Gua Musang to Kuala Lipis

Wednesday January 31, 2018, 61 miles (99 km) - Total so far: 3,513 miles

(5,654 km)

Another great ride today. The road system is a bit confusing - especially when trying to plan a route on eg Strava. We basically just headed to Kuala Lipis by the shortest and flattest route possible. We started out on route 8, which was a bit busy at first. There was also a reasonable sized hill quite early on, which was a harsh warm up! The road turns into an incredible dual carriageway (and becomes route 34) - far better road surface and really quiet. It's also like a jungle canopy ride at points - pretty cool - although the jungle does turn into palm plantations eventually..... Where the 34 joins back onto the 8, you can hop off on a shortcut through Kampung Gua - recommended. Then it's back onto the 8 for the last stretch. There are a few hills near the end so save a bit of energy for those!

Our GPS track can be found here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1384171506
NOTE: the road numbering on maps.me does not match the numbering on the physical road. Google seems to have it about right.
Also, being on the dual carriageway means there are very few (possibly no?) refreshment stops so take plenty of snacks and water. There is a water filter soon after the turn off towards Kampung Gua, but you only have 19km to go at that point. It's on the right, is blue in colour, and is right outside a restaurant, just before the road turns a right angle.

Kuala Lipis has made a good impression so far. It's a pleasant and bustling little place. We looked for Appu's guesthouse as we've seen it mentioned on here, and it's also in the Lonely Planet, however there's no sign of it (nor is it on google maps) so I wonder if it's closed. Instead, we are at the London Hotel which is pretty nice, especially compared with our dingy room in Gua Musang ;). We went for the deluxe double to get a bit more space (and a spare bed) and a window. Still only 60RM. The people are friendly and the bikes are in the basement!
UPDATE: after a night where we had to change rooms because the torrential rain started coming in through the ceiling, and we slept poorly due to a SQUEALING aircon unit outside our window, we have now moved to Hotel Bestari. Very nice, but more like 100RM!

Rest day tomorrow.