July 23, 2017
Bukit Fraser to Slim River: The start of the long trek to Penang
We made sure we pigged out at the buffet breakfast before leaving this morning. We waddled out to the bicycles and headed down the hill towards Kuala Kubu Bahru at about seven thirty. The start of the "downhill" has a surprizing number of steep, short climbs and was about six kilometers longer than the way up (the entry and exit from Bukit Fraser are via one way roads). On the way down we had good views of Little Cuckoo-Dove, one of two birds (the other being Chestnut-naped Forktail) that we had hoped to see but didn't while at Bukit Fraser.
When we reached the juncture of the two roads it was a lovely downhill glide to Kuala Kubu Bahru. We past at least three hundred cyclists on the way down - they were all grinding their way up. It must have been some event because they all had race numbers.
As we neared the reservoir near the bottom of the hill we spied another cycle tourist coming up the hill. This was the first cycle tourist we had seen since leaving Korea. It was Siew Yung from Kuala Lumpur who was doing a one-nighter up to Bukit Fraser as a dry run for her upcoming solo tour of Pakistan. We had a long natter and took the usual photos before parting ways.
Once we joined the route 5, it was quite a hot slog to Slim River where we booked into a new hotel, the Musse Hotel, that we found on Booking.com. Fair value at RM100 for the night. Nice to have a decent internet connection again.
As we were checking in, a young man named Kairol invited us to join the local community at a meal to celebrate the last day of Eid (in Malaysia Eid is celebrated for a full month after Ramadan) so after a shower and our daily housekeeping, we went and joined them. It felt so good to be included in their festivities as a stranger.
Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 3,248 km (2,017 miles)
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