Ride & Camp to Bukit Perangin, Yan Kedah

It was a wet month of October when we planned for this ride. After a brief voting in the group, Bukit Perangin Campsite in Yan, Kedah was selected, beating two other destinations. Located around 350km north of Kuala Lumpur, it is a private property open for camping enthusiast with view of Straits of Malacca including nearby islands such as Penang, Langkawi, Song Song, Telur, Bidan and Bunting.

Saini (first on the left) was initiating his brand new Klim Carlsbad - made of Goretex!

The five of us - Ishar, Saini, Razzie, Ross and I met at R&R Rawang on Saturday morning around 8am. It was a clear morning with ambient temperature around 24°C. Razzie & Ross who were riding from Singapore's Causeway since 4am arrived on their Africa Twin complete with full touring bags- looks ready for two weeks campaign towards the north while Saini arrived earlier and spent the night in Gombak. 

En-route to Sungai Perak R&R, we met Joe around Gopeng area and later he told us that he was riding alone from Dungun starting at 4am trying to meet us before RV2. He had initially planned to come on Friday, but he was dragged on unsettled errands and has very little sleep before taking the decision to start early on Saturday. Weather near Ipoh was cloudy but hot with ambient temperature around 29°C. There was relatively less traffic on the road heading north.

We arrived at R&R Gunung Semanggol around 10.30am trying to find access to the maintenance alley but couldn’t find it- so we went to Bukit Merah exit about 2km ahead. 

We turned left into A111 towards Gunung Semanggol and took another left towards A4 through Kampung Balek Bukit before making another left turn towards A197 Jalan Kg. Selamat. The first section of the road is a normal B-road on good tarmac surface going through Kg. Selamat and some palm oil plantation before we made it to the edge of Tasik Merah reservoir. 

Ishar on Xadv 750

The second section of the road was a loose gravel trail through palm oil plantation with interesting sharp turns. However, as we passed the halfway mark coming into the last section, the B-road turned into narrow double trail with overgrown vegetation on both sides, through secondary jungles area and due to the rain, it was wet and slippery. 

Photo Credit to Ross

Photo Credit to Saini

Photo Credit to Razzie

They were a few bike-falls in this area with Ross making us anxious when we heard him screaming at top of his lung -when his right ankle was trapped underneath his crash bar during one of the falls. Luckily that fall was on soft grounds, and he was wearing high cut adventure boots and he escaped with no serious injury. The offroad section was really a surprise since in the google map it was clearly marked as A-197 Jalan Kampung Selamat – which would normally mean a decent tarmac road. We cleared this 15.5km detour in about 2 hours.

We turned right at A7 towards Selama and were stopped just before the town as there were road resurfacing was in progress. We passed Lunas and as we crossed into Penang’s state border, we turned into Jambatan Tun Sardon over Sungai Kulim. We followed a trail on the riverbank of Sungai Kulim starting from Kampung Tun Sardon through Kampung Mengkuang to Jambatan Labuh Banting near Tasek Gelugor. The trail is a mixed of broken tarmac and loose gravel, used as maintenance road by the irrigation department.

Kubang Semang Viewpoint
GPS 5.444041, 100.460893

Photo Credit to Ishar

Photo Credit to Saini

As we were unexpectedly slowed down during our adventurous ride to complete A197, we were 2 hours behind schedule for lunch. Asoi - who were riding alone from Muar on CBX500 were already at the designated lunch place near Pongsu Seribu before our arrival. Eventually the place closed, and we had lunch at a restaurant next to it.

After lunch we moved towards Penaga and eventually towards Kampung Kuala Muda. During this leg we passed through various type of roads - from state road, small narrow road, in-between people home trail and kitchen door knocking road to get there. Eventually we made it to Pantai Kuala Muda to enjoy the sea breeze with Penang’s Island in the background.

Photo Credit to Saini

It’s already half past four and I have decided to skip our next coastal detour through Singkir Laut and ride direct to the campsite trailhead near Ruat. We arrived at the trailhead around 5.00pm and were reunited with KW Mark. The trail heading up was made of concrete with steep elevation and narrow shoulders. Joe said it reminded him of the trail heading to Pos Lemoi.

Bukit Perangin Campsite Trailhead
GPS 5.749667, 100.361763

Graph showing how steep was the climb. 

We camp at the edge of the campsite with an open view of the straits and its surrounding isles. It is an open campsite with limited shades, so arrival time or departure time is important. When we setup our tents, the sun has about 1-hour to set so it’s still comfortable to work in open skies. The sunset view from this campsite is amazing and it is also important that we had not had any rain today. KW Mark has changed from a quick 1-minute tent to a hiking tent, so he didn’t have any advantages on this trip 😁

Photo Credit to Ishar

Photo Credit to Ishar

Photo Credit to KW Mark

Photo Credit to Razzie

Photo Credit to Razzie

Photo Credit to Saini

That night we enjoyed our packed meal and exchanges stories among ourselves. There were moments of drizzles, but it soon passes so we didn’t setup any fly sheets. We retreated to our tents at around 11pm. 

Photo Credit to KW Mark

The next day we had instant noodles for breakfast and KW Mark brought Nan bread this time, eaten with dhal curry. We will go separately today as most of us have other agendas and Joe Dungun will return to Dungun through Gerik and Jeli. Team Lion has plans to ride around Penang Island while Ishar and I have family commitment. 

Photo Credit to Asoi

Mark on his PCX150

Around 8am, the sun has already passed Gunung Jerai ridge behind us and it’s getting hot. We were gathered one last time for a group photo although Saini and Ross were still getting ready. We said goodbye to each other here and Ishar, Joe, KW Mark and I went to Gurun to have brunch. After brunch I followed Ishar to Gurun interchange, and we rode back to KL. I arrived home around 2.00pm.

Ride Snippets:
1. Rashidin Triumph Tiger 800 XCX
2. Ross Honda Africa Twin 1000
3. Razzie Honda Africa Twin 1000
4. Saini Honda Africa Twin 1000
5. Joe Dungun Honda CRF 250 L
6. Ishar Honda Xadv 750
7. Asoi Zairul Honda CB500X
8. KW Mark Honda PCX150

Date:  30-31 Oct 2022
Lowest temperature: 19°C (Campsite)
Highest temperature: 38°C (Ipoh)

Ride & Camp to Mentigi Bay

The plan was to ride to a southern bay called Mentigi Bay or later renamed into Teluk Iskandar, about 160km southeast of Kuala Lumpur in a port city of Mersing with our spouses. Joining me in this couple ride was Shahriman on his new Tiger 900 and Fred on his Wmoto RT3. 

Photo Credit to Effa 

We made a move from Rawang around 8.15am and the weather was clear with ambient temperature around 24°C. Fred was already onsite when we arrived at our first RV1 around 8.40am, and our wives were formally introduced. There were relatively fewer congregations of bikers at the station that morning, despite the lovely weather to ride. We made a move towards Karak around 9.00am and the highway surface was immaculate with moderate traffic heading to the east coast.

We took exit 813A towards Karak and later FT09 towards Telemong, riding through winding road in between durian orchards. It was durian’s off-season so there were a lot less traffic in this section but I was disappointed to find the road surface turned worst after we passed Manchis. We turned left into Felda Chemomoi riding through inner roads eventually into FT10 Jalan Teriang. 

Photo Credit to Effa 

After Felda Raja Alias 3, we turned left again towards Bahau through FT11, this road is a single lane road connecting Bahau and Keratong. Despite being a main road, I was again disappointed to find the condition hasn’t changed much after all these years. It is narrow with inconsistent road shoulder, junctions were not clearly mark with signboards and plenty of low-quality patches are scattered along this road. Riders are advised to ride carefully in this section.

The final section in the first half of today’s ride we turned left again towards Muadzam Shah, riding into FT12 where we met a few groups of riders from Singapore. We had arrived at Petronas KM78 around 12.30pm to refill before having lunch. The weather was hot and humid with ambient temperature around 34°C but in the horizon we can see dark clouds were moving south.

We made a move towards Kuala Rompin through FT63 passing Bukit Ibam and Mardi facilities. Road condition was moderate and it started to get cloudy. My promise to wait for Fred in this section is hard to fulfill and eventually I left him but Shariman kept his following distance. As we passed Endau, it started to drizzle and that has helped with the heat. It was drizzling intermittently as we approached Mersing and just before the town, an uncle on a moped bike cut through my lane, triggering an emergency braking. No untoward incident as I was expecting his bold move 250 meters before it happen.. but I am more worried about traffic behind me. What a way to ride uncle!

We have eventually arrived at Mentigi Bay Glamping site around 4.00pm, a few minutes earlier than Fred and Ellie. The campsite was better than my early expectation as it is complete with a pantry, firewood pit, a sunrise dock, garden bathing area and more. 

Tent setup provided by the site, beach view.

However the A-shaped chalet is too low for me as my head keep banging on on the roof, one have to stick in the middle section to avoid it. 

That afternoon my wife and I went riding to the beach of Teluk Iskandar during low tide, where you ride on the flat solid beach.

Later that night we rode out to a seafood restaurant, 6km from the campsite. The Mersing sky at dawn is majestic with blue and red colors decorating the cloud formations. This is the moment that most travelers missed in their travels. 

We had dinner at the restaurant and at the same time had a simple celebration for my birthday. My wife brought a few decorations with one mochi cake – later shared across the table. We went back to the campsite and sat around the firewood pit, sharing horror stories at campsites. Around 10.30pm we retreated to our chalets.

The next day, it was cloudy – so we missed the chance to watch the sunrise at the dock. We had coffee and instant noodles for breakfast.. no luck today to watch sunrise.

At 9.30am we were gathered for a group photo. Fred – however decided to depart earlier. 

Photo Credit to Effa 

We rode around the bay all the way to Flinstone Castle before heading towards Kahang and Kluang. 

Photo Credit to Effa 

We rode through FT50 Jalan Mersing and this route was fun with its twisties along forest backdrop.  The target lunch spot was at asam Pedas Ikan Air Tawar Empangan Mahkota and we eventually arrived there around 11.30am.

Around 1.30pm we said goodbye to Fred and made a move towards Rawang through North-South Expressway. 

The weather was cloudy and it started to rain just before Seremban R&R, when we made a stop to refill. We finally arrived home safely around 4pm.