Satun to Kangar

Saturday January 20, 2018, 50 miles (80 km) - Total so far: 3,078 miles

(4,954 km)

Today's ride was considerably more scenic than the rest of our ride from Krabi so far. We rode out of Satun on the fairly busy dual carriageway, but soon turned off onto the far quieter border road. It was pleasant riding all of the way. We stopped at the 'border bazaar' to use the loo and grab a coffee, and bumped into German cyclist Bamboo Basti (find him on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube). We had a great time chatting - he's cycled all the way from Germany in 7 months, makes me wonder what we've actually been doing with our time! ;)

The border itself was pretty straightforward (if not entirely clear, as always seems to be the case). We were soon stamped into Malaysia....and climbing! Our first proper climb since the Hai Van pass, and actually I thought we did pretty well. It was only a few km but fairly steep in places. We saw some beautiful dusky leaf monkeys, and the view from the top and on the descent was well worth it!

The road was then back to almost entirely flat. The signage is a little confusing, but we'd mapped out our route in advance. I thought it was pretty good, grab it here if you'd like to follow it:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1365647269

We struggled to find lunch in Kangar, as the veggie restaurant we'd aimed for was closing (forgot that we lost an hour!) and lots of places seem to be shut up, not sure why. We are staying at the Mega Star Inn Homestay - amusing name and somewhat overstates things, but it's pretty good! Small but perfectly formed double room with bathroom and aircon, and access to communal seating area, drinking water, kettles, fridge and some utensils. 60 RM plus 10RM customs tax (or something).

Discovery of the day - Malaysia also has 7-11, hooray! ;)