sorting out dried shrimps

Salted fish left to dry under the hot sun

We rode back to Matang and connected to the flyover that crosses the North-South highway.
From there, Simpang Empat was not too far in the distance.
In this small town, there are some really interesting fast food joints.
There's a McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken drive-through and dine-in facility.
With the dark clouds looming over the horizon, I can see that Maxwell Hill was fully covered in mist.
That was when I told Michelle to pull over at a roadside coffee shop.
By the time we got fully settled-in, it started to rain..

Matang

Crossing over to Simpang Empat

A bareback cyclist

Hawker food, the best in Taiping!

We entered town after the rain had stopped.
The landmark was a hawker centre near the Larut-Matang area.
It wasn't hard to find it as I've been there before.
And as soon as we found the makan place, it was packed to the brim.
Lucky for us, there was a table and I wasted no time ordering the food.
I had a plate of char koay teow while Michelle settled for some nyonya kuih.
For RM3 a plate and the excellent taste, I can't complain.
We had ice-kacang and some pork satay before heading back to the hotel where the car was parked.

Entering Taiping

Pork satay 

Char koay teow and ice-kacang

The lovely pork satay

Happy camper! Michelle and the ice-kacang

The hawker centre

After a good fill, we cycled back to the hotel, packed up our bikes and gear.
By 3:30pm, we were on the road.
The journey lasted about four hours straight.
We reached the Subang Jaya toll about 07:30pm and the traffic jam was really bad.
I decided to head to Chitta Mall and had our dinner there.
Michelle and I celebrated our successful outing with some beers and burgers.

Summary

Taiping - Port Weld is definitely an easy ride.
For bikepacking, plan your trip in advance. Avoid public and school holidays.
If you love adventure, take the train. The experience is well-worth it.
You can also ride from Ipoh and stay in Taiping.
If you don't have time, drive straight to Taiping, book a hotel for your night stop and ride out early in the morning..

Jetstream Adventures Series 04: Taiping - Part 2

The Charcoal factory...

Kuala Sepetang is well-known as a charcoal producing hub.
There are several family-owned kilns that supplies charcoal for domestic needs.
As a matter of fact, the charcoal producers of Kuala Sepetang are the few remaining cottage industry that specializes in producing the fuel.
And the Matang Forest is also Malaysia's most efficient and sustainable mangrove forest.
As a result, the area is rich with marine life, particularly shrimps.
It has a healthy shrimping industry and the offset businesses are small eateries around the area.
In short, Kuala Sepetang is known for their Mee Udang (shrimp noodles).
Our aim was to sample the noodles and visit Port Weld where a signboard of its old railway station once stood.

At a wood storage area in Port Weld

Free-for-all, visitors are welcomed at the charcoal kilns

An inshore vessel used for the transportation of mangrove logs

The Matang Forest

A worker preparing the logs for smoking

Charcoal blocks ready to be used as fuel

We rode the Ngah Ibrahim fort which is a national heritage site and took some photos.
It was closed, so, we proceeded some 6km down the road.
The charcoal kiln is located outside Port Weld and when we got there, there was a handful of tourists visiting the the area.
A busload of USM students from Penang alighted and were led to the kilns by their lecturers.
One of them asked if we were foreign tourists and was surprised to find out that we came all the way from Subang Jaya.
And just as we were about to leave, Michelle's Jetstream experience a flat.
The front tire was completely deflated.
Upon close inspection, I found a hole facing the rim tape. But there were no foreign objects on the Maxxis DTH tires.
It took me a while to replace and fit a new inner tube and after inflating it, we were on our way to a fishing village near Kampung Mentri.

Mangrove logs are smoked for 90 days before it becomes charcoal

A worker removing the smoked charcoal from the kiln

Off they go! 

Shrimping time!

We rode to the jetty where fishermen land their catch.
There were no shrimp boats in sight and by the time we reached the area, it was already mid-day.
So, the only thing left to do, is to head down for some makan.
I led Michelle to a Malay coffee shop and ordered a bowl of mee udang.
And at RM9.50 a bowl, one cannot ask for more!
It was good and there's plenty of shrimps to savour..

Fixing the flat tire..

Mee udang Warisan, one of the best around..

Riding along the fishing village in Kuala Sepetang

After a good fill, we rode towards the Malay fishing village again and found our way to the edge of Port Weld town.
Basically, its a real small village dominated by deep-sea fishermen who are mostly of Chinese origin.
We rode around the area and noticed that there were some Brahminy Kites circling above.
It's strange to see so many birds of prey in a single area. 

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..