ToST III - Part 1

Touring in Southern Thailand...

We did our first Tour of Southern Thailand from Hat Yai to Patthalung back in August 2013 and continued with the second tour sometime in October the same year.
It took me a few months to plan the third tour, this time, covering a reverse route from Patthalung to Hat Yai.
There was a request to check out the Thale Noi waterfowl sanctuary and we did just that by having a slightly longer stay in this birding paradise.
Then, it dawned on us that the timing fell on the Songkran (Thai New Year) festival.
Roger Teoh, who co-organized the ride had allayed his fear that there will be a possible shutdown on all food and beverage outlets during the festival which is celebrated over a course of a few days all throughout Thailand.

Contingency plans

I suggested to the ToST team members to bring their meal kits.
In addition, I will pack my backpacker's stove and some cooking pots to prepare meals.
The plan was to purchase some supplies in Hat Yai and we kept ourselves updated through our emails.
Initially, there were supposed to be nine people in the group.
Two declined and another had dropped out citing health reasons.
There were suggestions on adding replacements, but I was adamant that the group is already large enough and that we don't need to drag on inexperienced cyclists for this trip.
My colleague Eddie played a key role by securing the KTM Ekspres Langkawi tickets from KL - Hat Yai.
During Songkran, we don't leave anything to chances. So, the tickets were procured way in advance before the trip.
I handed them out to the respective people and gave them the landmark to meet up at the day of departure.

Saying good bye to our pooch

We'll be on the road for a week..

The list

We had Roger Teoh who had toured with us for the third time, Patric Yee, a first-timer, Sin Tai Lim (Happy Happy Cyclist & Blogger) who joined us on his second tour and Andrew Ng who rode with us at the first tour.
At least three of them are experienced and we got along very well.
Roger left a day earlier to scout for accommodation in Thale Noi while Pat took the bus and met up with us in Hat Yai.
We boarded the KTM train which was packed to the brim and headed off Hat Yai. Roger will meet us in Pak Khlong in Patthalung. He managed to book five rooms at the Thale Noi resort where we stayed for two days.

Michelle and our usual seat in coach L7 of the Express Langkawi

The slow and tiring ride to Hat Yai

It takes at least 14 hours to get to Southern Thailand's largest city from Kuala Lumpur. 
We stopped at major train stations along the way.
While waiting to board, I saw an old friend, Tuan Jamal, a national trainer with the Scouting movement. 
We chat a bit and I found out that he was traveling to Nibong Tebal.
He actually took the bunk next to our team members during this trip.
Late in to the night, Jamal melted away and we were prepared to disembark in Padang Besar to get our travel documents stamped by the Thai immigration..

Tuan Jamal at his bunck onboard the coach L8

At Padang Besar, Perlis

Arrival in Hat Yai on the eve of the Songkran festival

Rendezvous with the rest of the team...

We kept in touch via Facebook messenger.
I carried two phones, a primary (HTC One X+) that I use for my official stuff and a secondary (Motorola Moto G) for travel.
We arrived in Hat Yai without a hitch and made arrangements to meet up with Pat who came in on a bus.
After moving the bikes and panniers to a secure spot, I collected 100 baht each from the guys to purchase food rations in case if the shops and eateries are closed.
The guys also requested for a Thai data SIM Card which is sold at the 7-Eleven outlets at 299 baht and upon activation, we get 7 days of data coverage up to 1.5GB.
By the time we got down to the downtown area, the Songkran party was already in full swing. A section of the road was closed for the water festival.

New Year revelers having a go with their water guns during the Songkran fest in Hat Yai

Way I see it, it was more a Malaysian tourist affair in Hat Yai rather than the locals themselves who were really having fun.
The Thai business community took advantage of this to sell waterguns.
After securing the foodstuff and the Thai SIM Cards, we moved back to the station and our guys were already having a small party by themselves there..

Mission: Impossible

Next up: Klang - Lumut

I've had one of those inspiring moments day-dreaming about cycling from Klang to Lumut.
A group of guys had proven it by riding from Klang to Sekinchan two weeks ago and they had some really cool photos posted all over Facebook.
This is roughly about 150km round-trip and had me motivated to plan a 'serious shit' route from Klang to Lumut and do a two-day round-island tour of Pulau Pangkor.
Now, Klang - Sekinchan is within the limit of my capabilities and staging the ride is the most important thing there.
This is so that I won't get bonked on the road.
At Sekinchan, I can bunk out at Harbour View hotel for the night and take off the next day.
And when it comes to meeting the time factor on distance, I would have to wake up really early.
No sweat if I train and condition myself.
The next leg of the journey would be from Sekinchan to Lumut and this is estimated at 118km.
That would bonk anyone who is hauling load on the front and back of their bicycle.
It would be cool to have a break either in Manjung or Sitiawan before the final push to Lumut and board a ferry to Pangkor.
I anticipate a sore ass and raw legs by the time I get to Lumut.
In Pangkor, there are some cool places to cover for at least three days.
Now, the best part is this - getting back...
The distance from Lumut to Tapah Road is 93km.
From there, I would hop onto a KTM ETS service back to KL Sentral.
Can this be achieved? Well, I can't say anything for sure. Yet.

Kuala Selangor - Sabak Bernam - Kuala Selangor ride part 4

Tropical fruits galore: A scene from Sekinchan

Lights mounted: Preparing for the dark




From dawn till dusk, a scene at Kuala Selangor

 

We made it!

I checked my watch and it was already 5:30pm.
The only way we could make it back to Kuala Selangor from Sekinchan, which is 28.6km away, is to hit the road straight.
We had a light meal of fried noodles and Michelle suggested dinner at Pasir Penambang.
I was against the idea because this place would be packed with out of towners.
So, without hesitation, we hit the road.
At the outskirts of Tanjung Karang, we already feeling the effects of fatigue.
Our legs were pounded raw, at this point in time, it felt like the saddle was grafted onto my buttocks.
We stopped a few times to recover from muscle aces on our bottoms and proceeded to Tanjung Karang which was the last town before Kuala Selangor.
By the time we reached this part of the journey, it was getting dark.
Michelle signalled to pull over and told me to turn on my rear light and blinkers.
I slipped on my cateye twin lights and left it on as we cycled towards Kuala Selangor.
By 7pm, we could see Pasir Penambang.
Michelle flagged me down again, this time, at the town marker outside Kuala Selangor.
"Eh, ride so far, must take picture la.. ," she said.
I found an empty oil drum and placed my Canon Powershot G12 and took a few shots on self-timer.
After riding for 130km, our Dahons held up. No issues or any signs of breakdown.
We made it back to Kuala Selangor after spending 12 hours on the road.
The feeling was ecstatic! We did it!

RIDE STATISTICS

Distance covered: 132.32km
Average speed: 16.5km
Top Speed: 32km
Total flat tires: 0
Total stops: 20
Time spent on the road: 7hours 25minutes

Kuala Selangor - Sabak Bernam - Kuala Selangor ride part 3



It took us three and a-half hours to get to Sabak Bernam from Kuala Selangor



A row of wooden shops at the fringe of town

Time to hit the road..

It took a while to comprehend that Sabak Bernam is only 32km away from Teluk Intan.
Our intention was to ride from Subang Jaya to Teluk Intan which is an achievable feat.
By the time we got to Sabak Bernam, we had rode for 62km one-way.
What surprised me was a short bicycle lane in this town.
Michelle and I had decided to take a short detour into town where we spent less than 30 minutes circling the area.
If we pushed for an hour or more, we would be in the fringe of Teluk Intan.
After riding for 60km, the effects of fatigue and pain was already seeping in, slowly.
At 2.30pm, we decided that it was best to head back towards Kuala Selangor.
The ride from Sabak Bernam to Sekinchan was 33.4km and this was the killer stretch.
As far as it comes to touring rides, I told Michelle to brace herself for three things - bad road, mad drivers and insane people.
This was apparent when some heavy vehicle was speeding down the road.
Some drivers were courteous enough to avoid hitting us while a few drove really close to the white line.
On three occassions, some shithead actually shouted from their vehicles.
We hit the 90km mark near Sg Haji Dorani and by the time we were getting near Sekinchan, our butts were already sore.
This was the crucial point where the mind and body would just break down.
Michelle said she was getting hungry and split-second decision made here - was to have a light meal in Sekinchan..

Kuala Selangor - Sabak Bernam - Kuala Selangor ride part 2

Migrating birds nesting at Sekinchan

Crossing a water gate

The inner roads towards Sungai Besar

Towards Sungai Besar

The distance from Sekinchan to Sungai Besar is much further that we thought.
We took an inner road and had a great time cycling around the parit area.
There are fewer vehicles here as the roads are narrow and poorly maintained.
By the time we were reaching Sungai Besar, our water supply was already running low.
We made a turn back to the main road and bought a bottle to refill.
With Sungai Besar in the distance, we decided to take the inner road and made it all the way to Sungai Besar town.
Traffic was really heavy in this area.
Michelle and I decided to take a break and see if the weather would hold.
The sky was already dark and checks on our mobile internet link indicated that there is a probability of rain.
But after the weather had improved, we decided to push on.
We rode past a landfill in Sungai Besar and turned back towards the Kuala Selangor - Teluk Intan road.
The distance to cover is about 12.6km to Sabak Bernam.

Kuala Selangor - Sabak Bernam - Kuala Selangor ride part 1

At Tanjung Karang before the rain

I had to call off a ride two weeks earlier from Tanjung Karang to Sungai Besar.
Citing exhaustion as the main cause, my wife was not in a shape for a long-haul ride.
Barely days into the weekend, I came up with a diabolical plan.
A surefire way of hitting the magical '100' on your bicycle's trip meter.
The plan was to cycle from Kuala Selangor to Sabak Bernam and back.
So, with adequate rest, we did just that on Saturday.
Why Kuala Selangor?
There's ample parking on a weekend and its also easier to get supplies like water and food in this town.
We worked our way to Kuala Selangor from our home in Subang Jaya and arrived there at 7am.
After we set up our bikes, we hit the road and the first landmark was the Kuala Selangor bridge leading towards Pasir Penambang.
The journey to Tanjung Karang is roughly about 14.3km (50-minutes ride) away from Kuala Selangor.
We stopped at a tire shop when it started to rain and spend nearly an hour stranded there.
When the weather was much better, we proceeded to Sekinchan.

A newly paved section of the road from Kuala Selangor to Sekinchan

Add another 15km, we are in Sekinchan.
The first thing we did, was to get something to eat.
Michelle was hungry and when we reached Sungai Burung, I asked her to pull over to bus stop.
There, we had a piece of Vanilla crunch Powerbar.
And this never tasted so good!
It took us about 20 minutes to get to the Bagan Sekinchan.
Even with the sun shining, it was drizzling. We found Guan Huat restaurant and had a late breakfast.
The house dish here is the spicy hot pot with fish fillet. I don't know why the lady owner of this makan place had recommended fried fish in spicy tau choo which is similar to the hotpot, but we were too hungry to argue.
At Sekinchan, I noticed a flock of sea birds nesting on a tree line.
They looked like those "Angry Birds" from Rovio's game apps on my LG Optimux 2X.
I snapped some shots before moving on to Sungai Besar...