Friday 14 July 2023

DRC 16.0 - Dataran Tanjung Balau, L'Etape and Atlantis, The Lost Kingdoms ( 8-9 July 2023 )

 

The morning after at Nur Cafe

Atlantis, The Lost Kingdom

A short detour from Jalan Desaru - Tg Balau leads to Atlantis

The road is actually 2 lanes with a faint line in the center. It has since been reduced to a single track road as the vegetation takes over!

A group of young Indian men who arrived earlier, briefed us on how to enter the building and where to go, saving us time! They came in 2 cars, celebrating over beers and smokes 

Construction of Atlantis came to a halt in 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis

Of course when a building looks this eerie, there's bound to be ghost stories

This skull adds to the climax

Rooftop view 

Seaview...run!

Beach view...back hop!

Trees...flamingo?

Look...our bikes!

Strangely there were mosquitoes at ground zero but not at the rooftop despite the stagnant water

Not much trash in the entire area. All visitors seem to respect the "dwellers" of Atlantis 

One of the rooms

What was supposed to be balcony with sea view is now blocked by overgrown trees

Room with a glimpse of the toilet entrance

Another view of the room and the entrance

Mezzanine

Mezzanine

All smiles when we got back to our bikes. No matter what, staircase without railings can be unnerving! 

A new fishing settlement near Atlantis

2 fishing men were building their new shed when we arrived. One of them have a home near Kota Tinggi but prefer to stay by the sea when he goes out for his catch

L'Etape Desaru 2023. We arrived at the roadblock at 10.40 am

Returning riders at 0 km Tg Balau marker / roundabout @ 11 am

Last 10 km sprint

After watching the race for an hour plus, we returned to Tg Balau for lunch 

Enjoying the breeze at Tg Balau's long jetty

Enjoying a breezy evening at the breakwater near Jade Garden Seafood Restaurant in Sungai Rengit

Joining the race as ghost riders at 1 pm. It appeared that the police allowed traffic flows in intervals after the first 2 hours

The last 10 km saw many weary riders. In red jerseys are a father and son team on the 140 km race. The father was still strong but the son (30 years old) was suffering from cramps 

After the race, some of us showered at Bandar Penawar's public toilet behind the bus station before proceeding to Din's Corner for pisang goreng. Above photo is taken at the breakwater near Jade Garden Seafood Restaurant in Sungai Rengit; enjoying a breezy evening before dinner at Super Lobster
 
Chilling at Tanjung Balau

Clean beach and camping area. Parking is RM3. Some campers told us they paid RM25/tent to camp. Toilets during the day are pay per use. As we only arrive at campsite after dark, we didn't have to pay anything but only the OKU toilet remained opened which amount to long waits

Half moon



Click on below link to watch Henry and VT smoking race riders on the last 10 km








No comments:

Post a Comment