Cycling to Pangkor from the north,
an alternative road to Pangkor
So how can you go cycling to Pangkor from the north?
I mean, a route that only few people take. An alternative route avoiding the
main well traveled paths? Almost all long distance cyclists do not want to
take the main road, do not want to go where everybody else go. Ain't it the
truth? Sometimes it's so easy to find an alternative road to your
destination.
On the way to Pangkor, to Betong, a
great view over the artificial lake
For some reasons I had to go to Hat Yai,
the first major town after crossing the Malaysian-Thai border. Hat Yai is a
sort of border-town. It's also the last stop of the Bangkok-Butterworth
train. Hotels are plenty in Hat Yai. There's many shops selling all kind of
things which in Malaysia are more expensive.
In fact, many Malaysian people living in the North West of
Malaysia go to Hat Yai for a few days holiday when they
have time. Things are cheaper here.
I had my bicycle with me and had the plan to cycle back to
my hometown Sitiawan, a few kilometers away from Lumut,
the port to Pulau Pangkor.
Three directions
Now there's three different directions you can choose to
go to Thailand. Firstly there's the train straight to
Butterworth. Many people do this since Butterworth is opposite of the Pulau
Penang. The train takes a few hours but you skip a less interesting part of
Malaysia.
Some others got to Satun and take the
ferry to Langkawi. Langkawi is a duty free paradise although it's not so
cheap as some want you to believe. From Langkawi you can take another ferry
to Penang.
These two routes where not of my kind. I choose a different one.
Apart of the train and Langkawi direction it's possible to cross
the Malaysian border at another place: Betong.
Cycling to Betong in Thailand on wide open quiet roads
From Hat Yai it's a long way to Betong, almost 290 km. So,
you need to have a good bicycle and a wish to cycle some
long days.
The first leg from Hat Yai goes to Yala. There are two ways.
The first goes straight to Patani and from there another 45 km south
to Yala. It's mostly a flat road and it follows some beaches at about
60 km from Hat Yai and on. There are places to stay along the beaches
so it makes a good overnight stop at one of the beaches here. Patani has
hotels too.
The artificial lake north of Betong
Cycling out of Hat Yai is not such a
pleasure but it's not too bad. Either if you decide to follow Patani or the
nicer southern road, you cycle out of Hat Yai in south direction. 8 km out
of Hat Yai you decide either to follow the road to Patani or going further
south, to Khlong Ngae.
At Khlong Ngae, 28 km south of Hat Yai I
took the direction Patani. This is a much nicer road then road 4, a bit more
north. The quite scenic way which goes slightly up and down but it's not
difficult.
You have to cycle as far as Khok Pho and
then south to Yala. By the time you're in Yala you've done 150 km. It's
possible to make the trip easier by first going to Songkhla, then Patani
following the coastline and then to Yala. It takes obviously more days.
From Yala it's 160 km to Betong and
apart of potential camping spots there are no hotels or guesthouses in
between. However, somewhere in the middle, there's a lake and good camping
spots.
Betong has hotels and guesthouses in all
price ranges. The town has the typical atmosphere of a border town.
Betong to Kuala Kangsar
For those who want to go fast, here's
the good news: you can do it in two days. For those who search for the
specialties, there's some fine spots to look for.
The Betong border is a quiet and easy
border passing, newly build. From Betong the road swindles up to the border
which is 7 kilometers from Betong town.
After the border it's going down. Now there's two directions you
can take. For Penang, follow directions to Baling and Butterworth.
The road to Kuala Kangsar is quiet and scenic. It leads you
directly after the border to a small road to Gerik. This little town
can be an exploration of the nearby orang asli villages.
Further on the way is Lengong with a very interesting little museum.
Roads in this part of Perak are in
excellent condition.
The beautiful Mosque of Kuala Kangsar
Betong to Penang
After the Betong border, you will follow
the road to Pengkalan Hulu. It's a small town though you will find banks,
hotels, a great little curry mee stall near the Petronas filling station and
roads south to either Gerik and Kuala Kangsar or a little north and west to
Baling and Butterworth.
The road to Butterworth is quite
straightforward. Follow the roads to Baling, with some nice view just after
Pengkalan Hulu. Baling it self has some nice attractions for a day. When you
cycle further west, you will come to Binjul, about 18 km from Baling. You
can choose now the fast and easy way, which is straight on. Alternatively
you can take the junction to Sungai Petani.
This road is as scenic and quiet until
you reach Sungai Petani. You can however make it more interesting to follow
some back roads to Padang Serai and Sungai Dua. Road signs are all straight
forwarded so you won't get lost. And the roads are in great condition with
no more then a little local traffic.
Finished reading about cycling to Pangkor from the north? You may want to go
back to our "Travel to Pangkor" page
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