Route 185 Gua Musang road trip: Johor to Kulua Terengganu (Day 1)

Day 1: Johor to Kuala Terengganu

As it was a little rush in the morning and I was totally drained after the march across the causeway, I only started taking photo after I had "recovered"....

We took the exact same route 3 road to KT as the previous trip.

And just like the previous trip, we stopped at Mersing for lunch at about 12pm.





Murtabak... also ordered prata.





Food was great and I was really hungry because we did not eat anything in Johor.

All prata (or roti canai) were prepared by this man:



By the time we reached Mersing, the fiesta had only half a tank of petrol left. So the next thing after lunch was to refuel the car and I was pleasantly surprised:



Half a tank was only 14L. Worrying at the same time wondering how many times will we need to refill to reach Terengganu. In contrast, half a tank on a camry is 30L...172.5km, 14L=12.3km/L, seemingly bad FC because the car wasn't full when we got it!

After yet another 100km or so, we reached Pekan. The first thing most people do when arriving at Pekan is to go to this PETRONAS for toilet, making for occasional long queues there. What most are not aware is that just 50m further down, there is a shell petrol station.



Across the road from the PETRONAS station is this big tree and some pasar malam stalls. We had durians under this big tree...



Another 50-80km later and we were at Cherating Beach:

 

Weather was great. And once again, because it is a rental car, we could just drive up to the beach without worrying about sand/stone chips...







Continuing on. Stopped at Kerteh for petrol. 254km. 17L. Impressive 14.9km/L...with 50/50 cruise at 80kmhr and 120km/hr. Also more than a handful of WOT red line overtaking.





Oil refinery stretch along the Paka stretch of route 3, which would have been epicly beautiful at night. Do note that no photography is allowed here.





Along the way....driving along...



And it started raining...



Clearing up...



Stopping at the beach outside Kuala Terengganu for a photo...





Sun setting as we rolled into Kuala Terengganu....



And after a good 500km...we reached the hotel for the night, KT Chinatown Lodge.



The rear of KT Lodge is a stretch of river side shops and Pasar Malam...had our dinner at "On the Way". Food was average at best. Cheap thought just 30 over ringgit.

Route 185 Gua Musang road trip: Johor to Kulua Terengganu

I really enjoyed driving through Route 185 in the previous road trip.

Since we only covered a portion of it (from Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands) in the previous trip, something keep on telling me that I must do it from the start to the end of route 185.

The 4 days national day holiday presented the best chance to do it and after a series of pestering the other half...I also wanted to do it in something a little special, instead of the usual Camry.

On 7th Aug I found myself on the way to Woodlands causeway at 6am...on the bus. This was to ensure that we can collect our rental car from Hertz by 9am, giving us a chance to reach Terengganu in daylight.

Although we were early, the traffic jam at Woodlands checkpoint was already in full force. It was so bad that the bus was not even moving. By 6.45am, we made the decision to WALK to the Singapore side immigration. Many people did the same too.

By about 7.15am. We were out of the Singapore side custom and waiting for the bus to ferry us across the causeway...the queue was epic. The whole bus waiting area was flooded with people. After about another 10mins, we realized a major issue. We had thought that we could beat the Singapore side jam by walking through the Singapore side custom and then taking the bus to go across the causeway. However, what we forgot was that the buses were all stuck outside in Woodlands!

By about 7.30am...we made a decision to WALK across the causeway. And that was when we started the 1.5km march.

Reached CIQ Johor side at about 8.15am and surprisingly, it was empty. This was despite that fact that many others chose to walk across, just like us.

After yet another series of walking, we finally reached Ansar Menara, the place where we were supposed to collect our rental car:

No photo because I was too drained and tired after marching across while carrying all the stuff. My shirt was totally drenched in sweat.

Anyway, what we collected was a Ford Fiesta Sedan 1.6L. This is my first time driving such a small little car. A dark grey Fiesta:


(photo taken at cherating beach)

With 83000km on the clock.



I couldn't stop laughing when I got into the car. Everything was so cheap and plasticky. This refers to the air con knobs, the steering wheel, the air con vent, the seat adjustment handles...and pretty much everything. As I made my seat adjustment, I burst out in yet another wave of laughter...to the extent that I had cramp on my face. Everything was wrong. The seat height adjustment was done via a handle by the side, which is usually used for seat back angle adjustment. The 'lumbar support adjustment knob" which was commonly found in older cars, adjusted the seat back angle. The steering wheel had tilt but no telescopic adjustment. The air con was NEVER cold when outside air circulation was turned on. It was just hilarious.

Having said that, this car is amazing in the things that the driver do not get to see or touch. First thing, it has 7 air bags, including a knee air bag for the driver. VSC, TCS, EBD etc were standard features. It has a 1.6L 120hp engine mated to a 6 speed twin clutch transmission. And I suspect it is direct injection because it made a ticking noise at idle. Noise insulation was pretty good in the sense that the ticking noise was totally kept outside the cabin. Steering was light with absolutely no feel, but I thought it was pretty much perfect as a city car. The EPS is overly assisted, but very smooth and predictable. Suspension was somewhere on the comfortable side, but it was not soft.

On the road, things were ok except for the fact that road noise was ridiculously bad and I have never felt the road surface of johor to be so rough, despite having driven so many things over the same road in the past years.

The journey will go according to:



As for photos...another day.

Road trip to Rantua Panjang border: Day 5 Kluang to Johor

Day 5 marks the end of the trip...setting off from our hotel...Starz hotel at Kluang.

No photo of the hotel, but this is why I like Starz Hotel:



You can see your car from the hotel room window. More importantly, the hotel is just beside route 50 that runs between Mersing and the NSHW.

Then it was breakfast...at a local kopitiam:





Glutinous chicken...only remembered to take a photo after it was finished...





Last shot of the Camry after breakfast...



And then it was checkout, return to Johor, pump petrol and say good bye.



In total, we covered 1785.7km in this trip. 162.5L of petrol. Averaged 11km/L.

Day 1: http://shoestringbudgetrc.blogspot.sg/2015/06/road-trip-from-to-rantua-panjang.html
Day 2: http://shoestringbudgetrc.blogspot.sg/2015/06/road-trip-to-rantau-panjang-thai-border.html
Day 3: http://shoestringbudgetrc.blogspot.sg/2015/06/road-trip-to-rantau-panjang-border-day3.html
Day 4: http://shoestringbudgetrc.blogspot.sg/2015/07/road-trip-to-rantua-panjang-border-day-4.html
Day 5: http://shoestringbudgetrc.blogspot.sg/2015/08/road-trip-to-rantua-panjang-border-day-5.html