West Malaysia loop ride

After a wonderful day of rest, we were all very excited about getting on the road and exploring more of this beautiful country. So much so that we all woke up really early to get ready and pack up for the journey. How early? Well, the gang were already downstairs warming up their bikes when I got down to prepare my bike at 7am! I had communicated with the owner of the guest house on our planned 7:30am departure time so we had ample time for any last minute preparations.

Sya came over to meet us and we had a nice chat before getting the details and loose ends tied up. At that point, we moved the bikes out, locked up the guest house and were ready to set off. Sya offered to lead us to a good place for a local breakfast fare called Nasi Dagang. I remember having this dish last year for breakfast somewhere at Machang. So off we went and soon we arrived at this stall right across the road from the park.

Ordering was an interesting affair as Sya was familiar with the stall proprietors. So we ordered through her which made it all very easy.

They were very busy serving with all the orders pouring in. It seems many people do takeaway orders. This stall not only serves the food, they also serve the drinks from the kitchen at the back.

Most of us ordered the same dish because that was the star of the show…as you can see.

And in case anyone thinks Sya just sat there and watched us eat…well…she had the same dish actually which just came after we took this picture. So what exactly is this Nasi Dagang dish and why is it the star of the show? Let me first show you how this dish looks.

What is really special, to me, is the rice. This rice tasted a little glutinous and rich. It is not just plain steamed rice. I also taste a little brown rice flavour in it…and probably some simple spices. I am not able to decide if there is coconut involved but there may be. Whatever it is, it is DELICIOUS!!! The Curry Ayam Kampung (or Village Chicken Curry) is also very yummy. The chicken is tender and juicy, the gravy is thick and tasty. All in all, it was a FANTASTIC breakfast! What can possibly top this???

Well, what topped it was that it was Sya’s treat!

We had a good time eating and chatting away at this little stall. Before long, the patrons at the table beside ours left. I turned around and found a little boy with his father sitting there waiting for their takeaway order. We had a little chat and I simply had to take a picture of the cute little boy.

Soon, it was time to suit up and get going. I heard the sound of a fire engine and looked up as I was getting ready. I do not know why but I really like fire engines!

Our route for today would be a relatively long one of around 400 kilometres. We will be crossing over the peninsular to get to the western side.

Our route will take us south followed by a large U-turn up north as I wanted to explore the location the railway officer recommended. Then we will head west before making another large U-turn towards Taiping. The weather was cool at this time of the day and we rode along at a nice and relaxed pace. Everyone was clearly enjoying the ride and the scenery that we passed through. There was hardly any traffic and the road was almost all ours!

I decided to drop back and take a picture of the gang riding in front of me.

It was not long before we turned onto Route 66. I started looking out for a suitable spot for some pictures and decided to stop at this particular mile stone exactly 10 kilometres from Dabong.

The gang can get a little crazy now and then with pictures…here is one example.

Of course…one for Facebook!

When nature calls…the best thing to do is to answer the call!

This road was really quiet that morning…

…and of course someone had to take a picture of me taking a picture!

I guess we picked the right place to stop because we found the road to Gua Ikan shortly after this stop. Riding in I was not quite sure what to expect as I had not researched this place and our only sources of information were a random person I met at the railway station and Sya. But I should not have worried…just look at the view from where we parked our bikes!

There were two huge rock outcrops there. This one behind our bikes and another one to the right of this picture which you cannot see. We parked right next to a bridge so Chris and I decided we would cross that and explore the side of this rock outcrop. Here is the view from across the bridge.

There was really just a small path towards the side of the rock outcrop. So we followed that path to see where it would lead us.

This path eventually disappeared and we had to walk through the dense undergrowth…which ended here.

This looked a little daunting to explore without lights…so we decided it was better to head back out. I really do like some of the plants though…just look at how lush this is!

I realized that this stream must start from somewhere…duh…probably in that cave!

So we decided to explore the main cave. It was HUGE!

Here’s a section of one of the cave walls…complete with some local art masterpieces.

Chris was, obviously, quite smitten by this cave. You can also clearly see the stream running inside!

We did get a Lord of the Rings moment here in this cave. Remember the scene where they were in the caves of Moria and how they heard the sound of creatures getting louder and all that? Well, the monkeys were making their howling noises and those got louder and more urgent for awhile…before moving away and dying down. I wondered then if we were in for a “fight of flight” moment! Still…I really liked this place! This was what I saw as we turned around to head out.

Remember that bridge? Well, here is how it looks like walking out from the cave. Pretty eh?

While we enjoyed the quiet and serenity of Gua Ikan, it was time for us to move on. So we pushed off towards the next stop – Gunung Stong. I took this picture of Gunung Stong in 2011 when we rode through Route 66.

And we did stop by Gunung Stong in 2012. However, I did not join the rest in the climb up to the Jelawang Waterfall. So I really wanted to revisit this place and climb up this time round. Here is a nice description of Gunung Stong:

One of the main attractions at the state park is Gunung Stong (1,422 meters), a dome-shaped granite complex more than 500 million years old. Here, the seven-tiered Stong Waterfalls, reputed to be the highest in Southeast Asia, drops from a height of about 990 metres. Reaching the peak of the falls takes two hours of trekking for about one kilometre on steep inclines of between 60 to 90 degrees.

Source: KB Backpackers website

I was greeted by a familiar sight on our way in.

We parked our bikes at the main parking area at the park as usual.

It was starting to get a little warm as it was around half past 11 so we started our hike up with Chris leading the way since he went up last year. I realized then, actually two out of the three of us who were hiking up realized, that we were not particularly fit as we soon felt a little breathless. This was just at the cemented sections of the hike!!! We did miss a turn and had to back track to the right path…but we eventually got to the foot of the falls. It was nice to finally see the water!

There was a suspension bridge here to cross over to the other side…Paul had to get on it…and I was happy to just stand on solid ground to take his picture!

We eventually had to move from the cemented sections to the steeper and more demanding sections. Man it was getting steep…thank goodness there are some steps!

And then it got A LOT steeper…

…and I was getting tired…

…but our fireman was still going strong!

BUT I persevered and we eventually found the foot of the Jelawang Waterfall…and it was SPECTACULAR!!!

Can you see the clouds at the top of the picture? I have to climb all the way there one day…when I am fitter! We stopped here for quite awhile (for me to catch my breath) and took lots of pictures.

Chris captured a picture of me doing some professional photography…

…and this was what I was trying to photograph…had to improvise as it was really bright and I did not have any ND filters with me!

In case you thought I was the only one taking pictures in a “professional” way…

Chris got it right I think…just relax and enjoy the scene…which we all finally decided to do.

Again, it was time to head down as it was getting late. So down we go…with Chris leading the way again.

This section was especially fun…especially with Chris’ fun poses!

Going down was actually a little easier on the respiratory system but harder on the other parts of the body…especially my right knee which was hurting a little! So I was really glad when we got down and had a chance to refresh ourselves with a cold drink while the sun was at its peak. This kitty cat seemed to agree!

From here, we headed up north to Jeli for our last petrol stop before heading onto one of the best mountain roads Malaysia had to offer – Route 4. This is no ordinary petrol station…it is rather big because this is where most of the trucks have their stop before heading up the mountain road. As you can see from this next shot from Chris’ GoPro, this is like a frontier style petrol station.

Now this road – Route 4 – is the best road in the world in my opinion. There are sweeping bends, elevation changes and some fast straights. Perfect for a ride that is both relaxing and invigorating! I was not surprised that Chris chose to mount up his GoPro for this section of the ride…only thing is…it made him look a bit like Tinky Winky.

See the resemblance?

Anyway, back to this best road…I had made arrangements with the gang to get some pictures of them riding pass. So I went ahead and put a gap between us, got off my bike, got my camera out, put it on the right setting, push the shutter for a test shot…and my battery died! Oh well…I guess no shots for now. So we headed to the meeting up point at the Titiwangsa rest stop.

This is the third visit to the Titiwangsa rest stop for me and the view continues to take my breath away.

I parked Marley right at the edge of that foot path when I was here the first time. I wanted to do the same with Big V. Obviously it called for a lot more courage and assistance! So thanks to Chris for helping me out so I could take pictures like these!

I just love this view…and I am sure Big V appreciates it as well.

I took a picture like this the first time I was here…and now I have the same picture with Big V! Well, it is not quite the same picture given I have “grown”.

Look at how close Big V is parked to the edge!

Big V always attracted attention given his stature and good looks. No different here! These kids wanted to get a picture with him.

And this father and son wanted a picture as well.

Heck…even Chris wanted a picture!

I had to get a picture of Big V by himself of course!

This particular rest stop had always been one of my favourite. Still, it was soon time for us to push on as we were getting hungry as we were past lunch time! I made sure to change to a fresh set of batteries…then put a gap between me and the gang…got off the bike…setup the camera…did a test shot…and then fired off these few when they came riding pass.

  

We got to the lunch spot soon enough. It was another familiar place (Banding Lakeside Inn) but this time round was crowded as they had a corporate event going on. We made our way to the main restaurant, ordered our food and then went straight out to that balcony for the fantastic view of the Banding Lake!

I’ll never get tired of this view!

This boat was joining some other boats on this side of the lake to pick up some of the corporate event participants for a cruise of some sort.

And off they go!!!

We pushed on soon after lunch as we still had quite a distance to cover before we got to our next stop at Taiping. So we headed off. The ride was relatively uneventful other than a few encounters with the cooling rain. Here is a quick time lapse of a part of this journey.

We stopped when we got to Taiping and found a place to stop so I could get the directions on my GPS. Everyone was quite happy to stop after that long leg!

I thought we only had a few kilometres to go to our hotel. Unfortunately, it seems I was misled because it was actually not in Taiping but in Semanggol, which was about 25-30 kilometres away! So away we went…along with the heavy late afternoon rush hour Taiping traffic. The ride out to Semanggol was mainly through the streets of Taiping…but eventually we got to some really nice roads indeed!

We finally arrived at the Bukit Merah Laketown Resort just as the sun was going down. Our rooms were on the top floor (I think it was the third storey) and they were quite spacious…and probably the best equipped room in this entire trip so far! So we took our time to refresh ourselves and get ready for dinner. It was really good to have a solid hot water shower and SO MUCH SPACE to air out all my gear!

Dinner was going to be at the nearby shop at the Laketown itself. We settled on a place offering 24-hour Penang Nasi Kandar. Apparently this shop uses the “original recipe”…whatever that meant.

As usual, we cannot do without a shot for Facebook while waiting for dinner to be ready.

Here is our chef getting one of the dishes ready…I think it was the Maggi Goreng.

Of course we had to have some fish curry and the usual “Nasi Kandar” stuff. I was really quite hungry by the time all of our food arrived…so no food pictures this time round…but here is another picture for Facebook that at least shows a few dishes.

As usual, we had a good time eating and chatting away. Then it was time to get back to the resort. We walked around a little just so we could orient ourselves and locate the place that would be serving breakfast. Along the way, we found out why this place was called “Laketown”…there was a HUGE lake right next to the resort. Too bad it was dark so I could not really get a picture for you.

Anyway, a few of us chatted late into the night just because we could. All in all, it was a fantastic day of riding and adventure!