Day 11, Maran to Kuantan

First breakfast, second breakfast,
drinks, snacks and lunch!

Today another 85km lay in front of us in order to reach the coast. We had checked the elevation profile and knew that most of the ride was either flat or downhill, so despite the aches and pains I wasn't too worried. We got up early again and left at 7:45.

The road was easy and there was lots of cloud early on, always good news, anything to not be in the sun. As we were just following one road, it was just a question of counting down the little blue markers that align the side of the road.

Second breakfast 

We stopped for second breakfast around half nine, and then continued to make fast progress. I was anxious to do as many kilometres as possible before the heat of the day kicked in.

As we approached Kuantan, the road became much busier and unpleasant, and it was getting hotter and hotter. The best moment was when a camping-car waved us down. Inside were two more French people, Nat and Jean (www.natetjean.com), who have taken 5 years off to drive around the world. Not bad. We were a little bit jealous of their relative luxury, but they kindly gave us a replacement screw for my mudguard, which softened the blow.

Nat et Jean

It was HOT at this point,and I realised how lucky we had been with the weather the day before. My arms felt like they were burning off and I made a mental note to buy a long sleeved top. I wanted to speed up to reach Kuantan, and it was only when Nico made me stop and threw some cold water over me that I realised this was in fact a very bad idea, better to arrive later and still with some energy than early and completely wiped out.

The enforced cool-down
stop

Our lunch, having not been refridgerated the night before, was uneatable and we had to buy some snacks to keep us going. It's hard to ride past hundreds of closed restaurants and think about all the amazing food they would be serving us at a different time of the year.

The beach at Kuantan

We arrived at Kuantan around 1:30, and decided to check-in to a slightly nicer than normal hotel - we deserved it. By this point we were also starving, and as everything was still closed, we took a taxi to the beach and wolfed down a huge McDonalds. I love asian food, but if no-one wants to serve it to me I cannot be held responsible for the consequences!