Taiping Lake via Bicycle & Commuter

Taiping Lake via Bicycle & Commuter

After transporting my bicycles from east to west Malaysia. I decided to try something new: Cycling + Commuting = Touring. I am trying to try out the feasibilities of tour around west Malaysia with my bike on a commuter. Since I live in an island, in order to tour around with commuter, I need to first cross the sea.

After some quick planning, I started off my adventures from home in one of the morning, heading to the old ferry port. It took me about 30 mins to arrive the port and not long, I got into the ferry together with the other motorists. I was the only cyclist in the ferry.

I booked the wrong train tickets via online... 

After about 20 minutes ferry ride, I arrived Butterworth. I continued my journey to Butterworth train station. I thought I was all set to depart on a train. However, I was told that I am not to go on board with my bike on the ETS ticket that I bought. I am only allowed to bring my bike on a commuter. Good thing I was there early and I did a refund request and bought my new tickets which ended up cheaper. The 1 way ticket from Butterworth to Taiping costs only RM7.50. Note: bringing bicycle on the train does not require RM2 fee anymore.

With that sort out, I had a peace of mind entering the departure hall and waited for the train to come. So lesson learned, to bring your bike along on the train, remember to buy Commuter ticket and not ETS. Besides, apparently they only allow this bike rules from Butterworth to Padang Rengas route. Another pointer, choose the 1st or the last cabin to park/ load your bicycle. I hope they will expand it to more stations in future.

I arrived Taiping around after 1 hour train ride from 12:10pm. After having my lunch in Taiping, I ride to Taiping lake first while waiting for my hotel checking in. Since it is weekday, it was not crowded which is ideal for me to take a break there. The weather was partly cloudy so it was pretty windy and nice.

After about an hour, I checked in to my pre-booked hotel named Knight Alley Hotel which was only opened in May 2022. Since I am cycling this round,  I chose a hotel which is nearer to the Taiping lake and town. The owner was a very friendly Taiwanese whom spent time chit-chatting with his guests in the evening. We somehow had a good chat and tasted some good wine.