Driving East Coast Malaysia ( Terengganu)

   Still in Pahang State on 11 July 2012, I drove north on country coastal road towards Kuala Terengganu. After making a round at the Cherating beach, I stopped at Pantai Chendor and had a simple lunch at a food stall there. It was quiet and blissful. The beach was clean with white sand. According to the stall operator, Chednor beach is busy and packed with people during weekends, public and school holidays as in any other beaches in Malaysia which leave the beaches dirty and full of rubbish by irresponsible and stupid visitors. Lemang stalls were found in Kijal area. I stopped to buy some lemang with rendang for my dinner. The road to Kemaman was a nightmare. Road work slowed the traffic but the traffic jam was not as bad as in KL during peak hours.

Reaching Dungun I deviated to Kuala Dungun to take the coastal way. There is a fishing village which I at randomly drove in and met with pleasant surprise. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the name of the village. It was fun having a conversation with a group of primary school students there by the beach.  They were so thrilled when I taught them how to take photographs using a digital camera. I guess they have never had the experience of handling one. Like many other children, they were shy at first but warmed up after some time and asked a lot of questions out of curiousity. Even small children couldn't believe that I drove alone from KL but looked up at me with admiration.I hope I was able to instill in them that they could do anything they wanted to if they put their minds into it. Suhaidi, Haikal, Sharum, Idayu, thank you for the pleasant interaction. By this time I was tired of driving and it was getting late. I decided to stop at the first Hotel or Resort I found along the way. At Kuala Abang, just a few kilometers away from Rantau Abang, I stopped at Merantau Inn to stay for a night. What a mistake! The resort has seen glorious days when it was first opened in 1984 but now it looked so run down and quiet. But the location is so ideal, by the beach near a river.I was the only guest there and paid RM82.00 for an aircond room.It was OK. I was tired and I needed to rest.

I did have a good night rest and left early the next morning  and drove to Kuala Berang for Sekayu Nature Park with the intention of staying there for a night or two. Luck was not with me, all chalets and rooms were fully booked by groups of students who have their Bulan Sabit Merah camping there.

However I was quite happy for being able to dip myself in the cool river near a small waterfall. The security guy there told me to keep away from the waterfall area because there is an underneath swirling pool which has claimed 47 lives so far. There were about 5 University Azhar, Egypt students swimming there and we chatted while I soaked myself in the cool river. I just love river. Not wanting to be caught in dark evening, reluctantly I left Sekayu to Kuala Terengganu where I stayed at Primula Beach Hotel for a night.