It was an early start for this year’s monsoon season as it began to rain almost every day since October. It has affected our ride & camp trip, as the last ride for this year began it searches for new destination. After a month long voting in our ride group, Mt. Jerai emerged as a winner and we have planned to ride to Mt. Jerai through Lake Beris and Gerik on the last weekend of October.
The plan is to ride to Mt. Jerai and camp at Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Teroi after a short detour to a magnificent Lake Beris, at Sik, Kedah. The man-made lake completed in 2004, served as freshwater catchment for Kedah & Pulau Pinang while being a reservoir that helped to control the flooding at Kuala Muda valley during monsoon season.
Zadique & Fad departed earlier on Friday afternoon and stayed overnight at D’Puncak Beris Lake Resort while Jez and Kak Shida departed on Friday night and joined them at the resort. Ikhwan, Tom and me will meet at R&R Rawang on Saturday morning and head to the resort to join Ibrahim and Mark.
It was a cloudy morning with ambient temperature around 24°C when I departed from home around 7.15am. The tarmac was still wet from an overnight rain and I ride carefully around bends heading to our first RV point and arrived about 15 minutes later. Ikhwan & Tom arrived around 7.30am and after a short conversation, we were off to Kuala Kangsar.
Traffic was plenty but still smooth heading towards Ipoh with scores of motorcycle groups heading towards the same direction. The weather remained cloudy until Tanjung Malim and few drops of sprinkle just started to ease off when we were arriving at Menora tunnel. Coming out of the tunnel we were awed by the view of mists on the surrounding hill but it was too dangerous to stop for pictures on the curvy downhill towards Sungai Perak.
It was sunny when we passed Tasik Raban with ambient temperature climb to soaring 31°C and it continued to be hot when we were having lunch at Pengkalan Hulu.
We met a couple more riders en route to Betong on various motorcycles including vespa and small cubs. Around 12.30pm, we were on the bike again heading towards Weng and Sik, with a few pockets of drizzle along K57 and K157. The tarmac surface is excellent with magnificent view of Ulu Muda Forest Reserve, Bukit Jelutong (1003m) on the left and Bukit Gua Harimau (654m) on the right. We arrived at the resort around 1.30pm and joined the rest of the riders.
Photo Credit to Tom
Photo Credit to Jezz
D’Puncak Beris Lake Resort GPS N5.95512 E100.78679
Tom made a u-turn on soft grass and loose footing
Photo Credit to Zadique
Mark brought along a friend called Yang, whom had just acquired a GS310 and looking for riding buddies. Ibrahim whom ride from Bertam alone arrived around 2pm and we departed shortly after. Just before entering Sik town, it was raining heavily and we stopped for lunch at Taman Kenanga.
Mark led the group towards Gurun and through a newly opened road access to Pulau Bunting. The new road has excellent tarmac surface with views of paddy field and Mt. Jerai as its background. Since the connection to the bridge has been accessible to cars, there were more cars on the bridge since the last time I was there.
(from left) Jezz, Fad, Tom, Izadique, Ikhwan, Mark
(left to right) Yang, Ibrahim, Shida, Fad & Ikhwan. Photo Credit to Jezz
We were off again to Mt. Jerai around 4.30pm and the weather turned cloudy. It was a slow climb towards the park and everyone took extra precautions to scale the wet winding road.
We safely arrived at the park around 5.10pm and settled by a hut near the end of the park with view of Yan district at our disposal. As we were unpacking, a worker approached us and informed that we need to move our bikes to the designated parking area. We obligated and parked our bike at the area.
Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Teroi, Mt. Jerai, Kedah (800m)
GPS N5.80751 E100.43542
Photo Credit to KW Mark
Mark & Yang took off after we have finished setting up tents, as his house is a mere 30 minutes away from the campsite. It started to rain when we have just finished setting up tents and the entire park was engulfed in mist.
Fad, a slightly rounded, tall figure with sweet smiling face donning a moustache, planned to sleep under a hut in a thin sleeping bag. That for me, was a tall order to brave the mountain coldness. Jezz on the other hands, hung his hammock between two trees two feet beside the river.
Photo Credit to Tom
Photo Credit to Jezz
There was a group of school kids with their teacher entourage from Taiping camping at the park, occupying two large huts.
Photo Credit to Jezz
I tried to brave the coldness and jump into a pool with natural herbal water and lasted only about 10 seconds. As I have finished changing to dry clothes, it has stopped raining and we sat enjoying the sunset.
As the sun set, it feels cold and we sat down enjoying dinner packed from lunch place and started to barbeque lamb slices over hot coffee. Zadique, a street scrambler rider with brown khakis and denim top, brought Pilaf Rice. He is a rimba raid veteran and seems a little bit disturbed by the lack of offroad section in this ride.
Photo Credit to Ikhwan
Photo Credit to Ikhwan
Photo Credit to Jezz
We chatted through the night and around 11pm, we retrieved to our tents. It was a cold night with ambient temperature around 16°C and occasional gusts of winds. I was awakened in the middle of the night looking for my blanket and the air mattress helps to insulate the cold ground. My respect to Jezz and Fad who doesn’t enjoy the amenities that I have but remain steadfast in braving the cold mountain night.
I was awakened around 6am the next morning and ready for my morning prayer. I’ve spend some time to snap a couple more pictures of the sun rise before breakfast.
Photo Credit to Ikhwan
Just after breakfast, Mr. Mazlan, a slender built man around 40s came to our attention. He is the ranger-in-charge of the park and inquire about our permission to camp. We politely replied that we didn’t have any and were not aware of the requirement to apply for it. He mentioned the rules & requirement of park, however was willing to let us pass this time around with a warning. So anyone in the future planning to camp at the park should have a written consent from Kedah Forestry Department.
Mr. Mazlan (Mt. Jerai Park Ranger)
HP: +6017 499 9825
Office: +604 421 2835
I had another shot at the pool and this time it was slightly more than 30 minutes. By 10am, we have cleared the campsite and we’ve gathered for a group photo.
We rode to Jerai resort afterwards and ambient temperature at the resort was around 18°C. All bikes are not allowed to enter and we have parked just before the entrance gate. I have volunteered to guard our gears while the rest walked to the resort.
As we rode down, Ibrahim said goodbye to us and proceeded to Gurun toll while we continued towards Bukit Selambau and Kuala Ketil through K152.
The tarmac surface is brand new and road surfacing works on K17 towards Kuala Ketil was still in-progress.
We rode through Karangan and Mahang en route to Selama and the weather was cloudy. It started to drizzle when we arrived at Selama, for a quick stop at Telaga Gergasi and Sungai Atas Sungai.
Telaga Gergasi & Sungai atas Sungai
GPS N5.11869 E100.77067
We continued towards Tebing Tinggi waterfall through A6 Kampung Sumpitan and A76 Lenggong – Kuala Kangsar and the weather cleared when we were through the winding roads.
Shida - Photo Credit to Zadique
It was around 2.15pm when we arrived at Restoran Tasik Raban for lunch while Jezz & Kak Shida missed us as they stopped for petrol at Lenggong.
After lunch we continued towards KL on NSE and the traffic was very bad heading to south. The last section of the ride was in bad traffic and intermittent rain between Kuala Kangsar and Tanjung Malim. Ikhwan, Tom & myself stopped at R&R Ulu Bernam for our last break but the rest missed this stop.
It was a great ride with magnificent friends along astounding routes. Riding during a rainy season also was a great opportunities as we were having a lot of beautiful cloud formations and mists during the two day ride. This concludes our ride & camp adventures this year and I can only wish we would be able to continue with more destinations next year.
Ride snippets:
Riders:
1. Rashidin Kawasaki Versys 650
2. Ikhwan Kawasaki Versys 650
3. Tom Kawasaki Versys 650
4. Ibrahim Triumph Tiger 800 XRX
5. Izadique Triumph Street Scrambler 900
6. Fad Triumph Street Twin 900
7. Jez Yamaha FZ150
8. Shida Yamaha LC135
9. KW Mark BMW F800GS
10. Yang BMW G310GS
Distance: 899km
Date: 27th – 28th September 2018
Average moving speed: 85km/h
Lowest temperature: 16°C (Campsite)
Highest temperature: 34°C (Kuala Kangsar – Grik A76)
Expenditures:
Petrol: RM100
Food: RM30 – Lunch & Dinner
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