After successfully conquering the Peninsula Malaysia in January 2014, the Mandarin Boys (hahaha...just got to give it a name!) set out again and this time it's to Betong, Thailand.
Betong is the southern town of Thailand bordering Malaysia, and it is the capital of Betong District the southernmost district of Yala Province. Total population is roughly around 35,000 (read it somewhere). As I understood it, the word Betong, in Malay is "Betung" means "bamboo" (also, read it somewhere).
We rendezvous (RV) at Rawang rest area on PLUS (North-South Highway) highway at 7.30am, and somebody woke up late and we can only roll out at around 8.30am. Shish! Anyhow, as usual we don't normally take a direct route, instead we took the inner roads where they are more winding and could add some spice to the ride. The normal direct route would be (or can be)...to take the PLUS Highway and exit at Kuala Kangsar, go through Gerik then head to Pengkalan Hulu (the bordering town Malaysia-Betong).
So from PLUS highway we exited at Gopeng then went through Parit, Kuala Kangsar, Gerik and Pengkalan Hulu. We can still see some
smog along the way but it did not however affect our visibility. We did see some burning bushes along the way, although in small plots. Other than that, riding through the inner roads is more fun and a little bit cooler as you will get some shades from the trees. Roads are winding and small, lets you practice your "race line" (hahaha). Traffic was ok, nothing significant to comment.
We stopped at Gopeng to refuel and we found out that one of our lady-biker friends,
Jun Sharail, was en-route to Betong by herself on her BMW HP4 (cheewwiiit!). We managed to RV with Jun at Kari Kepala Ikan Salim Restaurant (Salim Fish Head Curry) at Gerik (need I mention that she had to wait 3 solid hours for us to arrive...hehe, sorry Jun). It was her first time riding to Betong and I guess she was glad that we were there, weren't you, Jun?
We had our lunch there after which we continued our journey to Pengkalan Hulu (about 45km away from where we were) where we are going to cross the two nations' borders to Betong.
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| (Pic Source: http://www.cathay.com.my/project_ciq.php ) |
Not many traffic and people, it's always a breeze going through the two checkpoints.
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| (Pic Source: http://www.livingincmajor.com/betong-thailand-betong-attractions) |
The Betong town is not very far from the checkpoint, I'd say it's a mere 3km away. Soon we arrived at our hotel, the
Garden View Hotel. It's a big hotel, with loads of amenities (oops...i missed the fact if they had a swimming pool). Their own clubbing joint, karaoke, restaurant, and free wifi. Oh...and the restaurant is halal.
My room, for MYR79/nite (without breakfast):
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| View outside my room window.. |
Going around is easy in Betong, You can either rent a scooter for MYR30/day or you can take a tuktuk (MYR2/person, every where around Betong town) or even, go with your own vehicle. Ohya..in Betong, you can use Malaysia Ringgit as medium of exchange, it is widely acceptable.
After freshen up, we took a tuktuk to a halal restaurant,
Tuan Kitchen. There are many muslims in Betong so finding halal food is not a challenge.
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| Shah is enjoying his Asian Fruit Salad |
Tuan Kitchen offers the usual Thai cooking and one thing we want to highlight is, Asian Fruit Salad is a must try!
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| Asian Fruit Salad |
After dinner we walk around town looking for something interesting and to shop (window shopping for most of us).
Some of us did some shopping while others watched, if not influencing others to shop more and more.
Betong offers good seafood too. We had a rather big dinner but we didn't want to miss the fresh oysters!
Six big oysters, less than MYR20. Yummeh!
Day 2
On this day, we were going around Betong to its places of interest namely, the Buddhahadhiwat Temple, Mongkolit Tunnel, biggest mailbox in Thailand, Hot Springs, Winter Flower Garden, Piyamit Tunnel. Of course, we didn't go to all of them 'cause some of these places are quite far off from the town. So we rented some scooters and hit the roads.
We had our breakfast at Sarifah Restaurant, yet another halal food. They have nice nasi lemak and roti canai.
First stop is the Biggest Mailbox in Thailand. It's located at the City Convention Hall and stands about 9 meters tall. Historically, it was built in 1924 and it was used as a communication post for the town people where a radio is placed on top of the box.
Next is the Hot Springs. It's about 5km away from Betong town located at the Ban Charo Parai Village. It is believed that hot springs can cure muscle pain and minor skin irritation. No, we didn't jumped in the pool..haha.
After a short visit, we continued on to the Piyamit Tunnel. It is an underground tunnel and is about 4km further from the Hot Springs. It used to be the base of the Malaya Communist Division 2 and only took 3 months to built in 1976. Now, there is an exhibition about its history and the way of life in the forest.
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| to make charcoal |
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| Smokeless Stoves |
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| goods lift |
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| museum |
It was very cooling and windy inside the tunnel. I can't imagine how the communists stayed there at the time. Must be bloody cramped!
Our tour guide was one of the communist personnel in its days. He is in his 60's now and he's from Kajang, Malaysia! He told us a lot about those days and how they fought bravely against the Royal Malay Regiment. I took a picture with him as shown below. Wow! I met a real communist (well...former communist) !
Exhausted by the climbing up and going down the hill, our tour had to carry on. It was sunny and dry and it's time to jump in to the river for a swim..hehe.
Ok, so climbing up hills..done! went through a communist tunnel...done! Waterfall..done! Guess now it's time for a good lunch..So we head back to the Hot Springs where we saw some roasted chicken and grilled fish. Yumyum!
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| it's rarely you get to see this. |
After lunch, some of us wanted to go back to the hotel and rest. me and two others decided to look for a massage. A two-hour full body oil massage for MYR60...why the hell not!?
Day 3
Time to go home. We had our breakfast at Tiffany's (no, i forgot the name but it did sound like it..hehe) where there is nasi kerabu, roti canai, and nasi briyani ( we call it nasi kuning). Halal and tasty.
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| chicken briyani |
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| nasi kerabu |
After checking out, we rolled out...destination: HOME! This time, we took the shortest route available to Kuala Lumpur. Betong-Gerik-Kuala Kangsar-KL. The weather was so hot and dry and we had to make many unscheduled stops due to dehydration. When its hot and dry...this is the solution..COCONUT JUICE!
Our last stop for the ride was at Ulu Bernam Rest area on PLUS highway where we bid farewell and the boys didn't wait too long to start thrashing ideas for our next adventure. Hold your stallions, boys!
All-in-all, Betong is a nice place to visit especially if I want to compare it with Danok. Betong is more laid back with its own offerings. Will visit Betong again, given the chance...
Ciao!
