Cycle Malaysia Day 3 - Hutan Melintang to Ayer Tawar

CM Day 3 we are ready for you and it was goodbye to Hotel Lagenda, Hutan Melintang.

After a few metres away from Lagenda Hotel we could smell food and everyone had a good breakfast at this kopitiam.

I made a wrong turn at Hutan Melintang junction and we were heading towards Bagan Datoh instead of Teluk Intan. It was after only nearly 5km we realised we were on the wrong track but fortunately there was a Plan "B".

We re-routed our ride based on Plan "B" that needs a boat to cross Perak River. Plan "B" was originally intended to be used but was kept aside after failing to get in touch with the boatman. I would like to thank Chew Kim Aun for obtaining this invaluable contact, it really came in useful. Yes! this time I managed to contact Upin, the boatman and confirmed that he will pick us up at the river side of Kg. Sg Dulang.

It was a blessing in disguise with Plan "B" it has a safer and nicer road to cycle. If not for this mistake we would be using Route 5 trunk route from the start. 

We reached the river side after 15km of cycling and we hope that we were on the right spot for the boat to pick us up if not we have to made a "U" turn back.

There was no sign of any boat, we were a bit of worry and we need to cross to the other side of the river.

Then came a small boat after a short while, it was Upin and everyone was elated. The boat does not look impressive but who cares it is going to take 6 people with 6 bicycles across the river and not forgetting our T-bags.  

That was quite a thrill in the morning not knowing exactly what we were heading in the journey. The fare for the boat trip was RM30.00 and this is one of the most exciting and memorable moments of my tour. Terima kasih banyak banyak Upin we hope to call you again in the near future.

The Ketua Kampung of Kg Hujung Rintis was happy to see us and he hopes that more people will come to patronise this place. A picture with him and his kampong folks. Cheers!

Joe and the angels "pao" the whole road, we rode another lovely 13km of kampong road before we exited at Route 5 to Sitiawan.

From the exit at the kampong we have to pedal another 40km to reach Sitiawan, it's quite monotonous at this stretch.

We were lucky to find little hut like this for a pit stop.

At last Sitiawan is approaching and food was already on our minds. Kg. Koh was marked for our food hunt and it is about 2km away before Sitiawan town.

Kedai Makan Kuai Kuai Lai 快快来茶餐室 is the name of the shop which we patronised and it is located at Jalan 5 (GPS location is  4.194443, 100.701844). Visit it next time if you are around in Sitiawan, there is variety of local foods to venture.

This big pot of curry was so enticing. Different places have different types of food I just wonder how this curry was going to be served. Sitiawan has a big Hock Chew community and has lots of interesting foods to try. Apparently this curry is served with fried noodles. We had one or two of it and it was so yummy.

The prawn fritters stall in front of the shop and of course we had this too.

The serving of the curry from the big pot with ingredient like prawns, stingray fish, long beans, cabbage and taupok.

This is a Hock Chew version of Loh Mee, it tastes different from the one found in Penang and it takes one to slowly acquire the taste. I love it after a couple of spoonful.

A visit to Cheong Cia Gong Pian was made for a try of the Hock Chew biscuits. This place has been always popular there were people queuing to sell eventhough the biscuits were not ready. And here we were being part of the crowd to buy the famous Gong Pian.

The making of Gong Pian in the shop.

The Gong Pian hot and fresh from the tradition oven.

Just before we leave Sitiawan we tried the famous cendol at Lorong Tok Perdana the stall is located nearby Cheong Cia Gong Pian.

We rode for another 11km out of Sitiawan to a town called Ayer Tawar and found this lovely hotel. It's bicycle friendly clean with reasonable room rates. As for dinner we were recommended by Miss. Ting to try the food at Restoran Ruby Rose for some Hock Chew dishes like the red wine chicken.

For those who might want to stay at Ting Residence in Ayer Tawar.

Day 3 with a distance of 77km covered and for Day 4 we will be heading to Taiping.

A video clip of the day.