Malaysia: Kuala Terengganu to Cameron Highlands

Kuala Terengganu to Cameron Highlands: 205 miles

My aim for this next leg was to cross the peninsula to Penang, via the Cameron Highlands. With one road to follow, this seemed simple, but I was in for a shock, toiling my way up muggy, jungly hills with little to no shade much of the way. The engines of passing logging and palm oil trucks screamed by in protest, but aside from these, there was little traffic or company so it was great to receive toots of encouragement when cars did pass and even a giant handful of rambutan and langsat from a family taking a break.

Though it was tough, the road was often raised high above ravines and streams, bringing me into the tree line. Here the sight of monkeys and even Malaysia’s elusive rhinoceros hornbill partly compensated my efforts. The hornbills were especially impressive, flying in small groups, their wings crisp and audible even from the road.

**I was too slow for my own picture, but here they are on the 5Rm note.

I had been told I’d find ‘plenty’ of homestays up here. In fact there were no homestays, no homes and no buildings! There was one restaurant marked on Google Maps with nothing for around 50km either side – I put my faith in this and arrived to find an old lady with a spluttering generator and a few meagre pre-packaged supplies. It was clear I would be camping so I bought two boiled eggs and a handful of sweet ‘creamed corn’ buns to see me through the night.

Sleeping in the jungle proper didn’t seem too wise, so I was glad to find a a washed out section of road (barricaded off after a landslide). Here I could enjoy the jungle at a safe distance (or so I reasoned).

Nightfall brought with it some major commotion: squawking, howling, screeching, buzzing, all at an immense volume. To my paranoid and dehydrated mind, the forest pulsed like a restless giant. I was later told that a noisy forest is ok “when things go quiet, then you can worry!”.

This elephant ‘calling card’ was was only a little down the road from my camp, so not sure if the advice above checks out!

After seeking out streams to filter water…

…Emergency alterations to my hat (to make it wearable with a helmet)…

And powered on by pretty basic supplies…

I emerged from a day and a half on the jungle road as if emerging from two weeks in the jungle itself. Although drab and sterile, the inevitable transition to palm plantations at least brought with it a makeshift café for workers where I sank an achingly sweet cup of coffee and did my best to clean them out of banana muffins.

In the end the plantations were no picnic, bringing steeper climbs, hotter sun, and industrial traffic. It was another 50km before I hit a ‘real’ road which I was pretty happy to see.

The road took me to Gua Musang, a town I’d passed through by train around 12 years ago. Here I decided to take a recovery day to ride the local stopping service and visit some of the surrounding karst scenery.

Having been quite poorly prepared, I was much more cautious researching the next section up to the Cameron Highlands and stocked up on canned food and other supplies. Back on the road I then met my first fellow cycle tourist – Teddy, a Malaysian from Melacca, heading to the east coast. Teddy was super helpful and warned there was nowhere really to camp until I reached ‘Blue Valley’ (still around 100km away). He later What’s App’d some words of encouragement: “hills all the way, some 8-10% climbs, very tough ride, good luck!”.

Clearly the area had been named in a fit of modesty, ‘Mount Cameron Highlands’ began to seem more appropriate after several hours on the road. This said, the climbs were again softened by more amazing gestures of kindness. I was given another huge bunch of langsat from this knight of the road (falling to bits with laughter here at how far I still had to go!).

Later in the day, two ladies pulled up in a Suburu with a delicious handful of local snacks and a bottle of water: “we’ll get there well before you” they said. Incredible! They gave me their business card and said to call when I arrived.

The business card was soon soaked in a rainstorm which cooled me down on the final leg – an unrelenting 20km climb with no opportunity to pause. By this stage the sun was setting and the ‘Blue Valley’ was still a way off. What’s more, this was not the scenery promised in the postcards, but instead an area of intense, hard nosed agri-business. Migrant workers huddled from the rain in passing trucks, whilst greenhouses (now lit up with artificial light) covered every inch of the hillside, stretching right down to the road. As Teddy said: no place for camping…

Wet and with legs like jelly, I finally made it to Blue Valley (essentially a petrol station between the farms). By this stage I was running out of options so asked if I could pitch the tent. Instead the staff went one better and kindly offered me the station’s surau (prayer room). After the gruelling climb, racing against the setting sun, it meant so much to be looked after by the lovely staff here, who were close to clocking off. A fuel attendant called Hari prepared a makeshift lock, “We never have problems here but…you never know”. He pointed out his trailer and proudly offered his assistance: “I’m safety…I’m security…I’m Nepalese…if you need anything, call me!”.

Whilst packing up the next morning, I discovered the soggy business card from the ladies in the previous day’s Suburu, Mandy and Jen, and gave them a message. They suggested I dropped by their hotel on the way to my campsite. Thus began a surprise day of unprecedented hospitality and kindness. “Don’t worry, we have it all arranged, you can leave your bike here, we’ll go check you into your campsite, then we’ll take a drive around the tea plantations”. Off we went all across the valley – steep, twisting single carriage roads I would never have reached or found on my bike. They treated me to lunch, tea at the plantations and dinner – then strawberries (famous in the area) at the local night market! “We know what it’s like travelling, it’s better with someone to show you around”, “besides” they later joked, “we are representing Malaysia!”