www.motobiking.com Northern Malaysia mini Tour 2 2
page 4
14 to 16 Dec 06
We arrived Gua Musang at noon. Our inner biofuel tanks were begging for a real food re-fuel. Chin suggested we have our lunch at a restaurant he knew. Again, we promptly ordered another feast to make up for the light breakfast
refueled and ready to attack Gua Musang-Kg Raja road
coolest motobiking road in Malaysia
We were looking forward to the gem of
the ride., Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands. This 100km odd road with
countless bends gets my vote for the
best motorcycle riding road in the whole country. Only Chin been to the
Borneo to sample the road there but I doubt
Borneo roads are as good as
this. On most stretches, I could see at least 1 km ahead making the riding’s
pace fast and safe. Again, we didn’t see a single police patrol cars to ruin our
ride. My Zee’s electronic fuel injection compensated well for a smooth high
altitude riding. Chin, Ivan, Andy and Ben decided to hit the gas to get to
Kg Raja leaving Phang and myself slowly enjoying the scenic ride. I have the
obligations to snap photos for postings anyway.
Ivan, Chin, Ben and Andy were already
finishing their drinks at Kg Raja when we caught up with them. Chin was
dying to get to his room to get his afternoon beauty nap.
Cameron Highlands, named after William Cameron is located some 1500m above sea level. The Williams sure had a strange fetish for Malaysian highlands. Back then, it sure was not easy to pave roads to these highlands. I always enjoy coming up here for the cool weather and get intoxicated with bouts of the teh tariks. Cameron is the home to BOH tea, our famous export to the world.
Our roof of the night was a nicely furnished 3 bedrooms apartment situated along Jalan Strawberry. Close to town and yet totally devoured of traffic and tourists, the apartment never fails to offer a quiet relaxing night. There are a few main towns making up Cameron Highlands. The most popular and bigger ones are Brinchang and Tanah Rata. Just a couple of years ago, we could hardly find a decent joint for a drink. The only place for a cool glass of beer would be in a typical coffee shop. There are now a few ‘modern’ looking pubs and cafes catering to the foreign tourists and locals alike in Tanah Rata. Brinching, though fast losing its old time charm, is still the place for good local food. For those craving for exotic (meat) cooking, Kampung Raja is the place to dine.
One of the popular scenic spot to have a picture or two taken is at The Old Smokehouse. The highlight is of course the Benny Hill telephone booth. Amazingly .. the phone booth actually adds a little authentic English charm to the surroundings. Maybe we should start designing our own unique phone booth with spaces for rent (think A-Longs) and start exporting them out like the Benny Hills.
The other my must visit place is the
Boh Tea plantation. Tea cultivation was introduced to Cameron in 1929 by
John Archibald Russell. There are actually two Boh tea plantations for
visitors to learn tea leaves processing and enjoy a cuppa of tea. Phang
likes adventure rider ‘dualie’ pose when snaking around the tight and
twisting road leading the Boh’s factory and cafe in Sungai Palas. If you are
planning to enjoy drinking a cup of tea, you should not follow the factory
guided tour. Going through the tour would leave you a little dizzy and
intoxicated. You would be when you practically inhale tea from the air for a
solid 30 minutes or so.
Chin’s bike got from bad to worse. The bike would start intermittently in the morning. By mid day, it simply refused to start at all. An SOS call was made to Welly’s Sg Buloh for an emergency fix/appointment at Cameron. Yup, the guys came up from Sg Buloh to Cameron Highlands to fix Chin’s BMW. Talking about first class service. We helped too as we chipped in to pass the wrench around, holding the massive side fairing to make sure it stays scratch free. In all, 6 of us helped to fix a bike. Chin, if you are reading this, you owe us a big round of teh tarik
Our journey would come to a climax with ride to Simpang Pulai and back home from there via the boring NS Expressway. When I first drove on the Sg Pulai-CH road, I could have imagine it would be 100x better on a motorbike. I still do. The road, though not exactly perfect, still offers an astonishing experience to bikers and motorists alike. Technically, it is an amazing feat to pave a road through a solid mountainous tropical jungle.
Chin hit home early as he had to get home for a trip in the afternoon. Phang decided to accompany Chin. Both of them were seen blazing the highway at 180km/h. Andy took off on his own too and Ben decided to take a detour and visit his folks in Ipoh leaving Ivan and myself trotting home together.
Luckily, the weather report did not live to the billing for once. Talking about having an immensely enjoying three days of dry riding sampling the best roads in Peninsular Malaysia
It was great to ride with Andy, Phang, Ivan, Chin and Ben (Mr Vulcan) ... we do more days on the road next time and hope the roads stay dry again.
adfaRoutes and Distances
Day 1 Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Kangsar (NS Expressway) 255 km
Kuala Kangsar to Gerik (Route 76) 104 km
Day 2 Gerik to Jeli (Route 4) 124 km
Jeli to Gua Musang (Route 66) 190 km
Gua Musang to Kg Raja (Cameron Highlands) 110 km
Day 3 Kg Raja to Sg Pulai approx 80 km
Sg Pulai to Kuala Lumpur 195 km
