Of late it has been our habit to take short - medium distance rides to some places nearby on Wednesday mornings. This morning our group of five comprising Ganesan (event host), Eugene Lim, Adrian Wong, Leroy Tan went on a 44 km ride to Taman Alam Kinta via Kota Bahru, returning by the Kinta River banks, before making our usual refreshment stop at Kenneth Sai's coffee shop, Yen Lee Thong, in Malim Nawar.
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| 0842 hr 7.73km After the Malim Nawar intersection, waiting for Adrian. |
Adrian Wong was delayed at home after fetching his children to school. He told us to set off on our journey ahead of him and he'll catch up with us soon. Three of us left Westlake Villas at the foot of the bridge over the railway tracks at about 0815hr. Not long after, Leroy caught up with us and we rode westwards along the new road that connects to Kota Bahru town. Soon after crossing the traffic lights intersection near Malim Nawar, we stopped by the road side under the cool morning sun for a few minutes to allow Adrian to catch up with us
About an hour later, we passed Kota Bahru station, and were on the off road tracks approaching Taman Alam Kinta (the Kinta Nature Park), on the east side of the Kinta River.
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| 0940hr 19.37km Approaching Taman Alam Kinta |
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| 0944hr 19.88km At the park entrance |
We reached Taman Alam Kinta at about a quarter to ten in the morning and spent about half an hour there. It was a cool, shade place facing a quiet serene lake (a disused mining pool) with birds flying about while the park workers were cleaning up some dried leaves.
Location: 4° 25' 21.036" N, 101° 3' 39.4164" E
Google map link:
http://bit.ly/2ynZbdQ
Some photos from the park:
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| With Adrian to my right. We're not twins. We're bTwins. |
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| The still, quiet lake in the background. |
The section of the park we were in faces a large still lake surrounded by shade from many trees. It reminds me of MacRitchie Reservoir in Singapore which my wife and I visited recently for a morning hike, though not as large and well equipped.
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| A five-storey observation tower |
There was a lonely looking observation tower about a hundred yards from the lake side. Eugene Lim decided to climb all the way to the top deck without telling us. Eventually we all followed suit and soon we were taking photos and enjoying the view and the cool fresh air from the fifth storey of the tower.
Here are a couple of photos taken from the top of the observation tower.
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| View from the fifth storey of the observation tower |
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| Another tower view looking across the lake. |
We left Taman Alam Kinta shortly after ten and cycled eastwards in the direction of the Kinta River, reaching the eastern river bank by about 10:15 am. I could hardly see the river because both sides of the river banks are overgrown with weeds and other undergrowth.
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| The Kinta River is all but hidden from view by lush undergrowth |
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| 1037hr 25.22km Taking a break by the bridge at Kota Bahru |
Then we took a loop southwards and eastwards all the way back to Kota Bahru station from where we started our offroad trek earlier. We took a short break while waiting for Ganesan and Eugene to buy some food from the only coffee-shop in the vicinity.
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| 1104hr 31.26km Taking a break under some shade at Kg Tg Bunga. |
After that, we resumed cycling the final ten kilometres to the Malim Nawar junction. Our final destination was our usual coffee break at Kenneth Sai's shop in Malim Nawar. Leroy, a fast rider, went ahead of us, while Eugene Lim and me rode slower and got left behind him. Meanwhile Adrian and Ganesan, who were some distance behind us, took a short cut and reached Sai's Shop ahead of us.
We decided to stop for a break under some shade at Kg Tg Bunga, about 4 km from Sai's Shop.
When we arrived at Sai Shop at shortly after eleven, Leroy, Ganesan and Adrian were already having their coffee and breakfast.
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| 1119hr 35.39km At Yen Lee Thong coffee shop, Malim Nawar |
After a little chit-chat, we left Malim Nawar for Kampar at about 10.40 am. I reached home about half an hour later, covering a total distance of 44.14km with 2 hr 51 min of total cycling time.
A brief description of Taman Alam Kinta is available from the
Batu Gajah District Council page.
