Ride and Camp to Ahning Campsite, Kedah

 It was a year shrouded with uncertainty and anxiety. The grip of pandemic while it has loosen after the announcement of a successful vaccine development still restrict our activities and movement throughout the country. In addition, it rain a lot this year as compared to the average and my miniature garden which normally battling with lack of water is now flourishing. I have managed to squeeze a trip in between this and incoming holiday season to a campsite planned much earlier but was postpone due to interstate movement control order in September.

In the beginning only Fred and Mark stated their interest but Syahril somehow manage to charm his way into the trip a day into the ride weekend. The three of us will ride from R&R Rawang to Kuala Kangsar and off to Lata Buluh for lunch before joining Mark at the trailhead beside Sungai Ahning, located around 372km north of Kuala Lumpur. The campsite is a clearing on 280m cliff over Ahning Lake, a man-made lake created after the construction of Ahning Dam in 1985. It offers panaromic view of lake’s valley with jagged hilltops surrounding the irrigation dam.

It was around 8am when I left with ambient temperature around 23⁰C and the road was wet after an overnight rain. I arrived at the first rendezvous point around 8.30am and found Syahril already there while Fred arrived slightly after. After a quick chuckles, we rode towards R&R Sungai Perak and the traffic on the E1 North-South Expressway was plenty but smooth. As we passed Tanjung Malim, Gunung Liang’s peak was covered in clouds and the view was breath-taking. 

The weather remains cloudy with local spots of drizzle and we arrived on schedule. Fred was trailing behind and arrived slightly after. From there we exited through Kuala Kangsar and headed to Restoran Tasik Raban to pack lunch and dinner. It was around 12 noon when we arrive at the restaurant, which was just preparing for lunch meals.

Photo Credit to Syahril

We rode to Lata Buluh through A6 Jalan Sumpitan and it was drizzling as we entered a trailhead leading to Kampung Ayer Jernih, an adventurous option to the waterfall. 

Trailhead Lata Buluh GPS - You can also enter through Kg Ayer Jernih

N5.15734° E100.89208°

Fred and Syahril fell at this section but I was already ahead of them. When I returned they were already on the bike. Syahril’s bike unable to start at first so we jump the battery and it cranked beautifully. However it emitted white smoke, as the oil has overflown into the exhaust manifold. He told that it was turned upside down and the smoke disappeared after a while. Fred was alright and we arrived at the waterfall around 1.00pm.

Lata Buluh 

GPS N5.12931° E100.87747°

Photo Credit to Syahril

After lunch, we returned to A6 Jalan Sumpitan heading to Gerik. 

During one downhill corner I was entering it too fast. Late braking and slippery road cause my front wheel to slip as I tapped the brakes. I jumped while the bike skidded sideway and hit a road post. I escaped unscathed mostly due to my full protective gears while the bike only suffered scratches and broken windshield. After a few checks and test I have given a good to go and we continued towards Weng. 

Photo Credit to Fred

Photo Credit to Syahril

As I have lost my navigational setting during the fall, Syahril took over as lead. His ‘slow’ pledge as leader only lasted 10 minutes, when he disappeared among the traffic, only visible as we get near Gerik town.

At this point the weather was perfect, overcasts in a few spots along the road and the road surface on FT76 passing Gerik and later FT4 towards Kuala Pegang was immaculate. We took a right turn towards Baling and K10 to Weng afterwards. We stopped at Buraq’s Oil station in Weng to refill and continued on Lebuhraya Baling – Durian Burung towards Pedu. 

However after 15 minutes on the road, we were disappointed when we found the road was closed so we have to turned back towards Sik and take an alternate route. Sorry Mark – so many obstacles caused our delay of arrival.

We have to ride through Naka and Kampung Musa to back to Lebuhraya Baling – Durian Burung and met with a heavy rain before finally arrived at the trailhead around 6.40pm. 

Ahning Trailhead

GPS N6.35958° E100.71618°

The climb to the campsite was thrilling as it was steep and wet on loose rocky surface but all of us – including Fred, managed without any untoward incident. 

Photo Credit to KW Mark

We have managed setting up flysheet and tent just before the sunset. Mark was on quick setup tent (take 2 minutes), Fred has a new 2 pax tent while Syahril said he is going to have a tent upgrade.

Campsite Ahning

GPS N6.35097° E100.72582°

Photo Credit to KW Mark

That night we rekindle our past rides and it has been a year since I met Mark. This is also the first time Syahril, Fred and Mark met each other since they all join throughout different timeline. After 8pm it started to get cold and steady breeze with mist blowing towards us from the valley below and I escaped to my sleeping bag. Around 11pm we went to bed. That night the wind stopped and it started to rain heavily about two hours.

The following morning the weather was clear and that is when I have decided to remove our big flysheet that was blocking the view. As soon as I have finished, it started to drizzle so Syahril proposed we could use his small flysheet as shelter. 

Photo Credit to Fred

We had breakfast in the clouds and it continued to rain even when we started packing. 

Photo Credit to KW Mark

Photo Credit to KW Mark

It was 9.30am when we headed to the main entrance of the dam for a group photo and later rode to Mark’s home, where he has offered me his old windshield for replacement. 

Photo Credit to KW Mark

Photo Credit to KW Mark

We rode through Kuala Nerang and later towards Alor Setar Selatan. The weather was gloomy with intermittent drizzle and we arrived at Mark’s home around 11am. We were introduced to Mark’s family and installation of the replacement windshield was quick. We went to lunch at a nearby Nasi Kandar and was joined by Mark’s wife. After lunch we rode back towards KL through the NSE highway.

I have arrived home safely around 4.30pm and relieved that I have successfully concluded this year’s ride and camp. It was hope that next year, conditions will be better so we will have more opportunities to explore our region through our hobbies. One note to readers planning to visit this campsite, please take care of the cleanliness and take back whatever you brought in garbage bag.

Ride Snippets:

Riders:

1. Rashidin Kawasaki Versys 650

2. Fred Honda CB500X

3. KW Mark Honda PCX150

4. Syahril BMW 1200GS

Date: 19-20 December 2020

Lowest temperature: 18°C (Campsite)

Highest temperature: 32°C (Tapah)

Expenditures: 

Petrol: RM80
Food: RM20

Ride and Camp Specials - Durian ride to Batu Kurau

Our group were invited to a durian orchard near Batu Kurau, about 300km north of Kuala Lumpur. A well-known place that produces high grade durian always has its charm and has been the place for durian lovers every season. On the plus side, this orchard has a cool refreshing clear river (Sungai Ara), that form one of the tributaries of Sungai Kurau constantly flowing crystal clear cool water from the middle of Titiwangsa range. 

That Saturday morning the weather was clear with ambient temperature around 25°C and I rode to Tanjung Malim alone. I was the first to arrive at our first rendezvous point.. Zaidi, Fred, Man and Joe Dungun arrived shortly after. Riding from Dungun, Joe had spent one night at Tanjung Malim to join us, a commendable effort for our short ride and camp trip. I was informed later that one rider, Ikhwan whom was riding Versys X250 from Shah Alam had a punctured rear wheel a few kilometres short of our rendezvous location. He had to call for backup to get it fix at Tanjung Malim and will ride direct to the campsite.

We turned to Behrang Exit towards Jalan Sungai Panjang heading to Sabak Bernam before making a right turn to Jalan Parit 13. This is a shortcut through the paddy field to Bagan Nakhoda Omar and we rode to Sungai Ayer Tawar jetty.

GPS 3.866292, 100.933469

It was high tide when we arrived and Jezz with his team already boarded the boat to cross Bernam River. The waterway was busy with passing fishing boats from nearby jetty and our flat board boat sways passed waves created by them. Man with his helmet on, stayed on the bike guarding from possible collapse while Joe and Zaidi were recording the event on their phones.

We continued riding from Hutan Melintang towards Kampung Parit Jerman on FT5 before making a right turn to A266 Lebuh Permaisuri through Felcra Changkat Lada. We then turned left to Jalan Teluk Sena – Selat Pulau riding along Sungai Timah, with vast overgrown grass in its bank, a perfect habitat for monitor lizard, snakes and tortoises. An adult, relatively large male tried to cross the road but double back when our convoy passed the area. My helmet camera was pointing backward and missed the event on otherwise should be an otherwise interesting collection of wild animal picture.

We have arrived at Restoran Wan Lebo around 11am to meet up with Cikgu Joe but found Suhail instead. Cikgu Joe joined us around 15minutes later and we continued on Jalan Tanjung Belanja – Bota Kiri towards Taiping. The winding road along Gunung Bubu was busy with vehicles heading to Terong and on this stretch Fred was struggling to maintain his rhythm and pace. Traffic increased when we entered Taiping and there was an overcast above Titiwangsa range, a beautiful scene but a bitter sign of what would come towards the end of the day.

Arriving at Batu Kurau we saw many fruit stalls on the road side selling cempedak dan durian. Almost at the end of the season, this place is well-known to durian lovers because of its quality. We have arrived at the marked trailhead on schedule and ahead of the incoming forecasted downpour. However we have entered a wrong turn and spent some time circling the village looking for the orchard. Many unmarked turn with similar surrounding confused us, first timer to the area.

After about 30 minutes we managed to find the right trail and found Ikhwan was already on the scene. A short chuckles later, we were shown to the camp ground and we started to set up our equipment. At the same time the weather started to change and it started to rain.. heavily.

The 2nd group from Banting arrived around 5.30pm and settled on the upper section of the campsite, near the durian trees. Among the riders are Wak Din, Hashim, Sani and Kak Shida set up their tents swiftly. They have also informed that they went to the same wrong spot and took some time to get to the right trail. The last group led by Jezz arrived around 6.30pm and by this time the rain has subsided. Sungai Ara, the river right next to our campsite was swollen from the rain and we didn’t manage test the river during the first day of our arrival.

Jezz met with the land owner Pak Hamid with wholesaler and we bought around 100kg of durian for our group of around 20 people. We were given extra around 20kg more and we spent the night and next morning consuming it. 

That night it started to drizzle around 10pm and we retreated to our beds soon after. The temperature dropped to 20°C that night and I escaped the night breeze in a sleeping bag.

The next day I woke up around 6am and it felt a bit warmer. I saw Cikgu Joe has awaken earlier and was enjoying his coffee. Last night a few of us skipped dinner after a heavy durian intake and with the receded water level, it was a good time to jump into the river. Water quality has also much improved and it didn’t feel as cold as Pos Titom.

All of us jumped into the river and the water is crystal clear and very refreshing. There is a rope hanging from a tree and that added as fun factor when almost everyone took turn to sway ala-tarzan into the deepest section of the stream. The sun had risen from surrounding peaks and we started to pack. One of the biggest challenge was to load the balance of durian we had into individual motorcycles. Even after letting everyone pick and choose their load, I’d still managed to fit 18 pcs of fruits under the scooter seat.

By 10.30am we were gathered in front of the orchard to say goodbye to each other. We were separated into three main groups that will go back in three different routes. I led one group through Tebing Tinggi A6 towards Kuala Kangsar. 

The weather was hot and humid, by the time we arrived at Dataran Sungai Perak, Kuala Kangsar for lunch it was midday. The area was packed with visitors with stalls taking up half of the parking area adding to the congestion.

After lunch we went back through Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah bridge towards Sayong and we made entrance to R&R Sungai Perak Northbound. Traffic on the highway was lighter than expected and the weather was hot & humid, I arrived home safely around 3.30pm. 

Date: 11 - 12 July 2020