We entered into the state of Terengganu via Kuala Bersut (where one could board a ferry to Pulau Perhentian). Along this route, there were many stalls selling local produces such as watermelons, keropok lekor or long and chewy fish crackers and baked bamboo rice. It was rather unfortunate that we only managed to buy the fruits. :(

There was a slight traffic jam when we reached the outskirts of Kuala Terengganu (the state capital and royal city of Terengganu) but due to some creative driving, we did not waste alot of time and got into the city rather quickly. After lunch, we stopped by Chinatown (located along Jalan Kampong Cina right beside Sungai Terengganu) and had fruit juice. While the town is alot smaller as compared to Kota Bharu (we walked around and was more or less than in 30mins), it does emit the slow kampong (or village) feel. As it was still during the Chinese New Year period, many shops were drenched in red decorations. We left the city afterwards and went to Masjid Tengku Tengah Zaharah (or the floating mosque) for a quick photo stop.

The experience of travelling along the famous east coast trunk road (i.e. Federal Route 3) certainly does not fail any expectations. Certain stretches (especially in Terengganu) offers wonderful views of the east coast and the South China Sea. As we had not done any swimming in the trip so far, we stopped at the Kuala Abang beach (10kms to Dungun) and just (literally) jumped into the sea for a good swim (the waves was a bit rough though). After dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant, we passed by several towns including Kerteh where the road turns into a 3-lane highway (that cuts right across a Petronas refinery. Continued south for another 2 hours and we got into Pahang.

Like Kota Bharu the evening before, we arrived at Teluk Chempedak (a beach 7kms away from Kuantan) at 11pm. However, there was none of that quietness which we had found in Kota Bharu; i.e. it was simply filled with people (e.g. families, couples) out enjoying a leisure weekend night along the beach. The gang found a (relatively) secluded point where we set up our sleeping quarters with groundsheets. As I lie down on the sand, I was surprised that I was sleepier than I thought. Perhaps the waves acted as a lullaby. It was pretty uneventful (thank goodness it did not rain) except that a wild boar visited us and some drunken mugger screaming in the middle of the night. The mosquitoes also had a good field day with us around. It was free accommodation after all.