Posts Tagged ‘Bentong’

Day 301. 81km. Bentong – Kuala Lumpur

Posted: January 26, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
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11

‘Bike. No!’
Taking in the moment of having arrived in Kuala Lumpur, with the Petronas towers behind me was difficult with the guard talking into his walkie-talkie to get backup to remove this non-compliant cyclist. I guess this is what it is like living in the age of terror.

Made it - Petronas towers, Kuala Lumpur

Made it – Petronas towers, Kuala Lumpur

Thanks SK Lah for the great route suggestion. Cycling right up to a megacity has never been this quiet and beautiful. Cycling over a little 600m pass, I was in the dense forest up until 17km before Kuala Lumpur. I was a bit edgy eating my bananas with the hungry looking monkeys pacing around in the background.

Dense jungle near Kuala Lumpur

Dense jungle near Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur itself is a maze of freeways that are not crossable, and lots of one-way major roads. As the temperature was not so high today, I was not hot and bothered – just bothered – being forced to turn down streets I didn’t want to. I finally arrived at my destination – Akmal’s bicycle hostel. Looking forward to meet Akmal and the other cyclists staying here.

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur

BTW: there were some people reading my blog that said they would like to meet for a drink when I’m in KL. I have written to two, but, I think there were others, and I can’t find their coordinates.. Let me know if you are still interested in catching up.. ☺

Day 300. 84km. Sungai Koyan – Bentong

Posted: January 25, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
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2

‘Your country has the four seasons, la?’
I had never thought of it like that.
‘That is the durian tree.’ He pointed to a surprisingly tall and wily tree amongst the vegetation. ‘The best durian comes from here.’
And I cycled past jackfruit seller after jackfruit seller, meticulously peeling away each segment from the giant fruit and putting them on trays for sale – all in the sweltering heat. How different this is from home – and how exotic!

Preparing jackfruit

Preparing jackfruit

The road was less steep and twisty, the wind was at my back. I cycled through endless palm plantations – sometimes visible stretching for miles when I reached the top of a little rise.

Palm plantation

Palm plantation

Palm plantation

Palm plantation

My goal was Bentong. At the bottom of the last little mountain ridge, it is my base for the final assault on Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. The last 5km into Bentong were like the last 5km at the top of the Cameron Highlands – traffic jam. The same masses from Kuala Lumpur that were swarming to the highlands for the long weekend were now returning home. Again I scooted past kilometre after kilometre of stationary cars as I rolled down into Bentong. I’m glad I’m not going to Kuala Lumpur today!