From Terengganu towards Alor Star and Home

The last few days were lovely in Kuala Terengganu and now we are back on the road. Firstly we are driving further up the east coast towards Kota Bharu, a beautiful road along the shore of the South China Sea. (see the complete map of or tour below this post) The road is good and not too much traffic around, beaches and palm trees as far as you can see and nobody in sight. We stopped on several occasions and could not get over how nice these places are. If you are looking for hotels it might be difficult and forget about western food if this is what you are after. Eat local, that`s what we do. We left the coastal road and hit the 4 inland, driving close to the Thai boarder to Gerik, where we planned to stay a night. The lake Tasik Temengor (with extremely high water) was part of the journey and for the first time we saw warning signs of Elephants crossing...;) A negative point was to see all the lorries with timber, proving that the Rain forest is getting cut down. We do understand they need the revenue, but still find it a real shame, as we have become extremely fond of the fauna and flora with it`s sounds and smells. There is just nothing like it and definitely needs preserving. We arrived in Gerik, a town in the middle of nowhere, but good for fishing trips all round. The hotel cost us all of 40RM, basic but clean. The hunger set in, so off we went to an Indian restaurant, where a Chef who normally works in a top hotel in Singapore and just visiting his brother-in-law, prepared one of his specialities for us, which was rather nice. Thanks Gani.

The next day it was off to Butterworth via the Orang Utan Island about 35 minutes drive away from Butterworth
It is not nice to see wild animals in captivity, but if this is what it takes to help the Orang Utan population, so be it and apparently they really try... We did enjoy watching the antics of the baby Orang Utans! Part of the ticket included a little Zoo with local animals, again it all depends if you like this kind of thing. We were lucky enough though to see an angry spitting Cobra and film it. You can see it here
We stopped just before Butterworth to take some shots of the Penang sky line and then retired to a hotel in the middle of the town (omg) Nothing there at all, lol. At Alor Star Airport we had to hand the car in the following day and as a summary we can only say: This 10 day trip through Malaysia was well worth all the driving. We saw so much of the mainland and whether it was the Cameron Highlands with it`s lush green,  Fraser`s Hill so peaceful and quiet, the Genting with it`s crowds, or the whole of the East coast, with miles of untouched beaches. It was just great and we can definitely recommend it. (All photos here)

With our next Visa Run approaching fast, one of our next posts should be about Koh Lipe, a Thai Island just a couple of hours away from Langkawi.

Complete map of our 10 day trip across Malaysia by car:

View Malaysia by car for 10 days in a larger map