West Malaysia loop ride

Day 2

We woke up early this morning anticipating a long ride. This would in fact be the longest leg of our journey. I had some trouble sleeping as the pillows and mattress in my homely room had a “homely smell” too. I had to cover that pillow with a thick bed cover and sleep on top of that…the entire time having some of that homely smell wafting through the thick bed cover. I experienced quite the miracle that night as somewhere in my state of homely loathing I actually fell asleep!

I asked the rest if they managed to get any sleep. Most managed to get some but Randy had the short end of the stick as his bed had bugs. Poor fella had to fight with the bugs half the night and ended up sleeping on the bed cover as well.

I guess waking up at 6am does not really work (Photo by Chris)

I have no idea what Eric is doing man (Photo by Chris)

These guys look awake for sure (Photo by Chris)

The morning ritual of getting ready (Photo by Randy)

We got ready quickly and left that homely place at 730am…a little later than I expected because I had to entertain a very persistent but unexpected guest. Good thing too as it was not exactly a simple “guest” to manage given the amount of layers I had on. Thank god too that the flush functioned without any problems. Finally a feeling that slightly resembled home!

The ritual of fueling up followed by a hunt for breakfast followed. It is usually a hit and miss affair – the hunt, not the fueling up – and I was not entirely hopeful we would find anything given we were headed up north. As luck would have it, we stumbled on a street that was lined with breakfast places that were obviously well patronised. The act of picking a place out of many is a dark art that only the very adventurous can master. So we picked the place based on where we could find space for parking along the narrow road with cars and bikes parked along both sides. Easy peasy!

Pumped up and ready to go!!! (Photo by Chris)

Don’t forget your side stand man (Photo by Chris)

Hello Hello…oh…I don’t have comms set! (Photo by Chris)

Can we go now? (Photo by Chris)

The placement chose served a huge variety of local food. Noodles with Yong Tau Foo, hand made noodles or porridge. We felt like kings and had a tough time deciding which to eat. But this too is a dark art that we had mastered…perhaps most of us but not all. So most of us had he first thing we saw that caught our eye. Which turned out to be to be the first thing anyone would see when walking into the shop as it was the first stall positioned right at the entrance. Noodles with Yong Tau Foo it was then. All except for LPG who chose, perhaps a little more wisely…perhaps not, porridge with pork and all the delights of tripe and liver and whatever else you can find inside that tasty animal.

Order order…the Yong Tau Fu looks good!

Food prep…kampung style (Photo by Chris)

Simple but effective (Photo by Chris)

All ready for a good breakfast

My hearty breakfast of Yong Tau Fu with dry noodles…yummy!!!

Y.U.M.M.Y. (Photo by Randy)

Hurry take the picture so I can eat man (Photo by Randy)

LPG decided to have something different (Photo by LPG)

We were surprised how quickly we finished our breakfast. We must have burnt a lot over the night fighting a certain homely feeling while we slept.

With breakfast over, we mounted our stallions (mares for some as they like to refer to their bikes as female…why I will never really know…all I know is stallion sounds a whole lot cooler than mare) and headed north towards Gua Musang.

We rode along Route 8 through the usual plantations. It was a nice and cool morning ride and everyone had a great time on their bikes. At one point, the road opened up briefly into a two lane expressway. Randy needed to stretch his legs and decided to speed up, overtaking me in the process. He also sped past the Sungai Yong Eco Duct which I was hoping to visit. Apparently he just changed into sixth gear when he saw the sign and said “shit”. I suspect he might have used a more appropriate word but I shall refrain from writing that here so that this can continue to be a G-rated blog. Unfortunately for us…and maybe more for Randy…this two laned expressway part of Route 8 ended after about one kilometer…and there was no other obvious exits to the eco duct.

We did stumble upon an interesting looking railway station not far further along the road though so we made a U-turn and stopped across the road along a row of shops. We had cold drinks and chatted for a bit before heading across the road to explore the railway station.

Shops like these are always a welcome sight! (Photo by Randy)

Evaluating our route as we get refreshed (Photo by Chris)

Time to take a look at the trains! (Photo by Chris)

According to the folks we spoke with at the shop, this station did not welcome regular passenger trains since the floods of 2014. The trains we saw there were left there because they were badly affected by the floods. The tracks were also in bad state. All train traffic were diverted to Gua Musang from Dabong instead. When we walked over, we found the trains were covered in mud. Not just on parts of the outside but also inside. I can only imagine how terrible the floods were to see mud plastered all over the instruments of this giant locomotive. It was heart wrenching to see, too, a carriage that was quite badly mangled up. I was reminded how powerful water could be!

Trains galore!!! (Photo by Chris)

I love trains man

Chris loves trains too

I especially love long trains

Alamak…look at that fella spoiling the scenery! (Photo by LPG)

So industrial!

Wow…the flood waters were that high that the control room had mud all over

Looks like the water almost covered the ENTIRE train!

In case anyone was wondering…this is the Merapoh station

Along the track at rail marker 297

One of the carriages used for rescue during the flood

My goodness…flood waters caused this???!!!

Nice and nostalgic looking control radio room (Photo by Chris)

No station is complete without a cat (Photo by Chris)

No photo series is complete without one of these (Photo by LPG)
In case anyone was wondering…this track was not in use at that time so it was perfectly safe. Do not do this on any track that you do not know is safe!

Our chat with the folks back at the shop led to them telling us that a bridge between Gua Musang and Jeli had collapsed because of the floods too so that road would be impassable to traffic. This meant we had to divert towards Kuala Krai to Dabong before heading to Jeli. Quite a big diversion as it meant we had to head east, south east, east for many kilometres before heading back up north and north west again.

So close to Gua Musang…but no…we gotta divert…

The diversion also meant we needed to change our fueling plans. So we stopped at a station just outside Gua Musang. A few things happened here that are worth mentioning. One, I confirmed with a few other locals here that the bridge did collapse and that the only meaningful route to Jeli would be towards Kuala Krai and Dabong. Two, LPG a almost filled his bike with Bio Diesel had the credit card reader on the pump worked. Three, Randy dropped his bike spectacularly at the pump. This is not really his day, is it? Poor fella.

This was where we start our diversion taking the easterly part of Route 8 towards Kuala Krai. This road was very busy with traffic of all sorts making progress slow and tedious. We headed east and south for many kilometres before slowly heading north east before getting to the junction that pointed us north towards Dabong. We have ridden on this particular stretch called Route 66 a few times in the previous rides and always enjoyed it. The road is quieter and had many bends and straights and elevation changes taking us through villages and plantations, occasionally offering a grand vista of the mountains that we were heading for. We eventually took a break at Gua Ikan (Fish Cave) before getting back on the route to Dabong and Jeli.

Another pondok break at Gua Ikan (Photo by Chris)

Where is Eric heading to? (Photo by Chris)

That rock formation is also home to the cave called Gua Ikan (Photo by Chris)

Soon, we were able to see the magnificent Jelawang waterfall high up on Gunung Stong. This waterfall is the highest in all of South East Asia and looked awesome even from a great distance. We had originally intended to hike up to the base of the falls but had to change plans due to our diversion. Oh well, there is always another time I suppose.

The road up to Jeli from Dabong was simple and relatively wide. It brought back memories of the second WMLR in 2011 when we rode here in the late evening. It ws dusk and almost every household was sitting out in the platform enjoying the evening talking, laughing and playing games. What a contrast to city living!

We had our usual fuel stop at the Jeli petrol station. Anthony, Chris and Eric were feeling hungry as it was almost 4pm and we did not have lunch yet! They got some snacks from the shop just to get some food into their system. We carried on after they were done on Route 4 crossing the peninsula…finally heading west!

Good thing it was not the yellow or green one that is HABIS… (Photo by Chris)

Having a nice little break (Photo by Chris)

What an awesome picture of a Corolla! (Photo by Chris)

The ride up Route 4 has always been special. This road has the best combination of elevation changes, tight corners, fast sweepers and long straights that will put the rider to the test every single time. In a way, it is the perfect riding road. Today’s ride was no different. I had a great time dropping my gear down, braking when needed, leaning into the corner and accelerating out after the apex. It was an exhilarating ride. It did not take long for us to arrive at the rest stop on very top called the Titiwangsa rest stop.

This must be one of my favourite rest stops. No matter how pressed for time I am, I would still want to stop here just because it has such a spectacular view. At the very top of this part of the Titiwangsa mountain range, the temperature is very cool with a refreshing and almost perpetual breeze. From here we could see very far out and down. Truly a sight to behold and a “must” stop.

It is a big rest stop (Photo by Randy)

With a BIG view!

That brings on BIG smiles

Looks good in black and white too!

Loving that view! Everyone in!

One for the actor in the team

Not only a nice view…but also great climate!

Time for a selfie!

One with the buddy (Photo by someone with Randy’s phone)

Geez…who the heck is that! (Photo by Chris)

Even the reflection on the suglasses look good (Photo by Chris)

I will miss you Titiwangsa!

From here we continued down the mountain winding through the long sweeping bends that were on offer. One after another, the sweeps brought us further down hill with thick vegetation on either side, until quite suddenly, the view opened up to reveal an expanse of water so vast it feels like an ocean…but it is really a lake! It was the beautiful and mesmerising Tasik Temenggor, a man made lake that is 240 square kilometres in size. As we rode onto the bridge next to the public jetty there, I was shocked to see what used to be a bustling jetty completely covered with water. The only sign that the jetty was there previously were the rooftops of the police post there!

Everyone was really hungry now so it was imperative that we stop for a meal. The ideal place was right after the bridge at the Banding Lakeside Inn. We stop by this inn every time we pass through this lake because of the view afforded by the elevation of the inn. Standing on the balcony of the restaurant, we could see a big expanse of water and the big big sky that covered it. It was more like a very late lunch as it was already 5pm and we were way behind schedule.

Late lunch stop at the Banding Lakeside Inn

This coffee house is always relaxing…open and airy (Photo by Randy)

Hungry but happy…waiting for lunch (Photo by Randy)

Enjoying the view at the balcony (Photo by Chris)

And what a view this is!

My Nasi Goreng Kampung…yummy!

Where is my food? (Photo by LPG)

Eric has been riding on the WMLR since 2012 and he has been improving with every ride. He was picking up some cornering tips from Randy during lunch and was eager to try them out. The road down from the inn towards Gerik and after that towards the turnoff at Tawar would give him the perfect opportunity to safely home his skills. I did not see his riding as he was bike number four but reports from Randy later during dinner was very positive. Well done, Eric!

The light was slowly fading from the sky and we were still quite a distance from our destination. We passed by night markets and villages along the way, finally finding ourselves on a snaking stretch of road that was completely bogged down with traffic in both directions. We were by this time too tired to overtake…and even if we had the energy, there was no opportunity to!

A sunset break (Photo by Chris)

We still have quite a distance to cover (Photo by Chris)

I think my friends must have heaved a big sigh of relief in their helmets when they saw me turning into a housing estate as that usually meant we have arrived. We rode by a row of shops, then some homes, then a Surau (community prayer hall) and eventually the GPS said the words “you have arrived at your destination”.

Sometimes it can be quite annoying hearing those words when all around me I only see wilderness, or dark homes with no lights on, or some kind of school, or just nothing at all. In this case, we saw dark houses with no lights on. I stopped and proceeded slowly up the road and saw, to my relief, two guys looking at me intently and then smiled. We have arrived indeed!

They were brothers. We shook hands and chatted for awhile about what they did and why they were there at Sungai Petani because they both worked in KL, they shared with us some places we could find food…and just general conversation. Their welcome warmed us all up. Their place was a simple single storey terrace house with two bedrooms, a toilet, a bathroom, a kitchen, dining room and a living room. The place was not advertised as homely…but we all felt at home. Strange that! In conversation later we discussed this exact topic and concluded that a home, lived in previously, coupled with a warm personal welcome was what made the difference. I guess in this case it did make all the difference!

Relaxing in one of the air conditioned rooms (Photo by Chris)

I have no idea what I was doing with my iPad man…seriously… (Photo by Chris)

After refreshing ourselves, it was time for dinner. We found one of their recommended places, a 24hr Nasi Kandar shop that also served roti and goreng goreng. The food was good…maybe because it was close to 10pm by the time we ate…but nobody was complaining!

Waiting for dinner…or supper given the time (Photo by LPG)

We travelled a total of 568km today. Not bad given we crossed the peninsula and had such a scenic journey. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Day 1: 511km
Day 2: 568km