Riding from Kuala Selangor to more or less Sabak Bernam (we did not yet know which final destination for the day), there is a road called "highway no. 5" (no mambo here) which, in each cycling blog you read, is described as one of the most terrible roads to cycle on: hot, busy, dangerous, boring. So, we checked for alternatives, and found a really good one. Basically it's a small road, less than 10km inland from the no. 5, running parallel to it.
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| Cycling in one of the palm plantations on an unsealed road |
So we left again at 7-ish am, had a real nice roti in Kuala Selangor, and were well on our way before 8am. It was only across the bridge on the 5, and into the small roads going through palm plantations first. Some unsealed roads, others in good condition, and hardly any traffic at all. Very pleasant really! Then we joined the road parallel to the 5, which was a real hit!
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| An early morning view over the peat swamp forest reserve |
On the one side of the road there is a huge water reservoir that runs alongside the road for the entire length, more than 30km. It's used to irrigate the rice paddies of Sekinchan, which are all along the other side of the road. Beyond the reservoir, it's all jungle. This is the North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest, we have heard about it before, and there is hardly any information about it anywhere. It's a protected area with a lot of conservation efforts, but that's about all we know...
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| Rice paddy irrigation near Sekinchan |
Cycling in that area, we saw a lot of birds, thanks to the combination of jungle, water and rice paddies. In the beginning, I pointed out excitingly to Ellen whenever I saw a kingfisher - really beautiful birds with a shiny blue colour (ijsvogels in het Nederlands, niet echt toepasselijke naam) - but after a while she got bored with this 😏 There was much more beautiful birdlife, unfortunately I don't know the names of all these birds we saw... We also saw quite a few snakes, lizards and other small animals - all in a very flat and harmless shape with a tyre pattern on them...
Today, we also found a great way to take a break mid-morning: find a nice spot, open the chairs, take the stove and make a tasty fresh coffee!!! Wow, that was good, it may well become a habit! And so we have used all these things, for a first time.
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| Time to enjoy fresh coffee, on our ultralight camp chairs |
After some more beautiful cycling, we arrived near Sabak Bernam, and found a nice homestay for the night. It's like a little kampung on its own, and after a heavenly shower we are enjoying a good breeze in the shadow while reading and writing. Life on the road as a tour cyclist, I guess!
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| Our place for the night, peaceful and green Pinang Sari homestay (and notice the cycling shorts drying on our bikes) |
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| Papyrus in the homestay garden |