Ride to Source of Sungai Muar (Hulu Sungai Muar)

I was born in Muar and although my family moved to many places during my childhood time, we always spent most of our holiday by the riverbank of Muar River mouth. It is rich in history and involved directly with the opening of many places in peninsular Malaysia including Pahang & Terengganu where it was the trade and main means of transportation in the early days. It has also involved in many wars between the Portuguese, Dutch, Aceh, and Malacca.

Therefore my curiosity started my search for the head water of Muar River (Hulu Sungai Muar) and from there I started planning a route. The river originate from the valleys of Gunung Telapak Buruk in Kuala Pilah before it flows to Kampung Talang, Negeri Sembilan. Talang Dam (or also known as Ulu Muar Dam) started construction in 1989 and completed in 1992, is built to provide fresh water for the state residence, using various water sources including the water of muar river.

I started from Rawang around 7.00am on Sunday morning and head towards Ampang. From North South expressway (E1) I took Duke Highway (E33) towards Ampang before taking route 28 MRR2 to get to Pandan Jaya and climbing towards Bukit Saga. From there I went towards Semenyih Dam and Kuala Klawang route B116, B19 and B32.

Semenyih dam water level is low and the trees on the roadside are dried due to the hot weather. 

The route around the dam is filled with bike enthusiast enjoying the morning breeze.

Just after Kampung Titi, I turned left towards Kampung Sungai Rotan through N27 towards Pertang.

The road gets smaller as I turned right towards Kampung Kemalau (N19) and even smaller at the right turn after Kampung Padang Lebar.   

From Geylang to Gelang

Honestly I am not very familiar with Kuala Pilah area although my elder brother owned a house in Ampangan and we did spent time in Ulu Bendol. 

The route from Kampung Geylang (Yes, in N9 not Singapore) through Kampung Ghalib, Kampung Gelang and ended in Kampung Jerjak is very beautiful. 

It has lush greenery of the rain-forest, tight s-corner with ascending and hair-pin descending sections with views of Batu Kikir area.

I took a break at this restaurant for brunch, N9 style - masak lemak daging salai, telur itik & sayur jantung

I continue my ride towards Talang Dam through small village road

Entrance to the dam is closed to public but there are many other access to the Talang Lake. 

I took a right turn before the gate heading towards Kampung Langkap about 20km small route around the lake. 

I head to the end of tarmac and decided to turn back as the risk of riding alone in this area is quite high. Later i found out that this turning point is a mere 2.5km away from Jeram Tengkek (off road).

There is it, the start of Muar River just after Talang Dam or Ulu Muar Dam in Kampung Talang, Negeri Sembilan.

I took a small road beside the bridge

To take a look at this river, up close & personal - the Muar River

Although it is a hot and dry season, riding along small routes surrounded by forest reserve and small villages felt cool and relatively cold.

 It reminded me that Malaysia is blessed with a rich bio-diversified rain forest and amazing landscape for us to appreciate and sustain for our future generations. 

Going back through Lekas Highway (E21) I met this Harley Davidson group

Riders must play their part to promote sustainable tourism and responsible development or many of the treasures will disappear and lost. On the same note, I would also like to promote local tourism as we have abundance of routes and loops awaiting to be discovered and documented.

This is sunset in the rivermouth of Muar river

Ride snippets:

Rider: Myself in V650

Distance: 340km

Duration: 6 hours plus stops

Petrol: RM40

Date: 27th March 2016

Ride and Camp to Pantai Seri Tujuh, Tumpat

Pantai Seri Tujuh is the outmost north public beach in Peninsular Malaysia. Bordering town of Tak Bai in Thailand, the beach is very famous and a regular hanging out spot for local and foreign tourists enjoying the sea breeze and beach views. It is named Pantai Seri Tujuh (7 beaches) because it has seven or more bays in the area.

Our journey to Pantai Seri Tujuh looks roughly like this:

I had a ride and camp with Yusuf last year where we camp in pantai Tok Bali and I had promised Yusuf that we will do another ride and camp together once he gets his hands on his new bike and after a year later we finally gets to do it again. 

Joining us is my brother in-law Joe and Abang Zul Mamat. Another newcomer in this ride & camp is my wife as my pillion, which makes it special as I have waited a very long time for this opportunity to come, since the birth of our last daughter 2 years ago. With her onboard, I now have a professional photographer to document our ride.

The three of us met at R&R Rawang on Saturday morning and we departed around 9am. 

The weather was hot but lovely as ride through north south expressway heading to Kuala Kangsar. 

The traffic was a little bit congested as expected since this weekend is a school holiday weekend. It started to get very bad as we got to Sungai Siput climbing to the tunnel and reduced to a standstill after the tunnel heading to Sungai Perak.

 A lorry has overturned in an accident with a car and the crane used to lift the lorry out of the way was blocking all lanes.

We met Joe at Kuala Kangsar exit around 11.15am

 and continue our journey through Lenggong and Gerik.

The weather was again hot and clear as we climbed towards Titiwangsa range taking route 4 and arrived at Titiwangsa rest area around 1.30pm for our lunch. 

The restaurant was packed as it is the only restaurant available there and the service was poor.

Yes we've made it!!

But where is Abang Zul?
Right behind us.

  

Photo Credit: Nur Hamizah Ideres

From there we ride down to Jeli and stopped again at Bukit Bunga for drinks and souvenirs.

Photo Credit: Yusuf Musa

We continue north toward Rantau Panjang through route 196 skipping duty free zone area and Rantau Panjang town. 

We made a quick stop at the famous Mundok jetty and chatted with armed men in uniform. After the recent bombing in Golok, the jetty has now received less visitors and the security in this area has been tightened.

(Photo Credit to Joe Langkawi)

There are many wedding ceremony today by the road side and this is one of it.

We stopped for petrol at Petronas Pengkalan Kubur before reaching our campsite at around 5.45pm.

Campsite Pantai Seri Tujuh 6.219123, 102.130446
Facilities: Public toilet, restaurant & Musolla 1km away

The soft sand at this campsite made it difficult for our heavy bikes to get in and we had to unload all before we can park at our campsite. 

Photo Credit: Yusuf Musa

The place is very lively filled with stalls and visitors strolling the beach. We finished setting up camp around 7pm and nearby facilities of Surau and public toilets made this campsite very convenience.

Later that night we had dinner and Yusuf brought marshmallow for late snacks. 

Photo Credit: Yusuf Musa

We chatted through the night and by 11.30pm everyone retrieved to their tents. Joe however found it was too hot and slept under the stars accompanied by mosquitos : ).

The next morning we all had nasi lemak for breakfast, courtesy of Syahril, who had to withdraw from joining us because of work responsibility. Yusuf made some omelet and we also have instant noodles. 

No sunrise at this beach, blocked behind the treeline

Photo Credit Abang Zul Mamat

My wife and I took a stroll along the beach and I tested the waves soon after breakfast.

We started packing and ready to leave the campsite around 9.30am. Joe and his wife had other plans so we said goodbye to each other at the beach. 

The girls for this ride.. ( ;

The three of us continue home through Pengkalan Kubor and Rantau Panjang.

Pasir Mas - Felda Kemahang - Lakota Shortcut

We went back through Pasir Mas route D181 before taking a shortcut trough small estate road heading to Felda Kemahang. 

From there we continue to Kampung Batu Gajah inner road 199 with breathtaking view and superb winding road around Ayer Lanas hill range and Bukit Kemahang route 198 Jedok – Air Chanal – Legeh. 

Take 5 to enjoy the view

From Kampung Sungai Satan we turn left towards Lakota and Jeli. (perhaps Dragonball writer is connected to this village : ) )

This is in Kelantan, Malaysia

From Jeli we continue to route 66 Sungai Sam – Dabong with breathtaking views of Gunung Stong Tengah. 

We stopped for lunch at Dabong railway station and this is my 2^nd visit to this place (1st visit with Syahril) to check out the place’s changes after the big flood in 2014.

From Dabong, we continue through route D29 towards Gua Musang and hoping that the temporary steel bridge across Sungai Betis is passable after the last monsoon season. 

For the record, a concrete bridge in Kampung Pulau Setelu crossing Sungai Betis was damaged during the big flood and the makeshift bridge was closed to traffic in December last year.

By the time we arrived at Gua Musang it was 2pm and it was scoring hot when we stopped for break at Petron Gua Musang. 

We continue towards Kuala Lipis and the newly constructed road 8 between Kampung Kubang Rusa to Kampung Kecur is lovely. We made another stop at Petronas Mukim Gali Raub for petrol and toilet break.

We continue towards Karak and made our last stop at Lentang rest area to cool off, the natural way. We say goodbye to each other here and departed around 6.30pm.

We arrived home later that day and we picked up our kids from their nanny.

It felt really good and satisfying as we have checked all items that I planned to do during this ride. The beautiful route with a very nice campsite and adventurous ride back is very memorable for all participants.

My advice to other riders is to experience these by yourself as things can change very fast. Be prepared for a very warm weather and drink a lot of water!

p/s - All photo credit goes to Effa Rina Tajudin unless mentioned otherwise.

Ride snippets

Rider:

Mr. Zul Mamat - Versys 1000

Mr. Yusuf Musa – F800 GS

Mr. Joe Langkawi & Nur Ideres – Versys 650

Myself & Effa – Versys 650

Distance: 1050km

Duration: 2 days

Petrol: RM120

Date: 12-13 March 2016