Kim and I decided to share a motorbike and do a tour of the full island. We had a search around for the best price, and took a manual shift bike at 25RM for the day.
Our first stop was the Snake Temple, which took a bit of cooperation and asking the locals to get to due to the exit only being on the northbound carriageway, and we were heading south!
We stopped just before a u-turn step to be sure we had the right place, and Fatima contacted me to find out if Kim and I wanted to get two bikes and they'd ride on the back - I had to let them know that I couldn't ride a bike, and that we were already out on the road - so they agreed to meet us for dinner instead.
We wandered around the temple admiring the snakes, some displays had signs saying that they were real vipers, though I am inclined to not believe that. The signs did ask people not to poke them though!
We headed to the pyhton display where the person there tried to persuade us to have our photo taken holding the python, but we were both on budget and didn't want to pay for any more than we already had!
I spotted a cheap place for us to grab lunch so we went there, and I was disappointed to find out that they had sold out of hokkien mee - Pinang is the origin of the dish after all, so it would only be right to eat it there!
Our next stop was a beach on the south coast of the island. On our way, we witnessed a car performing a u-turn without paying attention, knocking a motorcyclist off his bike. There were plenty of people helping so we proceeded, and were pleased to note the emergency services passing us to attend.
The beach on the south wasn't great, so we continued around the island, and in to the hills. At one point, we spotted a sign for a waterfall, and decided to hop off the bike and take a detour up there.
We took some selfie type photos and headed back to the bike, but had to wait, as a refuse truck had pulled up to empty the bins!
We continued on our way, past a reservoir, and on to the north coast, where we doubled back along a less main road, to have a look at an island. We got a ittle lost on the way and found a nice village with some boats docked, and a fresh fruit market selling fresh Durian, at about half the price that it was available in Georgetown. We continued on our quest to find the mini island, making it as far as Kem Bina Negara Balik Pulau. En route there, we noticed that we were very low on fuel, so I looked up a petrol staiton for us to stop by so that we didn't actually fully run out!
After we topped up, we continued on our way again, though due to my navigation error we took a wrong turn and ended up getting to a dirt track - at which point we realised we were on the wrong road, so we turned back and found the right way, this time bound for Batu Ferringhi. Here, we decided to stop for some ice cream as we had seen a sign, and a local tried his luck by saying there was a charge to park the motorbike - until we protested and pointed out we were only stopping to buy something from the shop!
We continued on and I suggested we have a look for another waterfall which I had seen recommended on my search for things to see and do in Georgetown.
We found the right path, and then proceeded to fail in finding the waterfall or even get close. On our way back we spotted someone walking with a camera, so I asked him if he had found the waterfall, and he advised that while he didn't go down to it, he had found where it was, and described the route.
Kim and I both decided not to go back today, but instead proceed towards completing our circuit as time was pressing on.
Our nxt destination was the floating mosque, Masjid Terapung. It took a while to find a good place to get the photos from, and when we did, we discovered a spot on the beach where the crows were having a field day fighting over a fish. I ended up taking more photos of crows than of the original target, the mosque!
We made our way back to the guest house after this, and then headed to the war memorial to meet Fatima and Faye for dinner. We odered some beers from one stall in the food court, and had noodles from the other - we were unable to find hokkien mee still!
After catching up and enjoyed good conversation we headed back to our hostels for the night.