Alor Setar to Butterworth: ...and then ferry to Georgetown

Monday January 22, 2018, 71 miles (115 km) - Total so far: 3,187 miles

(5,130 km)

A big ride but a great one. We agreed to ride a few extra Ks in the interests of not being stuck on the main road for the entire ride. This was a good decision - it was a great route! A good chunk on the highway in the middle of the day, but it wasn't too onerous, and anyway that's how we found lunch (there's a veggie restaurant in Gurun - with a clear sign). The bits off the highway were lovely - through pastoral Malaysia, which reminds us quite a lot of Cambodia at the moment. If you'd like to check our route out, it's here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1369332870

We were in Butterworth at around 3pm. A quick hop on the ferry and a short ride through Georgetown brought us to our abode, 80's Hostel. It seems very nice - we're in a 6 person dorm that has reading lights and individual sockets, plus huge lockers. There's a great communal space too with hot drinks in the day, and free breakfast. Plenty of space for our bikes to be inside too! It was £7 each AND you don't pay the tourist tax on dorm beds, so it's one of the cheaper options.

We had dinner at Woodlands veggie Indian restaurant. Fantastic food for very little money! We were going to have beers afterwards but, it turns out, beer is expensive in Malaysia! (It's all relative, obviously....)