Ride to Kenyir Lake and Temenggor Lake

Kenyir Lake

Kenyir Lake is the biggest man-made freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and it is a result of Kenyir dam constructed in between 1978 to 1985, meant to generate electricity and prevent yearly flooding in Terengganu River valley. Its water level is highest in between March to April and it has more than 340 small islands, about 14 waterfalls and numerous rapids and rivers.

Temenggor Lake

Temenggor lake is the second biggest man-made lake in Peninsular Malaysia resulted from a hydroelectric dam constructed in between 1967 and 1972. Besides its natural function to prevent flooding at upper Perak River valley and providing electricity, it is also intended to flush out communist separatist troops that dwells into the Temenggor lowlands and gorges during the fight in the early formation of Malaysia. 

Roads that passed through these lakes are Felda Aring – Kuala Berang (T156) for Lake Kenyir and FT004 Jeli to Grik.

The plan is to ride around Kenyir Lake from Gua Musang, camp one night in Tok Bali beach before ride back through Banding Island and Temenggor Lake.
Joining me in this ride is Yusuf, in Sym VTS200 and the route looks like this:

We met at BHP Karak around 8am and started heading towards Bentong. The weather is lovely and there are not many vehicles on Karak highway that morning.

Road leading to Gua Musang is smooth and by this time it is starting to get hot.

Straight roads and lovely weather as we passed Raub

As we passed Kuala Lipis, newly constructed road has this unique wildlife underpass or ‘eco-viaduct’. 

It is around 11.30am when we reached Gua Musang and we stopped for lunch before heading to Felda Chiku and Felda Aring.

Some sections in Felda Aring are under repairs from landslide and road resurfacing works

Small but lovely roads are available throughout Felda Aring

Photo Credit to Muhammad Yusuf Musa

We missed this junction and went straight to Felda Aring. So we double back and return to the correct T156

We reached this famous state border tree, in between Terenganu and Kelantan.

and performed this dangerous pose... (that is a joke.. this road has almost no traffic)

Update July 2019:
We have returned here recently

Lovely route around Lake Kenyir, 

although many road repairs are still on-going

Many areas are still under repairs from the last monsoon season

It is scouring hot when we reach Lake Kenyir and the idea to jump straight into the water sounds interesting but we have decided to camp by the beach today and it is still a long way to the sea.

We reached Permaisuri around 3.30pm and stopped for rest and had this celup tepung

It is almost 5pm when we reached Tok Bali and after some site-searching, we decided to camp here for the night

tonight's roof

Masterchef Yusuf is preparing our late night supper

Sunrise view from our campsite

Photo Credit to Muhammad Yusuf Musa

Photo Credit to Muhammad Yusuf Musa

Semarak River, Tok Bali Kelantan

We packed out of camp around 8am in the second day and after a quick stop for shower, we head out to Bukit Bunga, Kelantan

There are many road works on-going on this route and relatively many vehicles on the road heading towards both direction

Nonetheless the views are breathtaking and magnificent

Riding past Pergau Dam

Despite riding at noon, this route is a relatively cold ride, because average road elevation in this area is above 600m

Road therapy

Two most important stops along this route are Titiwangsa rest area..

and Banding Island overlooking Temenggor Lake

It is half past 1pm when we reached Grik and we had lunch in Restoran Tasik Raban.

The weather is hot and humid when we rest at Tasik Raban 

Photo Credit to Muhammad Yusuf Musa

From Tasik Raban we entered the highway through Kuala Kangsar and headed south. 

Photo Credit to Muhammad Yusuf Musa

We make out last stop at Tapah RSA before saying goodbye to each other.

Note to self when planning for camping, need to bring insect repellent and a knife. This is my first ride and camping but rest assured it might not be my last!

Ride snippets

Rider: Mr.Yusuf Musa & Myself

Distance: 1076km

Duration: 2 days

Petrol: RM120

Date: Saturday Feb 28 to Sunday Mar 1, 2015

Ride to Pantai Penyabong through Bekok and Bukit Ibam

Pantai Penyabong is situated at the edge of Teluk Penyabong and it is a strategic spot for class-C fishing boats to seek refuge against rough sea condition as it is nicely shielded by Pulau Pelandok, Pulau Tengah and Pulau Acheh.

Situated about 2 hours from Johor Bahru and 4.5 hours from Kuala Lumpur, this scenic beach is a famous getaway spot for tourists.

Shahril and I met at Petron station in Ampang on Saturday morning and we set out at about 9am.
Our first day route look like this:

The journey through Jalan Sungai Lalang is not as misty as we are here last time but still it is very scenic and filled with two wheel enthusiasts having a morning stroll

Generally the road are in good condition, except for litters and untrimmed tall grass on the Selangor side of the road and one landslide

the signposts are also worn out

We went through a town called Rompin but not Pahang.. it is still in Negeri Sembilan!

Photo Credit: Google

We reached Chaah at noon and weather started changing.

Bekok to Paloh Shortcut

We did tried to take this route before but it is dark and raining when we were here last time. Although it is showing sign of raining this time around, with plenty of sunlight still available we finally finished this route albeit some time wasting getting lost in the palm oil plantation.

The actual route does not have a challenging route such as this!

It is here that I took a fall on slippery ground (mixture of loose soil + rainwater) and twisted my DRL. Apart from that, no serious damage or injury incurred.

We took a shelter underneath the railway bridge

 and some on-site repairs are required

Once we are on the right route, it is all good until Paloh

Right after Paloh, we took a coffee break at the famous Kluang Railway Station Coffee. Seems like the price is still maintained at the lower side despite all that popularity.. Kudos!

From Felda Kahang we passed Mersing town to get to Endau

We reached Endau Beach Resort around 5.30pm and picked this RM200 room by the pool to crash for the night.

We rode out to Endau for dinner that night and have a big feast to recover the lost energy in the plantation..

The second day we rode back to KL and our route look like this

and the highlight is the shortcut from Bukit Ibam to Felda Chini

Bukit Ibam to Felda Chini Shortcut

This route is mainly used by loggers around that area and aboriginal people to gain access to Muadzam Shah and Felda Chini.

Entrance from Bukit Ibam

Checking the all gears before taking the rough ride

The road went through the forest and logging activities is still active in this area

Road condition is rough with loose rocks but generally good

 With many unmarked junctions and sub-road, trying this road without a gps unit would be very dangerous. This is our first time here and even with gps guide we were struggling to get our direction right.

More unmarked junctions

Our first 'forest expedition' on board Kawasaki Versys

Stopped by a logging camp asking for direction

We finally found an exit to Felda Chini though palm oil plantation and met this huge monitor lizard taking an afternoon stroll in the middle of the road

and it took a while before it decided to let us pass through

We taking a short rest at Petronas station in Felda Chini and its time to relax the sored muscle from the rough route.

From Chini we went to river side road of C108 (Chini to Bera). The devastation from the last flooding is still very much visible as almost all settlement in the river valley of Sungai Pahang is submerged.

We had lunch at Bera waterfront before went to Mengkarak

Mengkarak to Bukit Mendi Shortcut

Mengkarak is a small town about 20km south of Temerloh. We stopped by a small shop to ask for direction to Felda Kemasul, and to verify the route as shown on the Garmin GPS,

"Ikut sini jalan boleh sampai sana, tapi jalan besar lalu Bera boleh, kenapa mau lalu sini?" said a half aged uncle in front of the small shop, giving us a grumpy look.

I replied to that with a smile and pushed on. It is almost 4pm when we passed through here.

Passing through security stops in between the estate road

Taking a break with a view of Triang, Pahang

We rode back through Karak highway after taking a short break in Karak town.

Met this Harley Davidson group of riders heading to KL as well

We made safely to our breakpoint - R&R Gombak at around 5.30pm before saying goodbye to each other.

This is indeed a very challenging ride for me as we went to many kind of road conditions from nice highway stretch, palm oil trunk road, rubber estate road and forest road.

It is a test of not just the rider but the versatility of the bike as well and its proven that Kawasaki Versys is a winner in this trip.

Ride snippets
Rider: Mr. Shahril Zulkifli & Myself
Distance: 950km
Duration: 2 days
Petrol: RM120
Date: 24th - 25th January 2015