Malayasia Day 2

Unpredictable weather was adding another challenge for me apart from the rain , the was flooded road.

After having a stomach full of nasi lemak( rice ) with omlet I started towards Marsing from the place I spent last night .Palm plantations around the rolling roads under the clear sky with morning sun made me excited after those days of continuous rain .Lots of timber factories roadside was probably indicating the presence of forest in that region .Although the trafficless countryside highway was pleasant to ride in that morning, yet the excitement did not hold for too long.But what’s happening there.The lorries along with few other vehicles were parked both the ways of the road for more than half kilometres indicating like a car crash.

However, once I proceeded ahead of the road, it broke my curiosity .The road towards Marsing was blocked with flood .Rescue team along with the local police were re directing the traffic to avoid that road.I even met a group of other road cyclist on that road. But disappointment was obvious in everybody’s face. For me it was not just finding an alternate route in Google map on my phone , but also to keep a track of additional time I had to spend for that reason , as my overall tour plan was within tight timeline.Even a single day delay could potentially affect the whole plan . And surprisingly I had to spend double the time and effort to reach the same destination, Marsing through a longer road to avoid the flooded roads.

Even though the other road was much safer from submerging under rain water, but the landscape from the road was scary . Many houses were half submerged in flood. After clicked many pics I also decided to leave and planned to go back to Kotta Tinggi, then to target my next destination either to Marsing again or to Malacca, which was not according to my original plan .

Next intermediate town Kluang:

Following the highway no 91 , I decided to ride towards Kluang. This is an inner highway with less traffic. All the roads along the small hills were again surrounded by palm trees and few palm factories . Residential areas also seemed to be very less ,hardly I could see any village apart form the small towns.The road lead to Kluang, a beautiful town around in a hill , just before it was dusk .Kluang was quite populated town having many religious people including Malay and Chinese. But the place I will remember in that afternoon because of its stunning view of its sunset. The scenery was so bright,I couldn’t stop clicking a pic.

There were quite many food stalls including seafood restaurants similar to open hawker centers in Singapore. Looking like a busy central place after riding though the countrysides, the town have all kind of shops for your need including many petrol station .I even noticed few bicycle shops in the town. After making a small ride in few roads in the town I followed the way towards Marsing before dusk, hoping to cover few more kilometres before calling off the day .

I thought on the way that I will find a restaurant nearby where I will put my tent. But the darkness came and without my notice the food stalls outs-card of the town started closing. Luckily I was surviving with a bread that I bought in the town. Under the complete darkness and I was struggling to find a suitable food stalls on that very evening.

The test of determination and hunger :

The road was challenging because of its curves in that rolling terrain and the only thing I could feel about is some soft of mild forest both the side of the road. The scariest and worry was , there were not a single place for halt , not even a bus stop I have observed in that road, which was very necessary for me at that evening , as it started raining heavily .The rain and loneliness in the midst of the hills getting me scared ,and the penic part was that there were not a single place to get rid of the rain. Such a quiet place . This few hours of endurance in that complete darkness under heavy rain with extreme hunger was one of many instances that I would remember from this trip. After this gruelling 25 kilometres or night ride, I finally came across few houses looking at their lights from distance ,which was a small town like area that I reached around 10.30 pm.

What I learnt:

  • Always keep few buffer days in your tour.
  • Be flexible enough research to change your plan dynamically
  • Research properly of the roads you take on the planning itself like road condition, hospitals,weather conditions etc.

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