When I woke up today there were signs of sun getting through the morning clouds. After talking a bit to Craig - the Canadian roommate - and having a breakfast I packed up and went back to the tea fields in hope of making some nicer photos then I had the chance yesterday in the haze that was covering the whole valley. I had some luck, catching few rays of sunlight shining on the fields. It could have been much better though.

Before I left the guesthouse I asked whether there was a road continuing in the direction I was riding here yesterday, as the road seems to end just behind the town of Cameron Highland according to my GPS. I was told that there was a road and that it is all sealed except of maybe couple of kilometers. What a surprise it was when the road turned out to be wide, at some places four lane smooth sealed road with bends much blunter than the road that I took coming up here. And there was no sign at all of an unsealed bit. So now I knew where all the busses full of tourists filling the big number of huge international hotels up in Cameron Highlands were coming from. You see, there was no bus, except of a couple of local ones that I overtook, that I would meet yesterday while coming up. Then you get to see all the big hotels up there (with many more under development) and you wonder how do all those people get there. So this is how…
 
The road down was very fun to drive down as well. Actually it was probably better that it was wider with the bends not as sharp for going down as one don’t have to break so much. Well, it was fun until I reached 1300m above sea level again (reaching 1600m before diving back down). Why? Because at this height it started to rain again and it didn’t stop until 50km later when I was at the bottom of the hills L. That really sucked!

Not far after reaching the bottom  there is Sam Poh Tong (N4.56388 E101.11540) temple to the north towards the capital city of the state of Perak, Ipoh. The Sam Poh Tong temple is a cave temple set within limestone hills. When you get there what you first see is some kind of amusement park Behind that there was the temple… uhm… at least I thought it was. It was quite pretty there and I again took some pictures of it and the monkeys running all around. Just before I left I talked to some Thai travelers (who apparently owned some restaurant(s) in Thailand) who told me that where I was was not the temple I thought it was and that it was actually just another bit further on the same road. So I went there and yes, that was the temple I was originally looking for – very pretty and peaceful, even prettier than the one just before.

As I was taking photos of the Sam Poh Tong temple it started to thunder again and the sky was getting darker. I was trying to decide whether or not to go to Batu Gujah, where there is a castle built by a wealthy Scottish rubber planter William Kellie Smith. This Kellie’s Castle looked interesting on the pictures in the brochures I had, but maybe not so much to justify backtracking a little in rain. At the end I decided to go. It rained the whole 20 or so kilometers and so when I got there I was in no mood of looking for it and even less to ask for directions. So I just rode through and I don’t think I saw the castle. I sow, however, a few other interesting buildings, the local hospital looking the most interesting to me. I have no photo though as it was still raining.

As I was starting to analyze whether I regret going here in rain or not I took a different road back. It was a small detour but it was something new and that by itself was good. Well, if Batu Gujah wasn’t worth going to in rain, this road definitely was! The surroundings were really beautiful. Palm farms, old style houses and beautifully winding road… This WAS worth it. I was happy now.

I was heading to Kuala Kangsar, where a beautiful mosque is supposed to be. I was following my GPS again and that proved not to be the best move in this case. You see, I was in the royal city of Kuala Kangsar and saw a sign that could have been leading to the mosque, but the GPS was telling me to continue further 8 kilometers north, so I did. I started asking there, where only few houses were scattered along the road and people started sending me back. I ended up on the same intersection where I decided not to follow the sign, which I did now. Couple of intersections and roundabouts later I did reached the mosque. The “funny” thing is that at the last intersection before reaching it it started to rain again… cha cha cha… I think that I really could have done without the GPS last two days as the rain seems to be a good indicator of my destinations – the closer I am to the point of interest I’m heading for the heavier rain falls down from the sky on my head…

So now I was next to the Ubudiah Mosque (N4.76369 E100.95067), unable to take its picture from the front including the big main entry gate with a short palm avenue leading to it, which was beautiful. I was hiding under a carport roof with four young Muslim boys on their motorbikes. It was after 5PM. I took a few pictures from there and when the boys left I felt safe enough to leave everything on the bike and take a walk around the mosque with my cameras under my rainproof jacket. I even attempted to go in. However, the first mistake was not taking my boots off as this is the rule for entry into mosques – a rule that I was told but forgot. I was immediately sent back by the guard and was also told that I can’t enter at all. Later I learned that everything closes to public at 5PM.

The mosque is really worth to see even in rain. However, I was really sorry about not being able to see it lit by sun so I decided to wait another hour until dark to see it lit by artificial lights. It got dark, many Muslims came for Friday night prayer and the part that I was waiting the most for – the roof – was not lit. Another hour passed and still nothing. I asked one of the people still arriving if they are lighting the roof every day. I could see the reflectors installed on the roof, so I knew it was possible. I was told that they do it “sometimes”. Great, so I’ve been waiting here for two hours for nothing… After some more conversation this person suggested to wait after the preacher is finished and they are done with the prayer and ask the guards to light the roof for me. It was supposed to finish in about another 40 minutes. I almost didn’t, but I waited as it was still raining hard. I wanted to ride to Pinang Island still tonight. This island is about 140km far from Kuala Kangsar. 40 minutes passed and I could still hear the preacher preaching. An hour passed and still nothing. Another Muslim man arrived so I talked to him. He, as the first one, was very nice and offered that he would go inside and ask the guard for me. I gave him many thanks and waited. 5 minutes later they turned on the lights at the base of the mosque, but not the roof. He waved form there asking if it is all right now. I run to him to explain that the roof lights were still off. He said he would ask for me again. Another 10 minutes passed and nothing… It was too late for me to wait any longer so at about half past nine at night I left for Georgetown.

I arrived to Georgetown just after 11PM, riding half the way in rain again. Now the priority was to find cheap accommodation. I found Oasis hotel, that offered 18 Ringgit per night and place for the bike inside behind the main gate, which sounded fine. There was one other - I think it was called Travelers Inn - that had rooms for 15 Ringgit, but had no rooms left available tonight. The next cheapest one was 18 Ringgit, but I would have to leave the bike outside on the street, which I was not happy to do.