Dragged ourselves off the bed next morning and we were on the road again (Federal Route 7 heading south to Kedah). By now, I was getting fairly accustomed (can be tiring though) to such "touch-and-go" style of travelling. Reached Alor Setar (state capital of Kedah) in about 45mins and had breakfast of braised duck noodles (the shop was recommended by the GPS). Did the usual touristy thing by visiting the Menara Alor Star (a 165.5m tall tower built for Telecom Malaysia) and Wat Siam Nikrodharam (one of the Thai Buddhist temples in Malaysia).

We rejoined the North-South Highway Northern Route (E1) and headed south for Baling. The dear trusted GPS was right to advise us to exit the highway via Gurun (rather than Sungai Petani) on State Route K15 and Federal Route 67 as it was shorter. An unsophisticated town located in the southeast corner of Kedah, Baling is also along the way to Betong, a town on the Thai side of the border). Although both Black and me wanted to be in this town but it was for different reasons. While he was interested to visit a famous Chinese temple that was built in a cave, I was there for a more historical reason.

As the name had suggested, the town was the site where the famous "Baling Talks" were held among leaders of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the elected national representatives of Federation of Malaya and Singapore in the hope of ending the Malayan Emergency. The newly elected government represenatives urged MCP to give up their arms peacefully by ensuring no retaliatory action would be taken against them while he communists insisted that the MCP be endorsed (by the new government and the British) as a legal political party so that it could contest in future elections. However, both parties could not concur with the opposite party and thus no agreement was reached. Thus, the leaders of the MCP left the talks and disappeared into the jungles heading towards Betong (where we would be staying in a MCP settlement).

It was my personal wish to visit the school where the talks were held. Prior to this trip, I tried to through the internet but information about this school (or its current existence) was severely lacking. In a way, I was not expecting to find the school. After visiting the Chinese temple (which houses the Goddess of Mercy), I asked a Malay uncle from a small shop selling drinks and he correctly guided us to the school! Amazing...

After we accomplished what we had set out to achieve in Baling, we headed for the Malaysian/Thai border post of Bukit Berapit/Betong via Pengkalan Hulu (Perak). While traffic at the Malaysian customs was generally smooth, the Thai customs was filled with visitors. An hour was spent before obtaining our immigration clearance and car permit. We were in Thailand finally!!