Kampung Ulu Tual (Pos Senderut) is located about 45km from
the main road (C5) that connects Sungai Koyan and Raub. It is a settlement of Suku Semai, made of 14 smaller villages which has population of about 500 people.
In January 2014,
the government has announce that the road leading into the settlement will be upgraded
and shorten the journey from 4 hours to about one hour. Pos Senderut has a primary school, a surau and a village clinic.
Yusuf and I met at R&R Rawang around 7.30am that
Saturday morning and we departed about 10 minutes afterwards. The weather that
morning is clear and hot although is it still early in the morning.
We exited through Bukit Beruntung exit and heads towards
Rasa before stopping right before Sungai Selangor Dam to fix my helmet mounted
camera.
The dam water level is lower than what I saw in February and
there are a lot of bush fires along the route to Fraser Hill.
The winding road
up is smooth and there are a lot of group of bicyclist riding up.
We arrived at Raub around 10.00am and stopped by a small
warung by the roadside to pack our lunch.
We then made another stop at Petronas
Raub heading to Sungai Koyan to refuel. By 10.30am, we have arrived at the main
junction on the road construction to Pos Senderut and we reduce our tyre
pressure to begin our offroad adventure.
Pos Senderut Entrance (4.116714, 101.777798)
The road under construction is made of loose gravel (medium
to big size), small section of red colored soil and about 30% of 2 inch thick
white fine dust. The dust is so thick, you are unable to see small holes and
waterways on the road.
It was scouring hot and dusty journey towards Pos Senderut
and by the time we arrive at Kampung Tual (about 10km to SK Senderut), a steady
stream of cold water is flowing by the roadside and we are tempted to stop and
jump into it!
Upgrading works is still on-going but only at small areas
thick white dust, almost like smoke from 2T engine
Thick white dust completely covered the road and Yusuf slipped his front wheel during one of the ascending section
Parked and went for immediate assistance
minor scratches and good to continue.. note the thick dust on the road surface
Yusuf was stranded in the thick dust and his road tyre provide little traction on this ascending dusty section so we stopped for water and rest. A little bit of push and we are good to continue.
Note how thick was the dust
We arrived at the school around 12.15pm, about 2 hours after
we started our offroad inbound.
Children of the village having fun in the river
After a quick look around, we decided to rest
near Surau Pos Senderut, and finally into the water!
Surau Pos Senderut (4.169260, 101.585835) possible campsite
with facilities: Surau, toilet
We went out around 2pm and the journey out is faster and we made it out safely under 1 hour.
We stopped by Lemang To'ki restaurant in Raub for a drink
We made our last stop at Gombak rest area and I arrived home around 6pm.
I am satisfied
because I have finally completed this ride, which was planned and queued since
June 2015. The road connecting this settlement to the main road is at 75%, with
most of the bridges, drainage and terracing work is completed. The river
flowing along the settlement is cold and refreshing which made the entire ride
worthwhile.
My advice to other rider planning to visit the place is to
prepare for very thick dust by wearing proper helmet, mask or other face
shields. Brought back all rubbish and litters you bring and say hi to almost
everyone you met along the route and in the destination and finally bring
something for the kids in Pos Senderut.
I am hoping that with the completion of the road upgrading soon, the river remains crystal clear, steady strong current (altough amidst hot season) and remains cool for our future generations to enjoy.
p/s - please ignore the date on most of the picture. Its my bad ; 0
Ride snippets
Rider: Mr. Yusuf Musa & Myself
Distance: 370km
Duration: 10.5 hours
Petrol: RM90
Date: 9th April 2016
