AhPek Biker - Old Dog Rides Again

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Perak : Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 3 Pt.1

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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Perak : Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 3 Pt.1

Kuala Sepetang-Taiping, Perak : 7th September 2014

Medium Group Ride : Kuala Sepetang>Aulong>Taiping

Distance: 23.40 km. | Level: Medium
Time : 9:40 am - 3:00 pm
Time Taken : 5 hrs. 20 mins. (including stops for cendol, lunch, visits to cottage industries & Taiping Lake Gardens, rest, regrouping and photo opps.)

This is page 5 of a 6-page blog, on our journey from Kuala Sepetang to Taiping before taking a chartered bus to Ipoh. Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< Go to 2-3 Kuala Sepetang | Go to Other Days | Go to 3-2 Ipoh >

Route Recommendations :
1. The ride from Kuala Sepetang to Aulong using the road running along the former railway track is relatively flat, shady, and interesting as one gets to see rural life of the area.
2. The river mouth at Kuala Sepetang is good for photos of colourful fishing boats. A good place to take photos is a the mid-span of the new bridge over one of the tributaries.
3. The Antong Coffee Factory is worthwhile visiting to see how they make their coffee and to sample some too. Take note that although the showroom is opened on Sundays, the processing section is closed.
4. With branches of the old shady Rain Trees overhanging the road, the Taiping Lake Gardens, the oldest in Malaysia, is always a pleasure to cycle in. Good photo opps here too.
5. While in Taiping, don't miss some of the local specialties like their Chee Cheong Fun, Char Keow Teow & Cendul.

PRELUDE

We has started the previous day with a train ride from Kuala Lumpur up to Parit Buntar. From there, we had started cycling to visit some interesting fishing villages. Then from Kuala Gula we took boat rides to Kuala Sangga and then onwards to Kuala Sepetang where we spent the night at the Happy 8 Retreat.

We woke up to the twittering of swallows and the occasional squawks of eagles; every once in a while, the roars of the fishing boats set in as they set off on their fishing trips.

After a good Western breakfast at the Happy 8 cafe, we are ready to set off!

THE RIDE

View Kuala Sepetang to Taiping Cycling (23.4 km) in a larger map

Ride route : Kuala Sepetang>Aulong>Taiping

Leaving Kuala Sepetang we headed towards Taiping using the village roads via Aulong; en route we stopped at three factories. Lunch was at Taiping followed by a quick spin at the Taiping Lake Gardens before we boarded a chartered bus for Ipoh.
Distance: 23.40 km. | Level: Medium

9:40 am -Together with KT; Khee (a local friend) will co-lead the ride. Our first destination was the new river bridge over Sungai Reba. A few of us came here the previous evening, and we wanted to share the place with our friends.

(Click on photo to see a YouTube video of riverboats)

It was a good thing too, as the view during the bright daylight was one of more vivid and brighter colours. Also there were then more activities of boats sailing around.

Next we rode over to the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve, situated just at the outskirts of the town. This is a shot of us happy and still fresh at the start of the day.
This Matang District has large tracts of mangrove swamps along its coast. Most of the mangrove are harvested for producing charcoal and for construction timber. This reserve here maintains a pristine area where the trees can grow well into maturity while at the same time ensure that the fauna is undisturbed.

There is a board-walk that snakes around this reserve, reaching up to the banks of the Sungai Reba river. It would have been interesting to take a stroll along the board-walk and observe natural life here; but we could not spare the time as there were other destinations waiting.
The girls did have a fun time doing jumps shots here though!

Across the roads are several charcoal factories. These factories still produce the charcoal the traditional way, in brick-dome kilns and with hardly any mechanization. We visited the one operated by Khay Hor Holdings.

I have had visited these factories before. After a brief walk, I left my buddies to have their time inside and went to have a look at activities on the outside.

A worker was preparing logs for the kilns - stripping them of their barks and sawing them into shorter manageable lengths before carting them inside.

A blue river boat moored at the bank of the canal used for delivering the mangrove logs.
(... see more of Kuala Sepetang Charcoal Factory).

Instead of using the main road to Taiping via Simpang; we use a narrow village road. This was a better route as it had little traffic, was shady and the local children was most happy to see us cycling by.
I later learnt from Khee that this road was built along the route of the dismantled Taiping to Kuala Sepetang railway tracks. No wonder it's such straight road with hardly any bends.

Oops... another puncture. We had to consider ourselves fortunate, there were only two punctures among the many of us over the two days cycling.
While the repair was ongoing, some fun -
The girls were posing seductively...

... and I was having some dancing fun with a couple of local Indian lasses.

And nearby, a multi-headed goddess sits atop an Indian temple's roof.

11:55 am - We rolled into Aulong where we,visited a biscuit factory.
But what interested most of us was the Antong Coffee Factory further along at the outskirts of Taiping town.
It has a colourful history of having Dr. Sun Yat Sen staying at a colonial house where the factory is located. They also claim that they are the oldest coffee manufacturer in Malaysia.

Unfortunately on Sundays the mill section is closed so we could not see how they make their coffee.
We did go over to the showroom section where there were sample cups of coffee to be tried. I particularly like the Durian-Coffee mix and bought a packet to take home.

What also interested many of us was the single storey colonial bungalow next to the showroom; it's the house where Dr. Sun Yat Sen stayed in while in Taiping.
The house has been maintained as close to its original condition - faded walls, old furniture, antiquarian artifacts like furniture, Nyonya tiffin basket and even antique fire-extinguishers. Also there were old desks, type-writers and photos of Dr. Sun.

Outside is a bronze statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen.

A group photo before we left.

12:50 pm - Taiping old town centre! The houses here are old and most of the streets shady; it was a Sunday and traffic was light.

What is visiting Taiping without trying out their famous cendol; there are two renown shops, we had ours at Restoren Ansari Famous Cendol.
Somehow while approaching from the outskirts, a few of our friends got lost. Forutnately, Taiping old town is not a large place; KT and Khee went our hunting for them and through calls managed to locate them quickly and lead them back to the cendol stall. Although coming in late, they insisted on trying out the cendol too.... well we should not miss the local things, shouldn't we?

Riding pass by the famous Taiping Clock Tower, we headed for lunch at the Taiping Food Court.

Round a couple of corners and we are into the Taiping Lake Gardens. The overhanging branches of the rain trees here formed an archway across the roads, we could not help but stop for photos!
Taiping although not the oldest town in Malaysia has many firsts - the lake gardens is one of them, then there is the museum, oldest railway track, oldest coffee, etc.

While a few of us went to meet up with our chartered bus, Khee took us on a spin around the lake gardens with a quick stop to pay some respect to the fallen soldiers buried at the Taiping War Cemetery.
After that it was another quick stop at the Taiping New Club (another oldest record for the town; the oldest golf club in the country) for us to use the rest rooms as we will be boarding the bus for Ipoh after this.
That was very thoughtful of him. Many thanks again Khee for showing us around.

The bus was waiting for us at Car-park E of the lake gardens. Quickly we folded our bikes and put them into the bus. The hold of the bus was not large to put all our bikes and some had to be put onto the back seats and rear portion of the bus.

2:00 pm - Goodbye Taiping.....
Ipoh here we come!

This is page 5 of a 6-page blog, on our journey from Kuala Sepetang to Taiping before taking a chartered bus to Ipoh. Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< Go to 2-3 Kuala Sepetang | Go to Other Days | Go to 3-2 Ipoh >

Postscript : Remember the riding on the gravel roads earlier, and my wish of getting the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires? Well, when he heard about us talking about those tough roads, Khee brought a couple over for me after. And it's a Performance 6! The best of the best!

Related Blogs:

Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 2 Pt.3 - 6th September 2014

A second boat ride took us from Kuala Sangga to Kuala Sepetang where we ended the ride for the day and stayed at the Happy 8 Retreat.

Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 3 Pt.2 - 7th September 2014

A quick spin around Ipoh City centre with a couple of eats and visits to Art Street and the Kinta riverside.

Kuala Sepetang Bike Strolling - 9th September 2013

Strolling down on our bikes in a coastal town that
seems unconcerned by the passage of time.

Taiping Heritage Fun Ride - 30th March 2014

Taiping with it's old town charm held many pleasant surprises as we
rode from it's Lake Garden down to the rustic town of Kuala Sepetang.

The Happy 8 Retreat @ Kuala Sepetang

A quiet and private retreat hotel at a quaint fishing village, Kuala Sepetang, Perak.

Cucur Udang Prawn Fritters @ Kuala Kurau

Nice thick deep-fried fritters filled with fresh vegetables and un-shelled shrimps. One of the best I have tried - Kuala Kurau, Perak, Malaysia.

Curry Mee Noodles @ Kuala Sepetang

One of the better food at Kuala Sepetang, a must-have while at this fishing village - Kuala Sepetang, Perak, Malaysia.

Seafood @ Makanan Laut Kang Kao

As expected seafood at this fishing village is up to par, and it was coupled with lovely views - Kuala Sepetang, Perak, Malaysia.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Perak : Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 2 Pt.3

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Cycling Malaysia / Perak / Parit Buntar 2014 / Day 2 Pt.3 | Go to Day 1 / Day 2 Pt.1 / Day 2 Pt.2 / Day 3 Pt.1 / Day 3 Pt.2

AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Perak : Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 2 Pt.3

Parit Buntar, Perak : 6th September 2014

Medium Group Ride : Parit Buntar>Bagan Tiang>Tanjung Piandang>Kuala Kurau>Kuala Gula>Kuala Sangga>Kuala Sepetang

Distance: 90.44 km. (Cycling distance= 59.64 km. & Boat Ride distance=30.84 km.)
Time : 5:45 am - 5:25 pm
Time Taken : 11 hrs. 40 mins. (including boat rides, stops for breakfast, 2 lunches, visits to cottage industries, rest, regrouping and photo opps.)

This is page 4 of a 6-page blog, on our journey from Kuala Sangga to Kuala Sepetang. Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< Go to 2-2 Kuala Sangga | Go to Other Days | Go to 3-1 Taiping >

Route Recommendations :
1. Not much cycling for this part of our journey, we took the boats from Kuala Gula to Kuala Sangga and then onwards to Kuala Sepetang where we did a bit of cycling around the village.
2. Kuala Sangga, a small fishing village can only be accessed by the sea and is rumoured to be a former pirate's haunt.
3. The river mouth at Kuala Sepetang is good for photos of colourful fishing boats. A good place to take photos is a the mid-span of the new bridge over the Sungai Reba river.
4. Kuala Sepetang offers good tours to see nesting eagles, wading cranes and night time fire-flies.
5. Though there are several reasonably priced home-stays at Kuala Sepetang; we stayed at the Happy 8 Retreat. It's a quiet hotel, cosily done up and is suitable for taking a good rest from the rat race.
6. At Kuala Sepetang, do try out the curry mee noodles & the seafood at Makan Laut Kang Kao is pretty good.
7. Taking up our bicycles onto boats speeding across the open sea is an experience not to be missed.

PRELUDE

Having had a good time & good food at Kuala Kurau, we rode to Kuala Gula and hopped onto four boats to head to our next destination - Kuala Sangga.

As we approached, Kuala Sangga, a thought passed through my mind - this place is reputed as a former pirates' haunt, are they still there, will it be safe? Oops, that's three thoughts... but you get what I feel.

From the map below, it is easy to see how this place was suitable for those "Yo..Ho..Ho" fellas. It's situated at the mouth of the river, in a cove so that it's sheltered from the storms but still has easy access to the open seas. Today as in the past, Kuala Sangga has no roads leading to it - it can only be reached by boats.

Okay.... enough mumblings... let's get on with our story.

THE RIDE

View Perak Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Ride (90.44 km) in a larger map
Ride Route : Parit Buntar>Bagan Tiang>Tanjung Piandang>Kuala Kurau>Kuala Gula>Kuala Sangga>Kuala Sepetang
This REALLY is a multi-mode expedition. From Kuala Lumpur we took a night train up to Parit Buntar to start cycling. From Kuala Gula to Kuala Sangga and then onwards to Kuala Sepetang we were in boats. The following day, after cycling from Kuala Sepetang to Taiping we took a bus over to Ipoh for some riding there too. We then took the ETS train back to Tanjung Malim and then a taxi back to Kuala Lumpur.
Why not take the ETS all the way to Kuala Lumpur? Well, that's part of the story which you will find out about later.

4:15 pm - These days, the Straits of Malacca is very safe, it is one of the busiest sea channels in the world.... so now worries about pirates on this island. I scrub them from my thoughts and prepared to get down.
Kim was even more eager, jumping out from the boat, she helped pull the boat in and secure it to the moors.

Present days Kuala Sangga is a serene and quiet place, there are no taverns for a bottle of rum, but there are some stalls selling drinks and food. It's a settlement of a couple of rows or so of timber houses at the seaside with a small hill behind it. There are no pirates here these day, but perhaps there could be pirate's treasures buried in the hills, who know?

Prawns left out to be sun-dried to make salted dried prawns.

Industry on the island is fishing, catering to the occasional tourists (like us) and some swallow bird nest culture & harvesting.
The fishermen's catch are sent to the mainland with some balance (of poorer catch) retained to make salted fish & prawns.

On a wall of one of the coffee-shops here hags a sketch by a Taiwanese tourist, it show how small a community this village is.

As the geography of this locality is mainly mangrove swarms, the whole village sits on stilts. A central concrete walkway spans the length of the village with timber houses lining both sides.

Some of the houses seems to have been abandoned; I do hope that this is will not be a continuing trend, it will be a pity to see this village disappear.

There are a couple of small Chinese temples, a small school and I was surprised to find a small catholic church here to. It's the St. Anne's Church, a single storey one that can seat about fifty, and is one of the few concrete buildings on these island. Curiously, there are now no Catholics on the island and yet the residents maintain the church, light candles and make offerings. They believe that St. Anne protects them and this most evident during Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. The approaching tsunami waves suddenly diverted away from the village and it was saved.

We met this man walking around barefooted, delivering mail to the residents while on one hand he was holding on to a couple of crabs. Huh? He deliver crabs too?

This cute little girl was playing Peek-a-Boo with us. With few children her age her, she was probably feeling bored. Happy to see new faces but at the same time shy; she lingered around us, covered her face, gave us smiles and then covered her face again.

4:50 pm - Leaving Kuala Sangga we sailed onwards, away from the open sea and into the Sungai Sangga Besar river to head to Kuala Sepetang. We are into the mangrove swamps area. Most of the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia is covered by mangrove swamps. This was a good thing as these swamps slowed down the approaching waves during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 and buffered the inland from it's devastating effect.

The Larut Matang District here is one of the most well known area for mangroves; perhaps the large deltas with its islands is a boon for the mangroves to grow. Much of the mangroves are harvested for the manufacturing of charcoal at the many charcoal factories. These factories still use centuries-old methods.
With the constant harvesting of the trees for charcoal, new mangroves have to be replanted and it takes thirty years for the trees to mature. As we sailed inland we passed by several replanted areas, virgin mangrove forests with younger trees growing sparsely. As the trees mature it will have many branches spreading out and also many roots digging into the swamp, the it will look dense.

5:25 pm - After half an hour of sailing in the river, we approached Kuala Sepetang. The place don't seem to have changed much except for this ebony black building next to the jetty.
When my buddy Tailim (of the hApPy HaPpY blogs) & me did a cycle strolling here a year back, two more floors were being added to this building. Now it is completed with the new floors housing the Happy 8 Retreat, the place that some of us will be staying for the night.

Getting down at the jetty, I was most glad to see Khee & Nellie. Locals to the area, they had been waiting to greet us when we arrived.
We had got to know each other through my blogs and have first met up during the Taiping Heritage Fun Ride about six months ago. We have been friends since then.

While Khee & Nellie patiently waited; we went to check into the hotel.
Happy 8 Retreat Hotel is an odd place, the entrance at the ground floor is through a fishing cold room warehouse; a place slightly wet and with the smell of the sea. It's not an easy place to find as at the ground floor there are no signages, in fact Khee had some difficulty finding it.
I guess that's part of it's concept as a retreat to ensure the privacy of it's patrons.

The industrial look entrance camouflage and belie a classy and cosy interior.
At the waiting lobby, large armchairs carved from timber trunks sit on timber strip flooring.
All around the hotel are painted murals in blue theme, a colour that add to the soothing and calming setting of this retreat hotel.

The bedrooms are on the 2nd & 3rd floors with corridors leading to them painted with wild life.

The bedrooms with comfortable beds have a similar calming theme. The entrance door for each room has a painted icon of marine-life or bird-life to identify them. Mine had a cute yellow puffer fish (... more of Happy 8 Retreat here).
Okay, enough admiring of the hotel; better get back to my waiting friends.

Cyclists friends at the mid-span of the bridge over Sungai Reba.

Another friend, Winson had also arrived at Kuala Sepetang earlier today. Together with his wife and son, they have drove down to join our group for the ride to Taiping the following day.
Khee was eager to show us the new bridge over the nearby Sungai Reba, and led the six of us on a ride over there.

From the mid-span of the bridge, the view of colourful trawler boats lining both sides of the river is very scenic; one of post-card quality. Now, I can understand why Khee was eager to bring us here.

Khee also took us over to the renown Kuala Sepetang Curry Noodles stall, the one opposite the famous "Port Weld" sign.
Although I would be having dinner again soon, I could not help trying it out. It's similar to the Penang style - one with thin coconut milk AND cubes of coagulated pig's blood.
Back at the hotel, Khee and his missus left us to have time with our other friends. Many thanks Khee, we will see you tomorrow.

After a badly needed bath, I joined my friends for dinner at the Kang Kao Seafood Restaurant. It's conveniently located at the first floor of our hotel building and shares the same ground floor entrance.

We are at a fishing village, so naturally at this restaurant we ordered seafood to take advantage of the pricing and freshness.

Among the dishes we had was this interesting prawn curry served in a large bun which is shaped as a large gourd. The large prawns in the excellent curry made a few of us go for second round of rice.
Oh... by the way, the bread-shaped gourd can be eaten, tear pieces from it a dip it into the curry.

This ferocious looking grouper made was steamed with a oil-soy sauce poured over. The fish was fresh and the simply sauce just enhance it without overpowering it's good taste (... read more at Makanan Laut Kang Kao here).

The fire-ly watching tour boat is as colourful and bright as the fireflies.

After dinner we went for a walk hoping to do some shopping at the local night market. Unfortunately past 9:00 pm the traders had already packed up and the market was already closed.
Some of us were tempted to go for the firefly watching boat tour; but then we had had a tiring day and tomorrow we will be riding again. So let's call it a night.