I know I was supposed to blog a few days once but it was really impossible for me to do so during the tour! But there's one good news....I have found out how to make my pictures larger!Will try to resize the earlier days soon. Hope you all will enjoy continue reading my blog ;o)
Date : March 7th, 2009
Distance travelled : 100km
Time taken : 5 hours
We started getting ready around 8am for our next destination which was Kuala Gula in Perak. It is said to be famous for its bird watching ;o)
After saying our goodbyes to our kind host Andrew, off we went again!
Saying our goodbyes....Mak &; Andrew.....
......... and me!As we headed off towards our next destination, Mak suddenly veered off when we reached a small town along the way and stopped at a small printing company. He told me that this company used to be his supplier and he wanted to say hello ;o)
The staff of TL Laser Print Enterprise and us
The day turned out to be bright and beautiful, with blue skies everywhere! We decided to stop at Kuala Kurau for lunch and rest along the river bank.
Somewhere along the way to Kuala Kurau....
Ahh....finally, the signboard to Kuala Kurau!!
a traditional Malay house
Mak posing at the riverbank of Sg. KurauAfter lunch, it started to drizzle! So much for the clear blue skies earlier!! I told Mak that we still have to get going if we wanted to reach Kuala Gula before evening. He was reluctant to ride in the rain as he didn't want to get wet! Ohh....poor baby!! hehehe....
the bridge over Sg. Kurau....see Mak, the rain stopped after awhile ;o)
The road towards Kuala Gula was flat and nice albeit it was a bit hot after the short rain. When we first arrived in Kuala Gula, we didn't know what to expect except that people have been telling us that it is famous for its bird watching activities. The place was nondescript....it was just one road in with a few buildings on the left side of the road! We were wondering where we could stay for the night as it didn't look like there was any cheap hotel or motel around! We decided to venture further in and discovered that there was a residence area as well as some shops along the main road before coming to a dead end.
We stopped by a place which looked like a bird sanctuary and asked someone about where to stay etc. I was ready to hit the road again if there wasn't any place for us to stay for the night. But there was a nice surprise waiting for us. The guy we asked managed to contact Tan, who happened to be a guide for tourists for the bird watching activities. He came around and told us that he has a place for us to stay. It turned out to be a beautiful house with many rooms! Since we were the only ones around, we had the whole house to ourselves but only paid for one room ;o) Outside the house, Tan planted some green leafy vegetables and he told us to take some when we go for our dinner later on (which we totally forgot!)
Since he had a mountain bike, Tan graciously offered to take us around the mangrove area nearby where the birds are! We followed him on this mangrove tour on our bikes, playing off road with our slick tires! Since he was explaining in Mandarin, only Mak could understand what he was saying as I was a "banana" :o) We managed to look at some beautiful birds that was around the mangrove area. Tan said that Kuala Gula has about 197 species of birds and he knows every single one of them!! According to him, many bird enthusiasts will come from all over just to do bird watching there!
We stopped by a place which looked like a bird sanctuary and asked someone about where to stay etc. I was ready to hit the road again if there wasn't any place for us to stay for the night. But there was a nice surprise waiting for us. The guy we asked managed to contact Tan, who happened to be a guide for tourists for the bird watching activities. He came around and told us that he has a place for us to stay. It turned out to be a beautiful house with many rooms! Since we were the only ones around, we had the whole house to ourselves but only paid for one room ;o) Outside the house, Tan planted some green leafy vegetables and he told us to take some when we go for our dinner later on (which we totally forgot!)
Since he had a mountain bike, Tan graciously offered to take us around the mangrove area nearby where the birds are! We followed him on this mangrove tour on our bikes, playing off road with our slick tires! Since he was explaining in Mandarin, only Mak could understand what he was saying as I was a "banana" :o) We managed to look at some beautiful birds that was around the mangrove area. Tan said that Kuala Gula has about 197 species of birds and he knows every single one of them!! According to him, many bird enthusiasts will come from all over just to do bird watching there!
Oh yeah! what's a bit of offroading after riding some 100kms!!
Mak with his "man bag" at the mangrove area...
Tan said " If you focus closely on the 2nd pole from the right, you can see the largest bird in Malaysia!" Huh?? Where???
Towards the end of our mangrove tour....a place which reminded me of Pulau Ketam!
Everyone, meet Tan...the bird expert! Do let me know if you are keen to do some bird watching in Kuala Gula any time soon!
After the tour, we were famished! Did I also mention that this place does serve some yummy seafood dishes?? Below were what we had for our dinner....delicious fried mee hoon with crab and semilang curry fish head and when you mixed them together, it's lips smacking good!!
And as for our breakfast, a very "healthy" nasi lemak either with prawns or fish!!
After our breakfast, we were all set for another day of riding and bid goodbye to the lovely house and this quaint little place :o)
Told you this house was lovely!!
Our next destination...Ipoh or so we thought!!!
