Day 3: Pekan to Cherating

Distance: <100km
Time: 1.5 hours riding time
Lessons learnt:
1) the march of progress destroys sweet memories and most of the environment
2) I do like my luxuries in life, so backpacker accommodation is definitely out

This is where I sit writing today. What more could one ask for?

view of the South China Sea from the Legend resort

Had a reasonably good breakfast at the hotel, full of the most essential nutrients. Carbohydrates, fat, sugar and caffeine. Headed out at 9am after saying goodbye to the river view with Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" playing in my head.

Thinking of old Willie, I recalled a recent cover he'd done with his daughter Paula. She has a great voice, but Willie's was pure marijuana-laced honey. It's a pity the lyrics he'll always be remembered for is, "to all the girls who shared my life, who now are someone else's wives". Needless to say I spent the next 30 minutes alternately singing in Willie's and Julio's voices into my helmet. Maybe this is where my daughter gets the tendency of having involved and interesting conversations with herself.

morning view of the Pekan river

The road between Pekan and Kuantan is mostly a dual carriageway, lined on both sides by international automotive factories and institutions. There was a time when Pekan was envisioned as becoming the Detroit of Malaysia. I don't know if that vision fully materialized, because I wouldn't describe it as being a booming industrial town.

instead of taking the highway into town, which would have resulted in heavy traffic and about a billion badly-sequenced traffic lights, I took the right turn that would take me into the fishing village of Tanjung Lumpur, over the river and right into the center of town. The once sleepy fishing village was no longer sleepy. Neither could what I saw be described as planned progress. It just looked messy and chaotic.

First stop was at my old primary school, which I'd left 27 years ago when I headed to Singapore. I'd like to say I have fond memories of the place, but let's just say I have some inconsequential ones instead. It has since closed down, as the government took back the land from the church. Sad, but what a good picture!

I have returned!

Next stop was Me Mudder's Hise (behold! My terrible Belfast accent in print!) to visit my mother and my aunt who were both in town. Here she is, welcoming me warmly while at the same time voicing her displeasure at my disobedience and willfulness. Needless to say we've had similar conversations before. Yesterday I made a prediction on what she would say when she saw me; she got through that whole speech before I got my helmet off.

I spent a whole 3 hours here, drinking coffee and yarning. Met a friend of theirs whose husband had driven from Malaysia to London in 63 days, which was a dream of mine and Gail's at one point.

With 3 hours gone, this now meant that my end destination would have to be somewhere relatively close, so I settled on Cherating. Didnt book anything, decided to ride through the village and stay at the first place that tickled my fancy.

Heading north out of town on Jalan Beserah, I noticed there was a rusty red tinge to everything. What was once a nice flat and slightly winding road with views of the ocean between the trees and not much traffic was now lined on both sides with buildings of every kind. Heavy traffic of cars, lorries and buses meant I couldn't get above 4th gear except on two or three 20-second stretches. What were once small villages spaced out from one another now merged into one big - I use this word again - mess. And everything still had the rusty red tinge.

Leaving the development behind and passing the intersection to the port, I come to the source of the rusty red tinge - bauxite excavations. The corrupt powers that be in this part of the country had allowed bauxite mining to take place here, in what used to be one of the most pristine seafronts in Malaysia. In addition to that, the corrupt powers that be neglected to regulate the haulage of bauxite, resulting in overloaded trucks dripping bauxite dust over the whole landscape. And it is a fine dust, that flies everywhere and coats everything. The road, shoulders, center median, lampposts and signboards were coated with a layer of rusty red dust almost a centimeter thick. Although the corrupt powers that be had yielded to public pressure and called a halt to all bauxite mining activities more than six months ago, that shit's still there. I really wanted to stop and take a photo of the horror, but if there was ever a place to get run over by a big vehicle at the roadside, this was it.

Next up came highway construction, apparently to maka the port mote accessible. I won't rant some more, but the next time I come up here I am not taking this scenic route, because the scene ain't so hot anymore.

I arrived at Cherating village and rode through. There was one hotel offering "Biker deals" at a good price, and another new property right next to it. Neither was sea fronting, so I took a pass. Everything else were small chalet's, and I didn't really feel like roughing it. I stopped to take these pictures (it's another river mouth leading into the South China Sea)...

river mouth

...turned around, and headed 6km back toward Kuantan where I saw the signpost to The Legend Resort. Reasonable walk-in rates, nice room - if a bit musty - a GREAT pool and beach, complete with a beach bar.

beach and bar

And here I sit now. Decision time. I have three days left. Should I head further north, go back the way I came and stop at different places, or cut west before heading south again? Don't know yet. I'll decide tomorrow.

river mouth and Harley