West Malaysia loop ride

You know how vacations have a way of whizzing by quicker than a blink of an eye? Well, this one is no different. Day three jumped on us quicker than we wanted it to…and that was a really good indicator that it has been an enjoyable trip so far.

We took a bit of time last night at the tealive shop to explore the various options we had for today. Should we go further up north? Perhaps go east? Or maybe we should head south and maybe head towards the western part (e.g. Sitiawan) or the eastern part (e.g. Kuantan)…and eventually we decided we would go to the central part as the roads looked to be the most fun. So we set our sights on Raub and found a hotel there. We have been doing budget places so far and decided we would continue this way. It was definitely friendly for the pockets and so far the experience has been very nice indeed.

The route today would involve a ride east towards Kulim before turning south. We thought it would be a good idea to explore around the Lenggong area because of the dam that created a huge lake along Sungai Perak, then continue on southwards till we get to Ipoh for some lunch, then shoot towards the North-South Highway for a quick passage bypassing all the traffic lights till we get to Tanjong Malim, then cross eastwards passing by Fraser’s Hill to get to Raub. That sounded like a terrific riding adventure to us and I have a feeling most motorcyclists would agree once they see the roads we got to ride on.

One of the challenges about traveling in Malaysia during this time of the year is that it is the season of Ramadan. This also means many of the food stalls may be closed because the majority of their customers would be fasting. Our strategy was to find places that had a higher concentration of Chinese or Indian food stalls to ride through or stop at so that we would have the best chance to find food places that were open. Our first stop this morning was Kulim and we scouted Google Maps for a good number of minutes last night finding possible places to go. As we rode in this morning we stopped at this place called Restoran Hong Ta for breakfast.

My personal selection was satisfactory, though not spectacular. I must say that the dumplings were pretty good and I enjoyed them immensely. Soon it was time for us to get going. We did not know it then but today was going to be an awesome day of riding.

We set off at about 8:30am after breakfast and got out of Kulim towards Route 136 heading south. This was a nice and easy riding road, nothing too challenging and not too straight either, traffic was light and easy, you could say this was the perfect road to be on after a meal in the morning when the sun was low and the temperature was still cool. I was happy to cruise along this morning, not feeling rushed and just enjoying the motorcycle. We turned left to Route K907 just after Kampung Batu Sepuluh which was a route that took us through several villages and at the end of this route we turned south (right) on Route 170, then east (left) on Route A115 and then turned south (right) onto Route A39 just after Rantau Panjang.

Route A39 was a very enjoyable route not only because of the idyllic surroundings but also because of the corners that it presented. It was not a serious set of bends that required a huge amount of concentration and focus, rather it was a series of corners that made riding interesting and relaxed at the same time, with lovely views to the left and right (for me at least). I found it to be a very enjoyable stretch to ride on. At the end of this route we turned east (left) again onto Route A6 and this was where the fun intensified a little bit as the corners were slightly tighter and more concentrated. There was traffic for sure but that only added to the enjoyment of the corners on this stretch.

At the end of A6, we turned right onto Route 76 to continue our journey southwards towards the Lenggong area and made our first stop after breakfast. For this, we turned into Gua Tok Giring. In actual fact, we missed the turning and took the next one instead which required us to ride through some really tight kampung paths which was a cheap thrill for me.

We rode off down the road a little bit more after this break to get to the side of the huge man made lake on Sungai Perak to check it out. Along the way there we stopped by a Petronas station to fuel up. The credit card system made fuelling up super convenient and easy with everything done at the pump. The view at the lake side was spectacular when we arrived.

So far it had been a really nice morning and we decided it was time to head towards Ipoh for lunch. Given the time (11am) I was a little concerned that we would arrive just a bit late and our options may be limited. Still…we had to give it a shot! So we continued riding and headed towards Ipoh. We pretty much stuck to the trunk roads for this leg because there was little advantage in using the main highway.

We arrived in Ipoh around noon and was greeted by the familiar traffic jams and traffic lights. Also, it turned out that many schools were just done or the day so there were many cars queued up to pick up the kids from school which blocked the roads that we were on so our passage to lunch was delayed by this somewhat. We did eventually make it to the shop at 12:20pm and I was just hoping we could still have our lunch there.

This place was popular for their dry curry noodles. Unfortunately the other dishes were all sold out and all they could put together for late lunchers like us was two plates of this. I suppose we will have to plan another trip up to Ipoh in order to savour the other dishes one of these days.

It was definitely a hot and sunny day. Lunch was super satisfying and we were much refreshed by the iced herbal tea. Our bikes, on the other hand, were happily soaking in the heat from the hot afternoon sun. While I was eager to get going, I was definitely not looking forward to sitting on that hot seat after a nice meal. Still, we must make way as there is much distance to cover before we get to Raub.

Thankfully, it did not take us too long to get out of Ipoh and back onto the North-South Highway. We were soon on our way south and making good time. It was important that we get to the next stretch of road with good light to spare so we did not want to waste time negotiating traffic and get delayed. This part of the journey was rather uneventful and we made our petrol stop at the last station before we exited the highway.

We exited the highway at Tanjong Malim and continued to head south on Route 1 and turned east (left) onto Route 55 at Kabul Bharu. This was a stretch of road that I have a love-hate relationship with so I was both dreading it and looking forward to it at the same time. I am not sure which was stronger but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do! So we rode on and decided to make a stop to check out this View Point at the Empangan Sungai Selangor (Sungai Selangor Dam).

There was a lookout tower (or maybe an elevated shed) there for visitors to get a better view of the reservoir

We did not stay too long as we wanted to make way and get through this next stretch of road with light to spare so we pushed on. Route 55, the route the connects Fraser’s Hill to the main north-south trunk road of Route 1 on the west and the central north-south trunk road of Route 8 just after Raub, offers up some of the most intriguing series of corners, elevation changes and combination of road surfaces on Malaysian roads. Many motorcyclists rate this route very highly, and indeed, it has been one of the nicest combination of corners and elevation changes available in Malaysia, even today. It was certainly not the only one of its kind, but it was definitely a fun one to ride on and can put the fear of god into a rider now and then with the surprises too.

I mentioned earlier about being unsure which emotion I felt more…dread or anticipation. I knew now what I felt. At the beginning it was more dread than anticipation…but as we rode more and more…it become more anticipation, excitement and fun. I really enjoyed riding on this route. In fact, I have always enjoyed riding here. I do not know why I had a sense of dread…and yet I know I will probably always have that sense of dread. Perhaps that is just what being human is.

The rest of the ride was more of the same…fun fun fun…until we rode into the town of Raub. Again, we followed the map and got to the address given…and again…we ended up at a strange place with no clear indication of where the hotel was. A phone call, and checking with a local person, soon cleared this up. We rode down the road, turned off into a side road and found the place.

As usual, the first order of business upon checking in was to shower and wash up our riding clothes. Following that, it was time to go check out the neighbourhood and get to our dinner spot. I could not wait to get to dinner for sure! We took a walk outside to explore the area and also walked towards our dinner location.

Dinner was simply amazing. The fish head curry was savoury and spicy without too much heat, the fish had enough meat for two persons and also the usual complement of vegetables, the sambal sotong was spectacular. It had a heat kick that made it addictive. The sambal was nice and thick and complemented the biryani very well. And the fried chicken…OMG…the fried chicken. I simply love the spiced rempah they used to coat the skin before deep frying the chicken to perfection. It was definitely a meal to remember. We had so much food! I think we definitely over-ate and needed a nice walk after that.

We walked back after dinner to check out the Ramadan Bazaar. It was almost time for Iftar so there were a lot more people there by the time we arrived.

That was quite an adventure. We took a slow walk back to the hotel after this just to check on our clothes to see if they were drying nicely. The good news is that they were indeed drying nicely. So we went out again in search of a drink and guess what we found?

It was a bit of a surprise to find a tealive shop so close to the hotel…again…so we simply had to go in and get ourselves a drink there. As usual, we took time to think about where we want to be tomorrow and planned out a simple route booked a hotel. After our drink we ventured into one of the mega supermarkets across the street to check out what they had. It made for an interesting walk for sure…and a nostalgic one too because they had many of the items that we used to have at home when we were kids. And then, it was back to the hotel to call it a night.

And with that we conclude day three. A full day of riding combined with some great food and lovely sights. We covered 401 kilometres in all sorts of terrain today and it was massively fun! Definitely a fantastic day to be remembered. See you tomorrow!