Exploriders !!!
Sabah & Klang Valley were put in CMCO starting 14-Oct for two weeks, and extended for another two weeks until 9-Nov. Movements are restricted, especially for districts and areas identified as red zones (more than 40 cases). Roadblocks into and out of these areas were put in place.
And that caused concerns for DocZul whom have planned (and pre-book accommodations) for another “pusing Malaya” ride to make up for the inability of DocAmin to join on our first trip over a month ago. The dates set was 29-Oct to 1-Nov, taking advantage of Maulidur holiday on Thursday 29th.After much deliberations, on the day before “the day”, we agreed to go ahead with the ride. Despite the PKPB (Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat) that restrict movement out of Selangor except for allowed working folks. Anyway…
My strategy was, if stopped at any roadblock, I would then turn back and go home. Alhamdulillah there was no roadblock at (entry to Elite hiway) Seafield toll plaza. Actually there was one, but on the exit side. Note: we were not stopped as well when we rode through the checkpoint when coming back on Sunday.
Now, there were some confusions on the RV timing. I suggested for RV at Seremban toll between 8:00 to 9:00am (to cushion any delays due to roadblocks and such), but DocAzmi and Hussein interpreted the timing for the three of us (from Shah Alam) to meet up at at Caltex off USJ on the Elite hiway. Anyway that was cleared up and we were all at that 1st RV place by 8:30am.
When we got to the RV place with DocZul – Seremban toll gate – he was not there. Browsing through the WhatsApp messages after failing to get him on the call, I thought he was waiting at a nearby Caltex station (along Seremban-Kuala Klawang Road). So we hurried there; but he wasn’t there either. Few minutes later DocZul called, just arriving at the toll area… hahaha… Another confusion!
Exploriders?
I know. There’s no such word in the English dictionary. But for all purposes and intent, “exploriders” should summaries who and what we are for now. The three guys sort of said that they were into exploring new things, or unique places and maybe unfamiliar experiences… And these as they put it, is best done through riding. Not any rides mind you. Epic and extended days of rides.
DocZul, Hussein and DocAzmi are apparently riding buddies whom have been doing epic rides (domestically) for quite sometime already (more than 8 years I think) . I’ve known DocZul through SBM (the now defunct bike forum) and has ridden together in a group on many ride occasions. But those were short rides – halfday kind of rides. Those were the times when he was riding Honda 954 and I would be on my R1. The other two guys, Hussein and DocAzmi, would be my new acquaintances…
Day 1, Thursday 29-Oct-2020. From Seremban, our route would be to Karak via Kuala Klawang then to Kuala Lipis via Sertik-Mempaga route.
The Kuala Klawang stretch is quite a familiar route for us (I would think). So everyone seemed quite comfortable in negotiating the twists and turns of this popular route among riders. What is more important, the ride brought smiles to everyone….
Yupp.. this was our first makan stop on this trip. And this would be the most memorable one I think. And it may be because of the photo below.. :-)
Well, that was that. Hussein did get a replacement for his cicak-swimming pool milo ais. And we all had a good laugh about it. Another thing to remember about this place was: as we were getting onto our bikes, a pakcik greeted us with this phrase “satu ada? satu? satu?” We could not figure out what he meant initially. But Hussein did caught up on it… The fella was asking for one ringgit! When given, he was very happy. As it turned out, he was having done mental health issues…. May Allah ease things for him….
So we pushed on after spending a bit more time than needed at that stall. After filling our tummies, we headed out towards Karak… the ride was normal.. And if any bikers would know, the Kuala Klawang-Karak route offers quite an excitable riding experience. Just as we were warmed up to the twists and turns, we found ourselves already arriving in Karak.
After a short break at this station, we heed on towards Sungai Dua to do the Sertik-Mempaga route. It has been a very long time since I last ride on this route – more than 5 years if I recall correctly. There are some improvements on the road conditions, but not much considering the years…
DocZul has set the route to be as "rural" as possible. Thus we found ourselves riding through kampungs and with more than we could ask for twisties... good bends for honing our riding skills, I must say!
The route took us to Benta roundabout on the Raub-Gua Musang main road. From Benta roundabout, it was the regular Bentong-Gua Musang road. Not as busy as we expected despite the extended weekend - (today is Maulid holiday) if you were to take one day off on Friday, like we do.
It was already close to 2:30pm when we made our stop in Kuala Lipis, looking for that “0”milestone.
It was already about 3:00pm when we stopped for lunch…. Well originally for just coconut shake… but the stall owner was kind enough to offer rice with “kijang masak & patin tempoyak ” – on the house! (story was, he catered for a lunch function, and there were leftovers) while I skipped having rice plus all those for lunch that day, the guys said it was delicious!
We left Kuala Lipis around 3:30 and rode non-stop to Gua Musang, arriving at 5:00 just in time (fuel depletion-wise) for a refuel, and another breather + toilet duties.
Also a quick photo stop at the now famous “Masjid Buluh”
From there, we had another 67km to reach our final destination for the day – Gunung Stong Resort. Taking the Gua Musang-Jelawang road (route D29), it would take about one hour with a federal speed. However it took us a bit longer as we had to stop at Kampung Meranto when heavy rain/thunderstorm greeted us.
It was already near dark (around 6.40) when we checked in at the resort. Our plan to take a dip in the river was a “no go” due to the rapid water flow.
So, this “exclusive” resort was taken over by the current operator about two years back. As shared by the father-son entrepreneurs, it was in a desolated and rundown state when they took possession of the property. They have spent few hundred thousand Ringgit to do the place up… But from what we see, lots more needed doing.
Now dinner. This place do not have a restaurant. So, we had to go out for meals. Fortunately the son is also a biker. And all bikers are brothers! Hahahaha… He offered and took us out in his car to a restaurant nearby…
Got back to the resort and everyone hit the sack almost immediately – at least for me lahh! While slipping into deep rest, I swear I heard DocAzmi and Hussein talking about…. err can’t remember… But I am certain DocZul was on his mobile playing games!
End of Day 1. Total time, from 8:30am at Caltex Elite USJ to 6:30pm Stong Hill Resort. Total mileage – not so sure… Hahaha but if per Google map, about 485km. Not too shabby ehhh… :-)
Day 2, Friday 30-Oct. The initial plan was to go to Kota Bharu. But somehow I managed to talk everyone out of it seeing that it’s a Friday and I know from experience many places (of interest) would be closed. Furthermore, we had planned to perform Friday prayer at a not so crowded masjid, which would be away from big towns. Also, I wanted to stop by Hospital Kuala Krai to visit my Dotter there….
So we left Stong around 10:20 and made a quick photopose at Dabong Train Station, which by the way has gone viral in the past months. Not sure why, but many Instagrammers are visiting this place… Google it.
The Jelawang to Sungai Sam (and Junction to the main road of Gua Musang-Kuala Krai) was most exhilarating and unpredictable at the same time. With short blind corners and corners with uphill ascend, even the hati kering riders would get their hati basah woooo… Anyway, too bad I didn’t have any action cam mounted. e stopped for, again a late breakfast somewhere along the Dabong route. It was not a great one, but okay lah to garner energy.
It was a very quick visit with dotter, whom was on duty that day. She could not spend longer time even if she wanted to. Plus we were also on a tight schedule. Friday time is early during this period – 12.54pm. So we really to be at a masjid we’ll before that.
When we left the hospital, it was already 12:20pm. We decided to find a masjid in Kuala Krai town as the clock was already at 12:35 when we arrived at the town’s t-junction.
The AJK there were really welcoming us that day. Alhamdulillah… We were given a room to change and to keep our things (safely). Helmets jackets and boots… We would definitely solat with a peace of mind… Jazakallahu..
Earlier in the morning, the plan for today was to reach Besut, my home town before Friday prayer. And I’ve asked my kakak ipar to prepare lunch. But we underestimated the time it took to reach Kuala Krai from Stong. So, my abang left a message that lunch was waiting (around 2:30)… Maybe he thought we had a change of plans and head straight to Kenyir, our final destination for the day.
We arrived Jertih at around 2:45pm. Again, timing was right as our fuel tanks were at one bar. After a quick refill, we headed to my kampung, which was about 10 minutes away…
It was really a lunch stop at my brother’s. And the stop was quite brief. The good thing is, my mom’s (and childhood) home is just next door. So I was able to visit my mom as well…. In less than an hour we were again on our way… But to their surprise, I made another unannounced stop to visit my in-laws 5km away…
Forty minutes later, we were on our way to Kenyir. Stopping only to buy some titbits along the way, we arrived Kenyir around 6:30pm.
There were nothing much to do here. Later we learned that this ten rooms establishment has only two rooms for rent. The other eight rooms are being occupied by staff of the local authority (KETENGAH). Last activity for day, went out for dinner at a nearby RnR (despite the not so busy road, they set up an RnR here).
Day 3, Saturday 31-Oct. We were out of the hotel around 8:15am. Had instant coffee before a proper breakfast outside. Not sure if there are any restaurants here… So, alas perut sikit lah…
Before moving on…. a bit of exploring done… Errr… More of photoshoot and posing…
In no time at all we were in Kuala Berang. About half an hour to be specific. The first order of business was to find nasi dagang for the guys. They gave been asking about it since day 1. Tried to get my kakak ipar to prepare for lunch yesterday, but it was too short a notice. Anyway, asking around, while I was told its already late in the day for nasi dagang (what??? Its only 9am!), we were directed to a restaurant associated with a cycling gold medalist that would serve nasi dagang.
Tummy filled, it would be a non-stop ride (except for refuelling) to Pekan Pahang. And maybe a quick stop that was made to a nearby Mr. DIY shop to buy chain lubes and applying to my bike and Hussein’s V-strom. Notable stretches on this route would be the old Jabor-Kuantan road, with narrow and very tight turns not to mention the sands and gravel on the road surface.
So, the plan was to meet up our (me & DocZul) friend in Pekan. We were set not to do lunch but maybe have a coffee break with Ahjai, a SBMers whom we thought is working in Pekan. But only today we learned he lives in Pekan (outskirt) but his office is in Kuantan. Luckily today is a weekend. Otherwise we would have missed him again as we did during our stopover in August during our first ride Pusing Malaya.
As mentioned, Ahjai’s home is not in town, so he directed us to a nearby restaurant where who then go to meet us.
Continuing on, our next stop would be our last destination for the day – Endau Beach Resort. From Google map, the travel from pekan would take about an hour and a half. We left Pekan at around 2:50pm, arriving around 4:10 at the Endau bridge. Of course we made a short refuelling stop along the way… plus one unplanned stop as Hussein forgot to properly close his topbox.
Landmark for Endau…
From this place, it would be another 20 minutes or so to get to Endau Beach Resort, located at Tanjung Penyabung. We we finally arrived at the place it was 4:45pm – the earliest timing reaching hotel on this trip.
The day (or rather, night) was ended with a stroll along the seaside then having dinner at the open makan place just opposite the hotel.
Earlier after checking in, them three guys had already went for a stroll and had some food (mee goreng, as they told me later) and teh tarik at this same place. Later that night, while we were sleeping, apparently Hussein and DocZul had to visit the toilet once or twice…. Likely the food they had dff o not agree with their stomach… Anyway….
Next morning, we were still debating on which route to take for our last leg of this journey. Go back to Rompin and ride through Muadzam Shah or go down to Mersing then tide through Kluang?
Day 4, Sunday 1-Nov-2020. After we agreed to go south and maybe stop in Batu Pahat for nasi briyani… I called my long time buddy Hj. Nizam asking him if he would want to meet up with us. Long story short, we set to meet at Kluang.
We agreed to make a quick breakfast stop in Endau, at the restaurant that we’ve been before during our trip in August. We liked the roti canai with kari kambing there – “terlanjangggg” as repeatedly exclaimed by Hussein. However, this time around the roti was… not as what we tasted before.
What was supposed to be a half an hour tops breakfast ended up more an hour spent at this place. Hussein was really arrested by a suspected food poisoning. After taking charcoal tablet plus panadol, we let him rest at the table. We only left around 11:15am after Hussein was feeling better and was confident to ride again.
Onwards to Kluang whereby we’re supposed to meet up with Hj. Nizam around 12:00. And we were running late… Huhuhu… And I didn’t heads up to him! Apologies bro!
We finally arrived Kluang just before 1:00pm. Hj. Nizam was actually waiting at a different/new Kluang Station Coffee while we went to original shop at the railstation. Anyway, all was well…
After a brief discussion later, we decided to go to Restoran Kambing 40 Hari (for lunch?) as DocAzmi has not been there before – thus Batu Pahat will not be on our itinerary today.
Arriving around 2:30 at the restaurant, it was a pleasant surprise to see not that big a crowd lining up. This would be not how it was normally on weekends, especially Sunday.
As we pulled to park, DocAzmi whom arrived last exclaimed after he stepped off his bike “beg saya cicir laa”… And we saw that his duffel bag was not there… Hihihihi… The road surface few kilometres from this place was really uneven. With just ropes and not bungy cords used to tie the bag, the humping and bumping could cause the rope to loosen. And that was what happened to DocAmin’s bag. Anyway, I went back and found the bag on the roadside a few kilometres away. All was well, except for few scratches and buffs on the hypergear duffel.
The nasi Arab kambing talam was (this time) a lil’ too big a serving for the five of us. Probably because the two guys – DocZul and Hussein – were having stomach issues. We suspected it was from the burgers they had the night before. In fact Hussein was nauseating when we stop for breakfast at Mutiara Biru Bistro in Endau.
After finishing, or rather unable to finish the nasi Arab kambing talam which would normally be just nice for 5 pax, we retired to the surau to perform our solat… and for the “injured” to recover…
Towards the end of our rests, the mother of this shop owner came to talk us. Talk and giving advise! And at the end of it, she gave a souvenier to each us in the form of an oversize mug with this message “minum kongsi satu cawan dengan isteri ya..”
We parted ways with Hj. Nizam at Yong Peng toll gate. Though originally we wanted to take the trunk roads, we decided to do the highway since the two guys was not at full energy no thanks to the food poisoning. In fact they were still purging the next day after getting home from this ride.
We left the restaurant at 4:30pm and made quite a long pitstop (half an hour) at Air Keroh Jejantas RnR.
Alhamdulillah everyone arrived home safely, first DocZul in Seremban (probably before 7:00pm) and last would be Hussein and me. I reached home at 7:30. DocAzmi got home around the same time or slightly earlier as he was quite far ahead of me and Hussein on the last leg of our ride (Elite hiway)…
All in all, this has been a very enjoyable exploride!!! Thanks guys for the good company. Looking forward to more rides with you guys…
More pics…
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