The flood at Kuala Kangsar

On to the 5th and last day of the 25-29th December northern trip...

Monday 29th December 2014. We spent the night at a friend's house in Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of Perak. The town is said to be suffering from flood. But it is not as bad as that in Kelantan or Pahang.

Here, it is the Perak river which has spilled its banks.

Taking pictures from the high ground of Bukit (hill of) Chandan one might not realise it was flooding unless one knows where the river banks are on a normal day. See the part of tree rising above the water in the middle? It should be on land.

Zooming in. The flood looks more obvious on the other side, a place called Sayong as you can see buildings partly submerged.

That part actually has inhabitants living quite close to the river.

This side on the other hand is a public park.

With no buildings, just trees in sight, again one might not realise it was flooding here too.

Our first time on the 2nd Penang bridge

Continued from A visit to Gertak Sanggul.

Soon it was time to leave the island of Pulau Pinang or Penang. As we want to return southwards from the southern parts of the island, it is best to take the Penang 2nd bridge.

A check on the Internet shows it was opened to traffic in March, that is about 10 months ago.

So it was not opened yet when me and family were last in Penang end of February last year. But we had a look at it from afar. Since then I made a promise to myself that I will take it the next time we came to Penang.

A check using Google Earth shows this bridge crosses almost 17 km of water.

The 1st bridge, situated about 10km to the north on the other hand crosses 8 km of water. So this bridge is about twice as long.

I wish I could stop on the sides and spend time enjoying the views. But I was told vehicles are not allowed to stop.

Anyway, to me it is a treat just to be able to use this bridge...

By the way its official name is Jambatan (bridge of) Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah. It is named after the currect Sultan (ruler of) Kedah who also happens to be the current Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king) of Malaysia.

A visit to Gertak Sanggul

Continued from The scenery at Sungai Burung.

Later in the afternoon we went to a place called Gertak Sanggul.

It is situated on some sort of peninsular on the south-westernmost part of the island of Pulau Pinang,

A look at the beach here.

Looks like Gertak Sanggul is inhabited mainly by fishermen...

A look behind towards its small village. About 7.5 km straight across the hill lies Sungai Burung.

The furthermost end of the road here, heading towards the west. After that I can see a small village road presumely able to lead to the tip of the north-westernmost peninsular...

The scenery at Sungai Burung

On to the 4th day of the 25-29 December northern trip...

Sunday  28th December 2014.

After spending the night at a nearby homestay I brought the kids for a drive and came across this jetty.

It is the fishing jetty of Sungai (river of) Burung.

It is situated in Balik Pulau, the south-west part of the island of Pulau Pinang (Penang).

As the river mouth is not so far I walked towards it.

I noticed there is a tsunami warning station here. I understand these parts were hit when the Tsunami of 26th December 2004 ravaged many places especially Aceh.

Standing at the end of a man-made barrier off the river mouth I started taking in the views from the right going anti-clockwise...

A look back towards the fishing jetty...

Accident on the Kota Kuala Muda bridge

Continuing from Muda river at Kota Kuala Muda.

It happened that my next destination is in the state of Pulau Pinang. So I have to cross this bridge which lies over the Muda river.

As I drove up I can't help but admire the views.

The bridge looks wide enough, not busy at all and I don't see any indication that one cannot stop on it. So I decided to park in the middle and snap some pictures. Here's a look upriver.

Who would have thought a passing motorcyclist could not see the car so obviously parked at the side and rammed into it? Just look at the broken parts, the rear mirror smashed, the sidelight destroyed. Luckily my family escaped the ordeal unscathed. But the motorcyclist was bleeding profusely from the face. It seems his head had rammed into the side of the car...

Nevertheless I might as well complete the task. Time to cross towards the downriver side and take a picture...

Looking towards the Kota Kuala Muda side and the state of Kedah. A number of people had stopped for a closer look of the commotion.

Looking back towards upriver and the accident scene. Soon the young man who hit our car was brought to a clinic. We on the other hand had to wait for almost an hour and a half before traffic police came. After that only can we move the car, albeit carefully as the rear bumper had crashed down. We had to go to the Kepala Batas traffic police station to file a report before we can do some minor repairs just to be able to keep the car on the road for a while...