Ride to Tasik Raban

Tasik Raban (also known as Chenderoh Lake) is a beautiful serene lake situated in Lenggong, Perak. It is a fresh water reservoir resulted from a dam built in early 1920s by the British for hydroelectric power station. It is in fact one of the oldest man made lake in peninsular Malaysia.

Picture from Google

This ride started from R&R Rawang, ended at Hentian Sebelah Rawang and the route map looks like this:

Joining me in this ride is Mr. Zul Mamat and his son Mr. Mohd Zufarahamie from CBG and this is my second ride with Bro Zul after tour of Sungai Pahang

Less than an hour from Rawang we saw this accident..

The rest of the journey to Taiping is smooth and we only met with light rain in one or two places in between Selangor and Perak border.
We reach Taiping exit around 11.45 am and head to Kuala Gula and Kuala Kurau.

We've stopped by a nice paddy field in Kuala Kurau to refresh before heading for lunch.

 The original plan is to have lunch in Kuala Gula's ketam lembut but during my research before the journey, most of the review of that place were bad.

So we've settled in a beautiful riverside food bazaar by Sungai Kurau and the place is called "Halim Kari Sembilang Claypot", which is exactly in front of Kuala Kurau Fire Station.

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

After a lunch break we continue our journey to Tasik Raban through Alor Pongsu and Kubu Gajah and encountered this breathtaking place (do check it out @ 5.159451, 100.895333)

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

This road section reminded me of a similar road from Ampang to Semenyih dam but without litter and rubbish by the road side.
Nice bending road with ascend and drop section at average around 10% in certain areas with lush green forest in the background.

It is scouring hot when we reach Lenggong.

 We head straight to Dataran Tasik Raban and had some refreshment to cool of the heat

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

"This is byfar our earliest time of arrival" said Bro Zul when we reach Tasik Raban resort around 4.15pm.

That night we rode out to check out Lenggong town and find some supplies for the stomach, as the resort do not provide any late refreshment
The town is a small and slow one-road type of town but with nice people.

 We woke up the next day cold after an overnight rain.
The lake and Raja Muda Nazrin bridge is completely engulfed in mist and fog.

We have breakfast in Dataran Tasik Raban and everyone had roti canai : )

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

 We continue our journey along Sungai Perak through Kampung Padang Ampang and Sayong. We stopped by a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) workshop in Kampung Sayong Hulu to see how they make Labu Sayong

 The route along Perak river is really astounding

The ride back is then continued to Dataran Nordin in Parit, and have a chat with locals who went fishing at the jetty

We stopped by Menara Condong Teluk Intan and being a famous gathering point for bikers, the place is buzzing with bikers from Ipoh and KL

Picture credit: Zul Mamat CBG

 From Teluk Intan we went through Sabak Bernam and Sungai Panjang to have lunch at Selera Rimba restaurant, another famous gathering points for bikers

We had rendang ayam kampung, puyuh sambal and landak masak cili for three person and the total cost is RM118.00

 The ride is then continued through Felda Gedangsa and Behrang, before stopping at our last RV in Hentian Sebelah Rawang

Ride snippets 
Rider: Zul Mamat + 1 pillion & Myself
Distance: 700km
Duration: 2 days
Petrol: 4 times x RM30 (full tank)
Meal: around RM70
Date: 22-23 Nov 2014

Day ride to Fraser Hill and Ringlet through Sungai Koyan

It was a busy week and by the weekend, I am technically longing for a ride.

A few quick exchanges of fb messenger with my buddy Shahril, has resulted in a ride that look like this:

  We met at R&R Rawang northbound and proceed to Kuala Kubu Bharu through Bukit Sentosa. From there, its a scenic route around Sungai Selangor fresh water reservoir.

We continue riding up to Fraser Hill and have a quick breakfast there. The weather at this point is misty and cloudy but no rain yet

At this point, based on the good weather experienced throughout the journey, we decided to push on to Sungai Koyan and Ringlet, although acknowledging that only on last Wednesday, there was a mud slide and flash flood that kills 3 people. Indeed we are ready to scale Mount Brinchang if the weather permits.
Raub town is buzzing with activities as we passed that afternoon but the weather is still good with only one or two spots of light rain along the way. When we entered Felda Sungai Koyan to Pos Betau junction, the road is amazingly good and has only little traffic

It is not until we have crossed into Cameron Highland district border, the sky is beginning to darken and light but steady shower of rain water begin to descend. We passed through Bertam Valley swiftly and the devastation from the recent mishap is clearly visible along the Bertam river.

We had lunch at Brinchang and decided not to push on to Mount Brinchang as it is raining steadily that afternoon. So we turn back to Tanah Rata and head straight to Tapah

It was raining heavily and the road is literally filled with mud water. The murky water were flowing from both sides of the road and fallen trees and logs are everywhere. We rode really slow at this section and keep a steady eye on incoming traffic as the road had became very narrow and watery.

We made it back to the North South Highway safely and made a stop at R&R Tapah

It was a very short but memorable journey and all smiles are onboard!

Ride snippets 

Rider: Shahril & MyselfDistance:430km
Duration: 10 hoursPetrol: RM60 Meal: RM15Date: 8 November 2014

Tour of Sungai Pahang (with CBG)

Flowing from Kuala Tembeling (where Jelai river and Tembeling river meet) all the way down to Kuala Pahang, Pahang river is the longest river in peninsular Malaysia at 459km.

It is one of the most important river in early history of this land as it is nearly connected to Muar river through Serting, Bera and Jempol river, as traders coming from port of Melaka can continue their river journey from Muar all the way up to Kuala Tahan. 

I must insist that being a vivid rider, this is one of important milestone as it cover almost all district of Pahang state through Lipis, Jerantut, Temerloh, Bera, Maran & Pekan.

The plan for the journey starts from Kuala Lipis and riding along the river basin:

And for the second day, the route is much shorter but it cover almost all terrain:

Joining this journey is a group of bikers from Couple Bikers Group (CBG) led by Haji Zul Mamat

(photo credit: Mrs. Rose Fatimah of CBG)

So the convoy consist of 8 bikers and 6 pillions, which are made of 4 GS 1200, 3 Versys 1000 and my bike. After an RV at BHPetrol after Gombak toll, we started our journey from Karak to Bentong before making a quick breakfast stop at Lemang To'ki

(photo credit: Mrs. Rose Fatimah of CBG)

Since we have departed from Bentong quite late, I have change the route by skipping Sungai Koyan and went directly to Kuala Lipis and Jerantut Feri. This route is a very interesting one because it has a lot of hidden bends, steep climb or descend, uneven road width and plenty of pedestrian on the roadside.

We reach Kuala Tembeling around 12pm and weather is really stunning

It is almost 2pm when we reach Temerloh and we had lunch at the famous Go Bang Maju Restaurant and I had this set.

From here we continue our journey along the river through Bera and the road is getting smaller and smaller until we reach Felda Chini. It is a pure kampung road as it has a lot of bumps, uneven and depression.

Just before Tasik Chini junction, there is a climb section with a view

After this climb section, we reach Abu Bakar bridge in Paloh Hinai and crossed Tun Razak Highway before heading to Kampung Pulau Rusa and Kampung Pahang Tua.
In this section, it started to rain lightly

We reached Inderapura Resorts Pekan around 6pm and most of the convoy participant settle down here

I am not staying at that resort and continue further towards the beach and settle down by this nice beach front homestay

79 beach homestay

At RM79 per night, it is a very good place to stay!

Second day starts slowly while everyone is taking their time to prepare. We started moving from the resort at 11.00am

We then converged at Kuala Pahang and everyone take their chances to update their online status

We continue our journey back to Paloh Hinai before making a quick turn into Felda Chini. It is here that almost everyone had their first off-road experience as route became smaller and eventually we lost the tarmac!

(photo credit: Mrs. Rose Fatimah of CBG)

(photo credit: Mrs. Rose Fatimah of CBG)

(photo credit: Mrs. Rose Fatimah of CBG)

(photo credit: Mrs. Rose Fatimah of CBG)

It is a relief as the 15km torture is finally over and we stopped for refreshments at Felda Mayam

*it is here when we first receive news about the 10-bike mishap which burn 2 riders in Karak Highway. My deepest condolence to the family of the deceased.

From here we continue our journey through Bera, Felda Kemasul, Kampung Chemomoi and Mengkarak. The route from Mengkarak to Karak is very scenic and winding with a lot of hidden corners.

We made it to Genting Sempah around 4.30pm after a quick stop at Masjid Karak. Everyone then fill up their stomach and we break the convoy at this point.

It is an adventurous and joyous ride where everyone rekindle their personal experience over the late lunch

Ride snippets 
Rider: CBG 7 bikers + 6pillion & Myself
Distance: 870km
Duration: 2 days
Petrol: 4 times x RM30 (full tank)
Meal: by CBG (thanks!!)
Date: 18-19 October 2014