West Malaysia loop ride

I am a big fan of Top Gear…you know…that television program where Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May talks about everything relating to cars. They have these ridiculous challenges that are really fun to watch…and sometimes…inspiring! I remember the one where they drove around Europe looking for driving heaven…a stretch of road that has the magic combination of twisties, fast straights, fantastic scenery AND the seclusion. While the Top Gear folks are mostly in Europe, they did find a fantastic riding road in Vietnam (yes, on one of their challenges). Well…today I rode on Malaysia’s best riding road…the stretch of route 4 from Jeli to Gerik.

We had wanted to set off early today so we could maximize the daylight and decided to meet for breakfast at 6:30am. Interestingly, I was the only person in the breakfast room at that time. I guess riding such a long distance on our very first day did take a toll. The rest of the gang showed up not long after and we had a simple breakfast which included the usual toast, scrambled eggs, beans, mee goreng, nasi goreng…you get the picture. One of the gang (guess who?) spilled the entire serving tray of mee goreng…can you believe that? I didn’t know if it was bad to laugh…but I did. Hahaha!

Having decided to set off at 7:15am, we hurried to pack our stuff and check out. Unfortunately, it proved to be a futile effort to try to make that time because we had locked the bikes up in such a tight formation. It took us quite awhile to get them unlocked and loaded up that it was already 8:15am! Hahaha! So much for trying to maximize daylight. Still…better late than never, right?

Our first order of business was to fill up the bikes and oil our chains. We got a good taste of Kuala Terengganu rush hour traffic as we headed out to the petrol station. There were cars and bikes everywhere!!! I won’t bore you with details on our ride in town…but…I will tell you what I really like about the petrol stations in Terengganu…they have a “motosikal” pump! Yup…a pump dedicated to motorcycles…PLUS…there are pump attendants to help you with the pumping! Just ride up, open the fuel cap, tell the attendant how much…watch him pump, close the cap, pay…and GO! I loved it!!! I don’t think they loved us very much though as we were the slowest at the pumps given we had to remove our gloves…and boy those gloves can be really hard to remove when in a hurry!

Oh well…onto the ride. Getting out of Kuala Terengganu was a snap. Just follow the signs for route 3 towards Kota Bahru and Jerteh. How tough could that be? Hahaha! So that was exactly where we headed. The ride to Jerteh was north bound for about half the distance…and west bound the second half. The second half was where things started to get better! I think because it gets better at the second half, the road planners made us to past the landfill site at the halfway point…gee…what was that SMELL!!??? Still, that foul smell was quickly forgotten because of the promise of a good riding road. We lost sight of the ocean and the surroundings quickly transformed into hills and lush vegetation. The road started throwing twisties (not the snack!) at us and we lapped them up happily. All too soon, we found ourselves at the petrol station just outside Jerteh.

This was no routine fuel stop because the next stretch would get even more interesting. I wanted to make sure everyone knew what to expect and gave a small briefing on handling the twisties, overtaking and a refresher on our riding formation. The gang listened attentively…well…they looked attentive…and then we set off for the ride of our lives!

I am sure Singapore riders (and some drivers) are familiar with Rifle Range Road and South Buona Vista Road…and even Mount Faber. If you combine the curves of these roads…add a huge dollop of breathtaking Malaysian countryside…a deep blue sky with lightly scattered clouds and fantastic cool, dry weather…you will still not be able to grasp how good this road was. Yes…it was THAT good! In fact, it was so good that I found it very hard to stop to take photographs. Hahaha! But I did…and will load them as soon as I get back.

I am thinking that it is futile for me to describe today’s ride on this blog because I will never do justice to the ride. But I do want to highlight a few of the more interesting places that we stopped at so you can picture them and be in the ride experience as well. So here goes.

First up: lunch break. I was searching for a place to have lunch along the Jeli-Gerik road and found many places along the road. The places are interesting because they look like people are opening up their homes as shops for others to have a meal. There were so many of them lining the streets (not exactly lining but you get the idea) that I didn’t know which one to choose. As I was looking around I spotted a huge rock outcrop that put the Little Guilin in Singapore to shame. It was one solitary, big and majestic looking rock. I decided to turn into the nearest road I could find that might take me there. As I turned in, I spotted a row of three shophouses…and the one in the centre looked to be some kind of food place. So we decided to eat there. It was an interesting lunch. The Makcik only served rice with some traditional Malay dishes…today’s offering included Curry Ayam, Ayam Masak Merah and Ayam Kicap Manis…yes, ALL chicken dishes. She also had some salted eggs and an omelette dish. Oh well…Makcik was really nice and told us how to get to the rock so we made our way there after lunch. There were some folks having a picnic there…a very pleasant place with a river running through it. Perfect for an afternoon nap!

Nah, we did not nap there. Instead, we pushed on towards Gerik. I made another unplanned stop not long after this one…because I ran out of fuel. You see, I saw plenty of petrol stations along the way after Jeli. Unfortunately, there wasn’t ANY petrol stations the moment the mountain ascent started. So I ran out of fuel after this high bridge…good thing too because I spotted a dam that I thought I would photograph from the bridge. Unfortunately, not only did I run out of fuel, Dan had a problem with his rear brake…the spring seems to have come undone. So Tony (a.k.a. Mr Handy-man) did his MacGyver magic and we could continue with the ride.

The ride went uphill and downhill with many long sweeping and tight corners weaved together into a mind-boggling and intoxicating combination. The riding was completely invigorating! I chanced upon a vista with lots of lumber trucks. I could not resist stopping there for a look…and boy am I glad I did! We were treated to a vista that just took our breath away…not just our breath apparently because there were many other people who parked there and just could not stop taking pictures! We had a great time just enjoying the magnificent view…and…yeah…taking pictures. Hahaha! I really like the pictures from this place…so watch out for them!

After riding for awhile we had to cross yet another bridge…this was a LOOOOOONG one and I just could not resist stopping (yeah…again) to explore a little more. It turned out to be a place where you could rent a boat for a tour of the lake. There were some major BIG lakes in this part of Malaysia and a boat ride costs RM150 or so. I think it would have been a good and worthwhile boat ride…unfortunately…we did not have enough time for that and still make it to Penang before sundown. So we took photographs instead. I also chanced upon three Malay lads having a bit of a snack and chat in one of the huts. We made small talk in a mixture of English and Malay. They ended up offering me some keropok (crackers) from Kelantan (did you know Kelantan and Terengganu were famous for keropok??) and an apple. I was really glad I had the opportunity to chat with them. They were really nice!

The fuel stops for today’s journey included the following:

• Kuala Terengganu
• Jerteh (67 miles or 108km)
• Just after Jeli (65 miles or 105km) – I ran out of fuel here
• Gerik (54 miles or 87km)
• Kulim (64 miles or 103km)
• No fueling in Penang yet as Kulim wasn’t that far away

It seems that the uphill and downhill combination made Marley a lot hungrier for fuel. I suppose that shouldn’t be too surprising.

So we finally got to Butterworth and headed over the Penang island on the ferry. It has been a long while since I had last been on the ferry…and it was my first time on the ferry with a bike. I was a little overwhelmed by the memories I had of my childhood days riding the ferry with my parents in the car. I had always liked the ferry and I still liked it today. The ride was fast and smooth. Getting on and off the ferry was almost flawless…except when one of the gang almost had a fall…hahaha! Leave a comment if you want to guess who!

Penang island was very much similar to how I remembered it from my last trip here. The streets were filled with cars, buses, trucks and motorbikes. Just getting out of a junction can take five to ten minutes given the traffic. To top if off, our first choice for accommodation (the YMCA) was fully booked due to a travel group from abroad. So we had to hunt around for an alternative. We did find an apartment that was available for a night after making some calls (to friends and hotel contacts). Unfortunately, Tony’s GPS took us on a wild goose chase. All was well in the end when we found out that the Gurney Hotel & Residences had rooms available. So here is where I am sitting and blogging…after that nice dinner along Gurney Drive. Again…pictures will follow when I get back.

Well, it sure has been an eventful day. We had a great ride and beautiful stops, I met some very nice people and we had a great lunch and dinner. What more could a motorcycle adventurer ask for?

Join us for day 3!