2012 June Convoy Driving Trip - Kota Bharu / Padang Besar (Malaysia) Org by HomeTeamNS Auto-Adv Club

We took part of the convoy driving trip to Kota Bharu and Padang Besar organised by the Home Team NS Auto-Adventure Club.

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Day 1

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Early morning, we gathered at the HomeTeam NS Bukit Batok Clubhouse by 5.30am. There were 15 cars including the lead and sweeper cars. We collected our walkie-talkie set and did the last minute trip briefing and flagged off at 6.30am.

We crossed the Tuas Checkpoint with smooth traffic condition and drove along the North-South Highway towards Kuala Kangsar. The entire journey to Kota Bharu was expected to take 11 hours with frequent stop breaks every 120-150km.

This was our first stop at a layby.

The leader was speaking with the AAC members and participants.

We drove all the way smoothly until near Tapah.

It was near Tapah exit along N-S Highway, suddenly our lead car was pierced by a metal bar on the road, causing his car to skid, spin few times and banged onto central road divider. This metal bar pierced through the fuel tank from underneath and caused a leakage of fuel.

Hence, the lead car was disabled but managed to drive slowly to the Plus toll station. The leader contacted his friendly mechanic and left his car to be repaired. He said he would collect his car when we were making the return trip back to Singapore. His son and himself hopped onto Car 2, and it was made the lead car.

We proceeded along the way, exited Kuala Kangsar exit and had a stop-over. It was in the afternoon then.

We continued along the trunk/ mountain roads, meandering to the east coast of Malaysia, towards Kota Bharu. While we were an hour away from our end point, the Sudara Beach Resort @ Kota Bharu), one of the participating car had a tyre puncture. It was pitch darkness along the trunk road, we had to wait out for the car to change tyre before we arrived at Sudara Beach Resort close to 10.30pm.

We were exhausted after the long drive and were welcome by a Malay kompang performance and we had buffet dinner. We were issued the room keys thereafter, and slept early for the night.

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Day 2

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Rise and shine! This was our chalet unit, right next to the beach front.

The resort also has a indoor swimming pool.

We had breakfast at the resort's dining area.

And we set off for a day-tour of Kota Bharu via chartered tour bus.

Our first stop was to the Duty Free Pasar near the Malaysia/Thai Border.

It was a hot morning and we had fresh coconuts as refreshments.

Right across the river, it was Kolok (Thailand)

Next, we proceeded to visit a Thai Buddhist Temple, Wat Phothivihan.

Next, we visited the Masjid Beijing Rantau Panjang

The Sultan Ismail Petra Silver Jubilee Mosque (or synonymous with the name of the Beijing Mosque ) is a mosque located in the Rantau Panjang town , within the territory of Pasir Mas, Kelantan . The mosque architecture is unique because it combines Chinese and Islamic architecture and resembles 1000-yr old Niujie Mosque in Beijing, China. The location of this mosque is located on the edge of Pasir Mas-Rantau Panjang Highway, about 2 km from Rantau Panjang town with a total area of ​​3.7 acres. It was built on September 12, 2005 and will be inaugurated in August 2009. The total cost of building this mosque is estimated at RM8.8 million. The mosque is able to accommodate 1,000 pilgrims at one time

We stopped over at a local Muslim restaurant to have lunch.

After lunch, we proceeded to visit the Pasar Siti Khadijah

Siti Khadijah Market (Pasar besar Siti Khadijah), as its name implies, is a local wet market. Its name after Prophet Muhammad's wife, whom is known for her entrepreneurial skill, as this market is mostly run by women. Apart from the usual fresh goodies like seafood, vegetables and wide variety of fruits, you can also find ready-to eat food like 'ayam percik', nasi ulam and a variety of noodle soups, all unique in flavors and taste of Kelantan, serves freshly for you. Not to forget to taste the local desserts like 'kuih muih' (cake sort of), tempeh and a glass of hot milk tea, which is the staple drink for Kelantanese.

Turtle eggs were sold at this market.

We ended the tour in the late afternoon and got to see the peacocks enclosed in a cage at the resort.

We bought a few turtle eggs at the market earlier and decided to boil them to try for the first time. They were not tasty at all.

The rest of the afternoon until dinner time was free time.

Since it was still early to dinner time, we decided to play at the beach.

The girls changed to swimming costumes and played sand at the beach.

A group of horse riders turned up at the beach.

One of the riders was friendly and allowed the girls to ride on his horse.

A SUV also came along and maneuver along the beach.

It was sunset soon. We had a BBQ dinner and rested early for the night.

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Day 3

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It was sunrise. After breakfast, we checked out of our room.

The leader was giving the trip briefing. The convoy would be setting off to head westward through the trunk / mountain roads towards Alor Setar, Kedah. Our hotel would be at Swiss-Inn Sungai Petani.

All participants were to load up their luggage and mount up their cars.

We set off going westward.

Halfway through the journey, we came to Tasik Banding. The Lake Temenggor Bridge cut right through the Temenggor Lake.

Temenggor Lake (Malay: Tasik Temenggor) is a lake in Hulu Perak District. It is the second largest lake in Peninsula Malaysia after Kenyir Lake in Terengganu. This man-made lake is located south of 1,533 m high Ulu Titi Basah peak. It was created after the construction of Temenggor Dam to generate electric power. The lake is located about 45 km from the Hulu Perak district capital, Gerik. There is a man-made island, Banding Island (Pulau Banding) and Lake Temenggor Bridge on the East-West Highway which crosses the lake.

We stopped at the Lake Banding Inn for lunch.

After lunch, we continued our journey westward.

We stopped for a while to buy local fruits.

And got to eat durians as well.

After close to 7 hours of driving, we arrived at the hotel.

We checked in and went downstairs for dinner. It was steamboat and bbq dinner.

We adjourned to the room and rested early.

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Day 4

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Today we set off northwards going to the Malaysia/Thailand border town of Padang Besar, where we did some street shopping.

Then we drove on to visit the Snake and Reptile Farm in Perlis.

We continued our journey to the next destination.

We stopped over at Tasou Lake Resort and Retreat for lunch.

One of the most distinctive caves in Malaysia is a 370-metre long limestone cave near the small town of Kaki Bukit (literally 'foot hill') called Gua Kelam (Cave of Darkness). Located about 33km north of Kangar, the state capital, Gua Kelam Recreational Park is popular for its enchanting 'cave walk' where you can enter from one end of the cave and come out at a different location.

The only path to the cave is via an eight-foot wide wooden suspension bridge. This bridge links Kaki Bukit to the Wan Tangga Valley, a valley on the opposite end of Gua Kelam. Back in 1935, an Englishman saw the water pathway as a brilliant method to transport tin ore from a mine located near the stream entrance through the underground cavern to Kaki Bukit.

Now, locals and tourists make their way through the cave via a brightly lit wooden walkway inside the cave. You can still find remnants of the tin mine operation within the cave. As you make your way through the cave, the whispers of a swirling dark subterranean stream, together with the squeaking bats and dripping water from the stalactites, form a concerto of natural sounds. It sounds a bit spooky, but adds to the mystery of a cave that was was once the home of Stone Age men.

And we got back to the hotel.

Dinner was served on a long table at the outdoor poolside.

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Day 5 Going home

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We checked out of the hotel in the morning after breakfast.

Top up the gas and hit the road south, heading towards Singapore.

Along the N-S Highway near Tapah, same stretch of highway again, the radiator of one of the cars was hit by some debris, causing leakage. They had to call for tow truck back to send the car back to Singapore.

We arrived back to Singapore almost close to midnight.