Road Trip Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu

A couple of months after the first global lockdown in March 2020, we were allowed to leave home for outside dining and inter-state travels. International travels were definitely barred then, and so my friend and I took the opportunity to explore local places of interests here in Malaysia.

My friend had asked me if I wanted to join him on a road trip from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, driving through coastal routes. I immediately said yes as this road trip was on my travel bucket list for a long time. My parents did this trip in the early 2000s as empty-nesters, and had mentioned several times how much fun they had driving along those routes. Having found a travel companion who was willing to drive, I was very excited about this trip 😊

We travelled from KL to Kuala Terengganu. The first 3 hours was driving on the highway from KL to Gebeng Bypass in the state of Pahang, after which we drove through the coastal towns from Cherating in Pahang to Kuala Terengganu, the state capital of Terengganu.

We left KL around 6.00am and had a quick breakfast of wan tan noodles at a coffee shop in Bukit Tinggi.

Here are the routes and map. With toilet stops, the journey was approximately 6-7 hours (not 8.5 hours as per Google Map).

• KL to Gebeng Bypass (highway)
• Gebeng to Cherating and Chukai (coastal road)
• Chukai to Kemaman
• Kemaman to Kerteh (drove past massive Petronas oil & gas processing plants)
• Kerteh to Dungun and Marang
• Marang to Kuala Terengganu.

Most tourists fly to Kuala Terengganu as a transit point to Perhentian and Redang islands. I did that in the past and never spent time to explore this state capital. For this road trip, I was glad that we spent 2 nights in Kuala Terengganu to explore some of the city sights as well as the local beaches.

One of the recommended places to visit is Chinatown on Jalan Bandar (formerly known as Kampung Cina). Historical records showed that Chinese settlers came here in the 16^th century, but the Chinatown area was properly established in the 19^th century.

Many of the buildings here are pre-war architecture but have since undergone restoration. The buildings here are mostly business establishments, restaurants, cafes, ancestral homes and temples.

The best time to explore Chinatown is during the day when the local traders are out and about and the shops and businesses are open. I’m not sure how it’s like at night though especially now (June 2022) that pandemic restrictions are completely eased. We went there for dinner and found most of the shops were closed. Bear in mind, this was September 2020 – many businesses were affected badly by lockdown and sadly, wound up for good.

Related Post: Chinatown Kuala Lumpur Street Art

Terengganu is famous for sightings of leatherback turtles laying eggs on its beaches. Unfortunately, poaching and selling turtle eggs for many decades have caused the population of leatherback turtles to decline. As such, many NGOs including the Turtle Conservation Society of Malaysia (TCS) have been researching, conserving, rehabilitating, educating and reaching out to the public in saving the turtles.

One of their conservation efforts is transforming the walls and ground of a side lane in Chinatown with turtle-inspired mosaic art – Turtle Alley. Turtle Alley is a thematic lane connecting Chinatown to the waterfront and it features informative trivia boards to create awareness on the need to save the turtles. The alley also metallic plate reproductions of “The Little Turtle Messenger”, a children’s storybook by local turtle conservationist Dr Chan Eng Heng.

Saving the best for last, my favourite moments of this road trip were the local beaches in Kuala Terengganu and along the coastal roads leading to Marang. What surprised me mostly was the cleanliness of the beach and the clarity of the water. Families come out to have picnics by the beach and swim in the sea…and they clean up after themselves. I know this is considered normal for you readers, but not in the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia especially beaches of Port Dickson and Melaka where there’s litter everywhere ☹

We had a picnic at Pantai Kekabu in Marang in the late afternoon. It had rained earlier and was a little cloudy by the time we reached the beach, but it was perfect with the cooler air and lovely sea breeze.

Sunbathing in your swimsuit or bikini is not recommended at the city/town beaches as 97% of the population in Terengganu are Muslims. However, you can wear T-shirts and shorts and have a dip/swim in the sea. Bring your picnic mats, food, beverages (no alcohol – though my friend and I drank beer from plastic cups and disposed them discreetly in our own rubbish bags), snacks…and just enjoy and have fun!

After visiting Kuala Terengganu for 2 nights, we headed back to KL. We drove through the coastal routes from Kuala Terengganu to Marang, after which we took the highway directly to the KL to save time.

Here’s a video and pics of Pantai Kelulut in Marang. It’s so beautiful and that gave us beautiful memories to wrap up this wonderful road trip.

Travel Tips:

We stayed at Hotel Permai in Kuala Terengganu. Its location is a short walk from the city beach (you have to cross a busy main road) and a 15-minute drive from Chinatown.

Have you been on road trips in Malaysia especially long drives? What were the places that you discovered? Please share in comments below 🙂