The green line denotes where we have cycled. See our Route page for more detail

We cycled

From: Wang Kelian (nr Kuala Perlis) to Tanjung Belungkor
Distance: 1190 kms (739.4 miles)
No. days: 20 (including 4 rest days)
Ascent: 7157m

TOTAL distance since leaving the UK - 16,392 kms (10,521 miles)

By boat

Kuala Perlis to Kuah - 37 kms
Kuah to Georgetown - 116 kms
Tanjung Belungkor to Changi (Singapore) - 14 kms

See Strava - @readcycleread - for full route details.

We slept

Tent: 2 nights in beachside campsites
Warmshowers: 6 nights (3 in tent by beach)
Hotel/hostel/guesthouse: 5 nights
Mosque: 3 nights (outside in tent)
Fire station: 3 nights
Invited by a local: 1 night

We ate

80 x roti canai (bread-like pancakes served with curry sauce - we could happily have lived off these!) Other food delights included roti puri, satay, lonkong (rice cubes), nasi goreng, mee goreng, nasi lemak (coconut rice with boiled egg and spicy sambal usually served in a banana leaf for breakfast). Chinese food was also widespread and we were big fans of red bean and coconut steamed buns. It’s not difficult to find a sweet treat and the bright colours of kuih much are hard to beat - these are steamed sweet treats, made with rice or tapioca flour which are usually sweet in the north and more salty in the south. Of course we drank a lot of coconut juice too - nature’s electrolyte drink, in addition to the more I dulcet coconut shakes served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream…did I mention we cycle to eat?!

We saw

An amazing array of wildlife from smooth tailed otters on Langkawi to monkeys: gibbons galore and shy dusky languars who look like little bank robbers with their white masked faces standing out from their black bodies, escaping rapidly through the trees once spotted. Beautiful birdlife too, sea eagles, hornbills, kingfishers, birds that weave lantern like nests that hang from the tall trees and an array of other colourful birds. The ethic mix of Malaysia is distinctly divided into three dominant groups - Chinese, Indians and Muslim Malays providing constantly changing colours, cultures and food. It’s fascinating.

Roti Canai