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Date Posted: Tue, Jun 15 2004, 15:44:28
Author: kmlee
Subject: Driving to Redang from Singapore

Hello to all

We'd like to thank Alex for putting up this website, it was useful planning for our trip to Redang, 9-11 June 2004.

This note has three parts. First is the planning of the journey there. Then comments on what actually happened. Finally there is a log, for those who are driving from Singapore, giving you an idea of the distances and time involved. This is for the benefit of those who want a more detailed guide on how to get there, which I could not find on the ‘Net. Of course we kept to the speed limit, except briefly when overtaking. All prices in RM$.

It would be great if those who drove up, to update and give more detailed information - especially the KT to Merang portion.

Planning
--------
We wanted to make our own way along the Malayan east coast, to look at the beautiful beaches, quaint kampongs, sample local food and interact with the locals.

From various sources, we figured the journey would be about 600 km. This could be considered in 3 phases. Singapore - Kuantan / Cherating - Kuala Terengganu (KT) - Merang as this would mainly be highway except for the last part, which would involve some driving on "country" roads, which could lead to some problems as these roads have less prominent landmarks.

The original plan was to break journey overnight at Cherating, a 6-7 hour journey of about 360-400 km, then the remaining 160 km or so to KT and the last 40 km to Merang.

Way up
------
We booked Residence Inn at Cherating, as they had a four single bed room for $138.
But we had to cancel it and stayed at KT Mutiara in Kuala Terengganu for $100. This is a multi-storey hotel downtown.

Way Down
--------
We stayed at Cherating Inn, at old Kg Cherating, for $70. This is a kampong style place, with two big double beds. No hot water, but has a clean linoleum floor. We saw mosquitos flying around, but guess the airconditioning kept them away from us!

OUTCOME
-------
So a self drive trip was called for. Now it should be easy to book a tour from a local agent, as payment would be easier as well as any resolution of disputes!
Well guess what, you HAVE to go by bus. We offered to pay for the bus but meet them at Merang - but no way! Some sort of bureaucratese about "how to meet you there etc etc". OK, so some guy messed up in the past - but hey, if the Malaysian travel agents can do it, what's the big deal? We tried contacting a few resorts directly, but being the Malaysian school holidays, many of the resorts were already booked solid (block booked by agents, I suspect).
So we looked for a Malaysian agent - Ping Anchorage was recommended so we went with them. Of course, there was a great amount of savings - all the better for a great dinner. We were offered the Ayu Mayang, the smallest resort there. We also asked for a 12.30 pm ferry so we could drive in time from Cherating. Everything looked OK, paid by credit card.

Here's where the unexpected happened. The night before departure, we were told there's ONLY a 9.30 am ferry. So we HAD to stay at KT. We didn't relish the thought of driving at 5am, where you could hit a large animal unexpectedly and you couldn't get help along the way, as most people are still asleep. When I questioned Ayu Mayang (later) why they didn't mention this earlier, they said the agent should know. OK - it pays to communicate DIRECTLY with the hotel - only that the number on the ‘Net was wrong somehow. We were on the verge of cancelling the whole thing, as driving 560 km at one go was no fun! But then we decided to go ahead. So we booked a hotel in KT, the Mutiara, as recommended by the Footprint guidebook.

After the long drive (see travel log) to KT - next nasty shock. The "Uncle" who took down our booking did not do so! At 8pm in KT, the Mutiara was all full. But thank God, there was a family checking out at 10pm. So we walked to Chinatown and ate at Kim Long. You can try Ah Guan also! Then "tahan" some more till we checked in at 10.45pm- all tired out from the long journey. Next day, we had a nice breakfast of nasi dagang at the hawker center next door and set off at 8.20 am. Plenty of time to the jetty.
Another nasty shock - most people we met told us that to go to the Merang jetty, just follow the road to Kota Baru and look out for the Merang turn off. The map from Ping seemed to confirm this. Well, it was 40 km to the turn off - thanks to some helpful locals. Again, no sign of the jetty. Feeling quite desperate now, another 20 km away was another turn off - at last. Well, the Ping people did call to find out where we were and we told them to hold the boat. OK, so we reached Merang in 70 minutes, covering 75 km. Thank God, we made it, late by 10 minutes. So this was NOT the correct route. The proper route is given below.

Now there are actually two or three jettys at Merang! They serve different resorts, but all have manned car parks. You'd better get the correct directions as they can be 3 km apart! We paid $15 for two nights.

Would we drive up again? Yes, there is nothing like experiencing the local culture and the sea life at Redang is fantastic. We even saw some black-tipped reef sharks - about 1m in length, I figure! Parrot fish, squid all in lovely colours and swimming right next to you. We had a camera bag from Aquapac, in which we put in our Olympus digital compact. But that's another story...

Ayu Mayang is the smallest of the resorts along Pasir Panjang beach. It has a very experienced chef, Mr Rahman who has cooked for the Malaysian embassy. The rooms are actually chalets, we had one where 2 single beds were on an attic and a double on the ground floor. No television, hanger rack only, one table and chair. It was clean and cosy.

But just a minor gripe. The washing point did not drain the sand away well. We tried hard, but we brought sand into the unit. In another resort, we stood on "swimming pool" plastic grating tiles at the washing point. The sand would collect through the gratings and leave your feet clean.

There were many people and inevitably, noise in the form of disco music, karaoke and the like. Even though Ayu Mayang did not have these, the neighboring resorts did blast away - some from 50 meters out. Rather incongruous we thought. Well, at least there are the monsoon months for the reefs to recover - we pray!

Travel log (courtesy of my son) and some tips

Location Dist Time In Time Out Comments
Home 0 637
Causeway 15 651
Ulu Tiram 37 728 Can go faster
Kota Tinggi 52 743 breakfast also can!
70 800 833 breakfast@kiang kee
Tg Leman Jn 104 900 to Sibu
Mersing 147 932 Can break here
Rompin 208 1027 1050 Tea break
Kuantan entry 334 1235 1530
Kuantan exit 365
Cherating 400 1620 1700
Kuala Trengganu 562 1945
Merang 600 821 915 (estimate)

Tips for getting to Merang
From KT, take the Sultan Mahmud bridge going out to Kota Baru. After about 10 km(?) at the FIRST round about, take the 2nd turn off to Batu Rakit/Merang. Don't take the 1st turn off to Kota Baru!!!

(On the way BACK, take the 1st turn off to the left to Seberang Takir / Kuala Terengganu)

Follow the sign posts. You should meet a T junction after a while(?).
Turn left, and after 20 meters, left again. Along the way, look out for the Sutra, Aryani resorts - the jetty is at the end of it all - you'll see the jetty for Redang sign. The Ayu Mayang jetty is here as is a variety of the others.

However, there's another jetty where you turn to the LEFT after the Redang sign! These are for other resorts.

Some notes on going to Kuantan. As you travel along Highway 3, you will come upon the 17 km milestone (kmstone?). The first right turn will take you into the start of Jalan Telok Sisek after about 15 km. We found this on the way out of Kuantan. However, there are not many sign posts here so you may wish to continue on the standard route to Jln Gambang.

Enjoy!

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Replies:

[> Re: Driving to Redang from Singapore -- Alex Kang, Tue, Jun 15 2004, 23:47:15

Wow! What a detailed and fantastic writeup. Thanks for the driving tips which I'm sure will come in handy if I do decide to drive all the way up one day. In the meantime, I'm content to just sleep on the coach and leave the driving to the coach drivers! :)

Or maybe I'll just wait for the Kuantan to KT highway to open first (currently under construction it seems)...

Alex
Redang Island Rendezvous
www.redang.org


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