We decided to set off before light this morning but were caught out by my headlamp's battery being flat. The other lights we have are barely up to the task and Leigh's powerful rear light disappeared a few weeks ago (we've been meaning to replace it but haven't got to visit a bicycle shop yet). With it being pretty dark at a quarter to seven we stopped in to buy some roti for breakfast (getting boring now, isn't it) and got going as it got light at about quarter past.

There was a little climb up to a cement factory at around ten kilometers and the shoulder of the road was pretty rough and broken up so the first part of the ride wasn't too pleasant. I had advance warning of this in a message from Andrew Pang whom we had met on the road yesterday. He is pulling a trailer so I can imagine that the section up to the cement factory would have been even less pleasant for him.

Once we crested the hill, the road improved a lot and we had a good downhill for a couple of kilometers before the road flattened to the point of resembling a billiard table. We bypassed Taiping, where Andrew had spent last night camping at a Sikh temple, and had a pretty easy run until about eight kilometers from Parit Buntar.

At this point our progress was impeded by Leigh picking up her first puncture of the tour (I've had one puncture pus a failed valve already). These things always seem to happen in a shade-free area during the hottest part of the day.

Once back on the road, and by now a little tired of the busy road, we pulled into Parit Buntar to look for a hotel. The first section off route one looked rather industrial so we rode further into town and over the bridge crossing the railway line. Here we found the K Garden Hotel a few streets back from the main road. A much quieter area and a good deal (RM105) for a nice room including breakfast.