Day 10 - Thu 21 Nov: George Town to Ipoh

Some scattered clouds but fine all day 24 to 33 deg. As we climbed it got cooler.
Ride: 78km; total: 363km

Another early morning walk for me started the day. It was interesting to see and photograph the difference between the buildings that have been restored and those which have not been touched in their lifetime. There’s also some wonderful old colonial stuff around that’s worth a look.

It’s a pity that breakfast is so late, 8am, as it means we have to do the majority of cycling in the hottest part of the day. We planned to leave the hotel no later than 9am and we just about achieved that; 9:07.

I’m not sure what happened but for some reason the whole crew picked up their game today. I suspect that they might have received a rocket from head office. I think they read my blogs occasionally. Ramish the head guide was excellent, running around making sure every member of his team was doing their best. He even replaced one driver for not following instructions. He kept us fully informed about the plan and involved us when there were several options available. The drive to the start of the ride took over an hour and a half. Although we were short of the scheduled 81 km ride none of us felt cheated because it was a fairly challenging day with plenty of long hill climbs. If we could have arranged an early breakfast, we would have had a chance to do 80 kms but we had no hope with the 8am brekky and a ride start of 11am. Ramish took us through a few remote villages which was great and went off the planned route to show us Victoria Bridge, a disused railway bridge, built around 1900. We had the loveliest lunch at a local Muslim restaurant which served mainly cold dishes. It was unusual to have dishes cold that you’d only normally eat hot.

We called it quits about 3:30pm and had a nice cup of black tea at a local “cafe”. It was then a 40-minute drive to the Hotel Resort The Haven, about 15 km outside of Ipoh. Some had a beer, others went for a swim and the did washing and relaxed in their room. We had four to each three-room apartment, two singles and a twin for the two that were sharing. Back on the bus at 7pm for dinner at a local food hall/market. Lovely, tasty food, as much as you can eat; I try to resist as I don’t like going to bed with a full tummy.

Back to the resort by 9pm and not long out of bed.

Penang unrestored

Penang restored

Colonial Penang

Crossing to the mainland

Ken in the back blockd

Lunch

Ken photobombing

Four of the lads at Victoria Bridge

Me crossing Victoria Bridge


Kev


My room - you could land an airliner on that bed

View from my room

The pool

The bar

Dinner venue - Chinese

A small part of the dinner

The remnants of dinner

Many stalls around the central dining area; each specialises in something different

A natural rock formation at the resort

Big lizards in the garden

Party boat?


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