{"id":7687,"date":"2019-04-26T16:32:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T15:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danielebesana.com\/blog\/?p=7687"},"modified":"2019-05-01T10:24:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T09:24:36","slug":"lenggong-valley-motorbike-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danielebesana.com\/blog\/life\/travels\/lenggong-valley-motorbike-tour","title":{"rendered":"Lenggong valley motorbike tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lenggong valley has UNESCO world heritage<\/strong> archeological sites<\/a> and, equally important to me, isn’t far from the island of Penang where we spent two happy weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This made it the perfect target for our Lenggong valley motorbike tour<\/strong>: a loop starting and ending in Old George Town – another UNESCO heritage – and crossing Taiping, Kuala Kangsar, Lenggong, and Salama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We rented a scooter from Mr Lim at Stardust Caf\u00e9<\/a>. For 35MR\/day (\u20ac7,5) we got a very decent Honda 125cc that “can drive many many kilometers, lah!”<\/em>.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1: George Town – Taiping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We set off at 9:20am and by 9:21am I realize it’s too late to avoid the Malaysian scorching sun<\/strong>.
Georgetown is very, very humid and very, very hot. From what I could experience in the two weeks we spent there, this is the main downside in an otherwise very great place to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Penang island is connected to mainland Malaysia by a ferry and two bridges.
We choose to ride Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge<\/strong>, that with its length of 24km it’s one of the longest sea bridges in the world!
And if you wonder, like me, which one is the longest then look no further than the China-Macau-Hong Kong new bridge<\/a>: 55km to bring the two special autonomous regions even closed to lovely mamma China (and possibly a bit less autonomous).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let’s go back to Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. It carries a modern highway with a separated motorbike lane. It’s an easy ride (under the scorching sun) and I’m the only one excited about it.
On Malaysian highways, there are ‘umbrella-stations’ for motorbikes, that are basically parking areas with a roof.
Useful when it’s raining, they were a life-saver for us when tired of riding (under the scorching sun).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, our plan is to avoid highways because they’re boring.
We do visit the gas station, where we have a bah-pau<\/em> and drinks before abandoning the highway for a more scenic road to Taiping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few km later, we’re driving on the old motorway, realizing that there’s no scenic road to Taiping<\/strong> unless you consider trucks, traffic lights, and industrial areas as scenic (under the scorching sun).
I’m impressed by how developed this area is, but we also ride next to what looks like Malaysian jungle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spot a road-killed baby leopard, and a monitor lizard in the middle of the road. Or maybe there were not a leopard and a monitor lizard. Hard to say (under the scorching sun).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At noon we stop in an area with a few food options, from KFC to local nasi kandar<\/em>, and we luckily choose the latter.
This is not a place that sees many foreigners and using a few Indonesians words triggers large smiles on the faces of people working here.
But some English is spoken everywhere and language has not been an issue at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We resume driving for one more hour (under the scorching sun) then I realize that my arms are very red. I’m burned and I haven’t put any sunscreen.
We stop a few km before Taiping and this time, unfortunately, we opt for a KFC – but just for the A\/C.
The last stretch of our drive (under the scorching sun) crosses the beautiful lake gardens,<\/strong> the main reason I’m back to Taiping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We check-in at the only hostel in town ( <\/a>Sojourn Beds & Cafe<\/a>s<\/a>) where I stayed during my first visit in 2016, but we discover that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n