The Songkran ride (pt 3)

13th Apr – Songkran day. Got up and expected to see the people on the streets this morning. But it was very quite. No water splashing or hosing like the night before to be found. Had breakfast and proceeded to check out form the hotel. Asked the staff in English if they are celebrating the New Year and they said yes, but someone had to work! So I teased them saying that they would probably be paid more working on New Year. We then proceeded to load the bikes, getting ready for the ride back and the girls from reception came over to look at our bikes. This was when our Kwa started to sprinkle water on the girls who ran away. A little later, they came back to complement Kwa’s gesture. So, it was with this New Year blessing that we 4 bikes started the journey back.

All along the way, we saw people standing by the roadside with water guns, hoses or dippers as they tried to soak the passersby. Quite often, we would see a truckload of people at the back , complete with huge containers of water. These are the mobile “blessing” units. Like army vehicles, they would travel slowly along the road and would splash water on passerby or have a water war with another similar passing vehicle. Of course, this was all in good fun, in the spirit of the festival.

As we traveled the roads thru the towns or areas with a smaller population, there would be instances where the merry making took those celebrating onto the road, i.e. they would wander or stand at the middle of the road and try to flag down those passing by. Some would just pour water on you while some would apply saffron or chalk powder/paste on you. Sometime you get scented water and sometimes color water. All these, though merry making, have to be approached with care as they do pose a hazard to traffic, and we do not know how far they’ll go in this celebration. On my part, I have been “watered” numerous times, even though my bike was moving. I found that my left side would tend to be wetter than my right side of the body. This was because the people who splashed me usually are those who stood on the roadside to my left. While riding under the hot sun, the splashing water was a welcomed blessing as it cools me down, albeit one sided. After a while, I would seek out the trucks and follow behind them slowly and I would signal those at the back of the truck to splash me! They were usually very surprised that I wanted to get wet and would happily splash me with the water. With a nod of thanks, I would then speed of until the next truck. There was once I actually pulled over to the side of the road and signal for the children to pour their water on me. Of course, they all ran over but only to my left side and I would signal for some of them to get to me right side to “wet” me.

Towards noon, we came into Klong Tom, a small town and we looked around for a place to lunch. Did I say this was Songkran?

Well, almost all the shops were closed. No much choice. We stopped at probably the only 2 shops that were opened and had lunch there. The next time we talk about Songkran, must remember to consider where/what to eat!

While having lunch, some of the locals with their kids came around for lunch too. And Kwa started a water fight with the kids. They were having such a goo dtime that I think Kwa must be re-living his childhood years!

After lunch, we continued on the road and then got separated. LoneRider and SkyRider disappeared. So it was I and Kwa riding along as we approach Trang. Somehow we got on a new highway that bypassed Trang while the other 2 Riders went into Trang. Realizing this, I SMSed LoneRider to wait in the town for us while Kwa and I U-turned back to Trang. Where about to meet in Trang, I am not sure. But at least, we would have narrowed down the area. And as the someone watching over us would have it, the 4 bikes merged into the same junction from different roads at the same time as we entered Trang! Talk about timing. Happy that we were now together again, we continued along the main road and decided to stop by a 7-Eleven for a break. Sitting by the roadside, I could see the people of Trang happily celebrating with water. As we prepared to continue the journey, Kwa started the water sprinkling of the 7-Eleven staff. Hmmn…is there a pattern here? Kwa and his water?

The scene along the road was almost the same and we arrived into Hat Yai. If you can recall, from Pt 1, I mentioned that we do not have any hotel reservation here. Time was about 4 pm and we started to look around for rooms. Came to one of the hotels that bikers frequent, and found that the owner had taken the initiative to book some rooms at a nearby “mansion” for cold cases like our. Very quickly, we grabbed 2 rooms. This was the Wanthana Mansion. Very basic and quite run down as some of the fixtures were dropping off. But we needed a place to stay, so who’s gonna complain? We parked our bikes at the bikers’ hotel and walked to the mansion.

While trying to settle in, I had to walked between the 2 places to get my things and to charge my phone (using bike’s battery). While all these were going on, Kwa went down to the road side and bought some mango pulut rice as his roommate was hungry. Once we got ourselves settled, we proceeded to walk out on the streets towards Lee Gdns.As we approach the Lee Gdns Hotel area, we could see that the main road had been turned into a party area. People were just dancing on the road while the music was pumped out from big speakers on the road side. There were “bubble” machines who made “soap bubbles” and the whole road around the place were covered by the bubbles Mostly young and some more senior people could be standing on a platform dancing away, as if in a trance. While mostly were dancing and having a good time, those at the peripheral of the crowd were playing with water. Vendors and hawkers somehow were still able to continue with their business.

We went into a bazaar type area and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. While having dinner, I got the waiter to make a hole in a mineral water’s cap. I then filled it up with ice water from the bucker of ice that most restaurant would supply to the table. This time, I would not only get wet, but would join in too!

After dinner, we proceeded to walk back and as expected, people were spraying water all over. Then, there was this driver of a truck who sprayed me with his water gun. Then he continued to drive slowly, concentrating on his driving. I sneaked up and emptied the bottle of cold water thru the driver’s window on him. Ha! Got him. But I too was “shot” in return. We then looked and just laughed at each other, smiled like little boys! Now, I can say I participated in Songkran! We then went back to the hotel.

As the evening tuned into night time, the water splashing ceased. The Songkran celebration had now ended. People would now return to their normal lives and shops, etc. would return to what they had been normally doing, if not for Songkran. We walked back to the Lee Gdns area and everything had gone back to their usual activities. After walking around for a while, we went back to the place near our “mansion” and I and SkyRider had our feet massaged. Kwa wanted a body rub so he went upstairs. LoneRider preferred his own thing and was not with us. After that, we bought more mangoes for "supper" (see how quickly they can cut a mango).

The we retired and prepare for the next day.


14th Apr – checked out of the mansion, had breakfast nearby and proceeded towards the border. Got thru the border quite fast and soon we were on the Malaysian side riding back.
Skyrider parted from us at the Butterworth ares as he wanted to go back to Penang. Then it was 3 of us riding to Klang. Apart from the regular stops for fuel and food, no much to mention here. But at the last stop, we noticed that the sky was getting darker, and we were about 1 hr from home. Should we prepare for the wet weather? Hey, we just came back from Songkran. We went there to for the water festival. So, we decided to just ride. Somehwhere around the Sg Besi area, it started to pour, I mean really pour, Cars slowed down with the blinkers on. Visibility was low but we had gone thru Songkran. No problemo. We continued riding in the rain and reached Shah Alam before the weather let up. By then we were all dripping wet, a reminder that this was what we wanted in the first place. To celebrate Songkran and to get wet.

Then it was home sweet home.


IHVR

The 4-6-3-4-6-4 Ride (Pt 2)

…cont from Pt 1

So…at last we have arrived at Patong. But we were not "home base" yet. We were on the street with our bikes and were without a clue where the hotel was at! After having rode around for a couple of minutes, we found that the authorities have changed the flow of traffic for some of the roads, probably to better control the higher volume of traffic from the visiting bikers, and to route them to the correct destinations. Feeling lost, Kwa came to the rescue again. He spoke to a tuk-tuk man, had him get on a kapchai and led us to the hotel! Simple and effective solution. Some say men don’t ask for directions. This one asked to be led there!!!

RayaBuri is a very nice small intimate hotel. Nothing done overboard, but enough of elegance to make it feel posh. After some wrangling, we even had a dedicated parking space for the 4 bikes, complete with security guard. Now, this is customer service! And Kwa, who shared the room with LoneRider was able to see our bikes from his balcony. This was the added bonus to the security situation.

The hotel reception informed us that the bike exhibition was at Jungceylon while the party’s at the beach. So the 4 of us quickly settled our luggage into the respective rooms, got ourselves cleaned up and we were ready to take on the Bike Week.

First stop was Jungceylon, which was a mall. There's a little booth outside the entrance of Jungceylon that sells the bike week T-shirts and the entrance pass (Bht150) for the party at the beach. The cost of the pass was inclusive of dinner and it’s happening that very night as we stood there. Looking at the time (about 6pm local time) we decided to forego the pass and headed into Jungceylon to view the bikes. There was another booth promoting the bike week stuff next to the bikes on exhibition. This time, we decided to muse around since it was in an air-con environment. I bought 2 bike week T-shirts but could not find the bike week sticker for 2009. Going around the bike exhibition was a breeze. It’s over in minutes, since the exhibition consists of less than 10 bikes. Very much like sex….lots of expectation and over in minutes!!!

Since we could not find the sticker, we went to the booth outside at the entrance, but still no luck. All sold out!

Well, what else was there to do? Let’s fill our stomach, and LoneRider again showed us his favourite place call Dang; reasonably priced in spite of the many Mat Salleh tourists around. While taking dinner, we noticed that people were already starting the water soaking activities, though not so prevalent. The peddlers were really promoting the water pistols/guns of various sizes. I asked and they were not cheap ~ 250bht. Decided not to buy.

After dinner, we decided to walk around and LoneRider showed us his Soi Eric. Great! We’re going to get free drinks. But that was fat hope. Showing off Soi Eric was all that we were going to get! Bummer! Then LoneRider showed the famous Bangla Street. This one he cannot claim! Bangla Street was one place where the happenings were at. Lots of eye candies, pubs bars, etc. As long as you are willing, this place can empty your wallet in no time! Of course, being a prudent person (not kedukut OK!), I decided to stay away from these places. Also no money la.

Soon we were heading out to the beach (Loma Park) and found that we did not need a pass to get in. There were the usual rows and rows of stalls selling biking merchandise and a rock concert going. It was really loud and full of profanities in the lyrics. What else to expect from an event like this.

After a while, I came across a stall that sells the same thing as the bike week stall at Junceylon, but this one still has the bike week stickers. I made the purchase. Moving around, it striked me that most of these stalls were selling the stuff targeted at the cruiser/easy rider market. Those riding DP bikes have very little to see there. Sad.

Then, another thought came to mind…this place was full of people and very few bikes. It’s different from other bike week events where the bikes and riders congregate into a single location. For this event, it seemed that Patong was the congregation point and the bikes are spread all over i.e. decentralised in Patong! This feeling was so much different from say the HatYai bike week, where everything was happening at one place, the bikes, people, the stalls, concert, etc. The atmosphere was totally different. But I guess it was due to the tourists who came to Patong for the Songkran and that had made the atmosphere different, since their focuses were different. After having gone around Loma Park for a while, we decide to head back to the hotel for the much needed rest. This was the end of 11th Apr. 09.

12th Apr – the 4 of us got up, had breakfast and naturally headed out to Loma Park, where we were the night before. It looked very much different in the day. No crowds or loud music. Just the early risers and riders like us and a couple of stalls that had opened early, i.e. the T-shirt stall. We decided to take some pictures and LoneRider got a call from Chan, saying that he was going to join us. So we hung around at Loma Park for a while and then Chang came by. As all of us were all geared up to ride while waiting for Chang, it was an anti-climax when he said that he wanted to look around at the park. So we waited. But it seems that our friend was really taking his time to look over the stalls, T-shirts, etc. So we decided to move out on our own after having informed LoneRider and Chan. We are now 3 bikes.

Looking at the map, we decided to take the “coastal” road north from Loma Park. This road took us thru some very nice sceneries, small towns, the FantaSea and even some very unique road signs that you don’t get to see at home, e.g. the Tsunami sign (click on picture to enlarge).

Eventually we stopped at Thalang town. Here, we decided to have lunch as it was close to midday. Found a small shop with lots of locals by the main road and decided to do lunch here. A family operated stall, the owners were very friendly. Asked where we were from and in a mixture of sign language, a smattering of Thai words, we somehow managed to communicate with them. There’s one particular dish that I can remember so very well. They had these steamed bowls of soup and one of them was Bak Kut Teh! Our Mr. Kwa can be seen here in the picture trying to promote our famous BKT to them.

After lunch, we decided to ride towards Phuket town, but on the way, the dark clouds gathered and it prompted us to head straight back to Patong. Back in the hotel, we freshened up and decided to walk about in Patong. Somehow, we ended up at Jungceylon again and after spending some time there and contributing to the economy, we started to walk back to the hotel when we saw LoneRider at Dang having a meal. All of us sat down for a drink while LoneRider finished his meal. Looking around, I noted that the water splashing and fights have escalated! Of course, we are now coming to the eve of the Songkran, when it would officially begin!

After Dang, we continued to walk, trying not to get wet and saw that Bangla Street now was a war zone. Water shot off from hoses, water guns and whatever container that may be used, and it was all along the street. Of course, this was all in good fun and the place had been cordoned off so that it was only accessible to pedestrians. It’s a riot there. We continued to walk but did not manage to stay dry. Almost every Mat Salleh had a water gun, even the more senior ladies. They were all really dressed down and ready for the soaking. After all , this was Songkran. Found our way back to the hotel and we were all wet. Walked to the back of the hotel and there was a shop who welcomed us, wet and all for dinner. After dinner, we retired as the next day, we would be riding back from Phuket to Hat Yai and we wanted to start early so that we may have more time at Hat Yai looking for a place to stay.

…. to be continured - IHVR

The 4-6-3-4-6-4 ride (Pt 1)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So what does this picture say to you? A group of not-so-young bikers with their iron steeds at the Welcome to Phuket sign…

For me, it was a sense of achievement, the satisfaction knowing that have I done it too. For others, it could be a similar feeling, or it could be a sigh of relief after having travelled over a thousand kilometres which lasted 2 days to get here! Mind you, we are no longer the sprightly young studs we were years ago. Nowadays, my back aches, my joints are stiff and sitting on the bike for extended hours does not help.

All this started about 2 months ago when I decided to ride to Phuket for the 15th Annual Bike Week and to experience the Songkran celebration, after having read about the water festival in the local newspaper some time ago. Songkran was being celebrated just after the Phuket Bike week.

Researching into the meaning of Songkran, I found that it is also the new year celebration and the throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. For the young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.

The use of chalk is also very common having originated in the chalk used by monks to mark blessings.

Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists. The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs.

After reading this, I was eager to experience this celebration, so I started conversations, exchanges of emails and sms with my fellow bikers and soliciting their support to join the ride. There were a lot of uncertainties like who can make it, how much time was needed, where to stay, etc. By the time we got thru the discussions and firmed up the details on who was going and when, most of the hotels were getting filled fast because there were 2 events that brought tourists and bikers to Phuket, i.e. the Bike Week and Songkran.

But as always, we have a group of wonderful fellow bikers who were more than willing to share their expertise and experience. Kwa was the person who volunteered without being asked, by calling travel agents, searching the internet and liaising directly with the hotels in Thailand and got us beautiful rooms at the Raya Buri hotel in Patong, just 5 mins walk to the beach. And we even had free WiFi to go with the price too.

So here we have 4 riders, made up of Kwa (Versys), Lonerider (X9), Skyrider (EN500, CM) and myself (Versys)…all pumped up with expectations and ready for the 10th – 14th Apr ride. But knowing that getting from KL to Phuket is a 16 hrs iron-butt ride, we looked towards Lonerider for his views as he has travelled into Thailand more times that any of us 3 other riders. It was decided that the group should break the journey into 2 days with 8hrs ride per day. What this meant was that we needed to get accommodation just across the border, probably at Sadao on the first night and to book similar accommodation on the way back from Phuket, preferably at Hat Yai since it is a bigger town compared to Sadao. Unfortunately, we were not able to book any room at Hat Yai for the return journey as the hotels were all fully booked for Songkran. Still, we decided to try our luck when the time comes. Or we can stay at any small town close to the border, or even cross the border into Malaysia for a worst case scenario. The forward journey was not much of a concern for we were sure we would be able to get hotel rooms at Sadao.

Then 10th Apr arrived. We gathered at the Klang JJ Esso station at 7am and started the journey, Lonerider, Kwa and me. We stopped at the Sg Besi R&R to meet up with Skyrider and had breakfast there. Soon, we were on the way. After a brief stop to fill up, we arrived at Butterworth at about noon. Lonerider had some errants to run so we decided to visit Mega Fortune, just to nosey around. Then Lonerider came back and we had lunch nearby.

After lunch, it was a straight ride to Changloon to get the Thai insurance for our bikes and for some currency exchanges. We filled up just before the border because petrol is more expensive in Thailand…trying to squeeze every sen’s worth of petrol while we can. While we were filling up, it started to rain and arriving at the at the border, we had to queue up in the rain at the bike lane as the Malaysia immigration processes our passport. We were all drenched to the bones.Once we were clear from the Malaysian side, we had to spend about 2hrs at the Thai side because their Customs system had a printer problem and there were lots of bikers, quite a lot of them from Singapore. By the time we got thru the Thai Immigration and Customs, we were literally in Danok, Sadao. A short time later, we found a new hotel with rooms available, and WiFi too. Checked in, change out of our wet clothes and soon it’s time for dinner. By then the rain had stopped and we walked into town. Lonerider showed us a reasonable joint for dinner and I noticed that the it was opposite the “Govenor Office”. Wondered to myself if the Govenor ever dines here. After dinner, we went backt to the hotel as it was starting to rain again. Good thing the hotel has a massage parlour. Can you guess how we spent the evening? Ahem…This is a no-brainer. I had a 2hr massage. The girl scrubbed lots of dirt off my back too.

11th Apr – the sun was up and bright. Had breakfast and we started towards the Hat Yai – Pattalung junction. Waited at the petrol station ‘cos Lonerider had some friends who can show us the way. Spent about 30 mins waiting and 2 bikes arrived.

Now the 4 became 6 riders! Comprende? The 2 riders were Chan (Caponord) and Yong (Fireblade) who took the lead and Lonerider volunteering to ride sweeper. The six of us headed towards Trang and arrived there just before noon. On the way the Chan-Yong team was really squeezing the throttle and I was trying hard to keep up with them. We stopped at a park which was at the entry point into the Trang town for a short breather. But then we found that Chan’s Caponord could not start. A few of us helped him to push the bike up & down to trying to push start but the engine just refused to kick. Finally, suspecting that it’s the battery, Yong who could converse in Thai, used Lonerider’s X9 and went into town looking for a replacement. A while later, he came back with a mechanic who had to verify that the battery will fit the bike, but he needed to go back to charge it before it can be used! So we waited and waited for the battery to be charged., and someone decided to snooze, but hunger soon overtook us…so we walked across the road to a small shop for lunch. After lunch, we continue to wait for the mechanic to return with the charged battery. Finally it arrived and was fitted to the bike. Overall, we had waited for more than 2 hrs. The convoy was ready to roll, but Chan needed to fill up. The Chan-Yong team lead us thru the Trang town looking for RON95 petrol. The place looked like maze to me and the leading team took us thru some red lights and stopped when the light was green. Scary but we had to follow the lead or else be lost? And I was thinking to myself that it was acts like this that gave bikers a bad name and I was doing it! Eventually, we found what we were looking for. Filled up and we were now really ready to roll, 3 hrs after we had come into town.

Moving out from Trang - Yong and Chan again were the faster ones and they went on ahead leading. Lonerider decided to ride up front as well this time around. Then it rained. Kwa, Skyrider and I decided to stop and put on our rain gear. Soon, we 3 were travelling on our own, frequently to find Yong waiting at the road side up ahead, to ensure that we were on the right track. Once we passed him, he will pass us a little later and repeat the whole process numerous times just to make sure that we 3 were OK. Apart from that, we could not see the other riders. By now, we were really keeping our eyes on the passing road signs, reading whatever little English words that were available; just to make sure that we are heading in the right direction. It should be Trang- Krabi-Phang Nga-Phuket. At about 4pm, we rode thru Krabi town and decided to top up on fuel because we were not sure how far we will need to travel or should we loose our way, etc. But I guess it was a “straight” road from Trang to Phuket, except for the turn that we needed to take, which we got it right the first time. It was at this junction that Lonerider was waiting for us and we were 4 riders again. Very soon, we started to see the word Phuket on the road signs. So, Phuket here we come!

Crossing the bridge from the mailnad to Phuket Island, we came across the "welcome sign" (above) and decided to stop here for some pix. Then we rode a little more and got a surprise. The Bike Week organisers had set up a "break point" for riders to rest and we met up with the Chan-Yong team again. Not sure where they detoured to cos' we arrived at this point before them. We are now 6 again.

At the break point, we were given cold mineral water, bread with margarine (?) and sugar. Simple fare but I loved it, esp. after a long ride. It's the simple things in life that matters most, and this was one of them!

Continuing the journey, we had to ride thru Phuket town before we can get to our hotel at Patong... and my thanks to Kwa who had done an excellent job of booking the hotel for us.


… to be continued - IHVR

Riding buddy…….do we need a riding buddy?

Riding buddy…….do we need a riding buddy?
I been riding for pass 9 years……it has never cross in my mind about the riding buddy.
Last time, for me the important of riding is your must enjoy every moment of the riding especially when you are on bike…..but do not know start from when I realize this is not really true…..beside enjoy riding your bike you still need a biking buddy (or buddies) to ride along with you.
The reason I said that is we are not on bike for all the time; we need to stop for many purpose such as refill or rest…..during this time la we need someone that can enjoy the same thing that you like….this totally make the thing different.
No doubt, riding compose more than 70% of the enjoyment of biking activity. If we can find a good riding buddy (or buddies) then I believe we can complete the 30%. I encounter and realize this when one of my friend start venture into the biking activity.
I do not said I do not enjoy the previous biking but I would rather said that previous purpose is different…..previously I am really looking forward on the convoy biking or some biking gathering especially in Thailand, the organizer and the event is super …those biker know what I mean.
Now my biking paradigm is shift to more relax biking such as discovery some nice trunk road or some nice scenery in Malaysia. I will stop as when I want……no hurry and no target…..important is enjoy the good riding, good scenery and good joke from riding buddy (or buddies). By doing this it really help me to reduce my working stress and pressure…..so nice and relax.
People always said; good thing would not last long……my friend that I mention just venture in biking is going to leave Malaysia for further his career….with this he has to put a stop on his biking….what a miss for this biking buddy.....well…we need to continue our life is it? So nothing to be too sad….just wish him all the best in his future undertaking…….
For me….well….I will still continue my riding as long as I can and try to share my riding activity in this blog
Let us continue biking and ride safely!

22nd March Ride...confuse (Part 2)

Yesterday was a great ride….riding along with ‘old’ rider which I have long time no ‘chance’ to ride along with them.
At the same time, yesterday also happen to a ‘big’ communication breakdown day for me. As discuss I suppose to wait for the KSR group at Clatex near Subang Exit (Elite H/way) at 8.30a.m. I have arrived Caltex around 8.25a.m but actually the KSR already much earlier arrive and depart. There is no message about it. I have to wait there for 30min for nothing then only notice they all already had arrive S’ban R&R. After notice the mis communication, I have to ride alone to S’ban R&R.
Meet up KSR group and ‘old’ friend around 9.25a.m; then notice another miss communication happen when I notice Woo is not around. Have no choice I have to leave a message to him since the KSR group already start move to S’ban. We go to S’ban 2 for a b/fast.
After reach S’ban, I receive a call from Woo and he just arrive S’ban RR. I have given him the guide to S’ban 2. Finally we re-group at 10.15a.m.
After discuss with Eric; we decide to de tour to Tg. Sepat for the seafood lunch rather than to Malacca for ball2 chicken rice. We are using: S’ban 2 to Sendayan to LBJ to Sepang to Sg Pelet to Bagan Lalang to Tg Sepat.
We have a good food and good laugh at Tg Sepat before move to Banting for butter coffee.
Reach home at 4p.m.
Overall, it is a good ride!

22nd March Ride...confuse

Hi, seem like long time do not take out my iron horse for a ride. I am about to think where to ride this weekend; but suddenly flow in a few riding event. some of the biker is looking for a long journey ride to Phatallung for a Phatallung Bike Week. What a ride man! I hope those biker will enjoy it.
As for me……..original plan is ride to PD for a curry chicken bun breakfast then back to Tg Sepat for seafood lunch. But out of no way, there is another proposal....riding to Malacca for a famous ball2 chicken ride. Ehhhh…..how to decide???? Very confuse na…….
Anyhow, due to recent work stress...I really need to have a ride this weekend, just not sure where to ride to. OK, let see what is the new progress this few days before decide where to go to.....important is a enjoyable and relax ride...

Slow & Easy

On the morning of the 28th Feb 09, I met up with Poh at the NKVE Shell at 8.30am. We headed towards the old Gombak road 68 via the Duta toll and Jln Kuching. But before we started our journey, we had to meet up with Woo at the Shell stn near to the Gombak toll. After meeting up, we started on our journey.

3 bikes, with no agenda but to enjoy the ride, real slow and easy. Nice.

Road 68 is a really very quite route with a lorry or car every now & then. Apart from that, we had the road to ourselves, almost. On the way, we saw quite a number of cyclists coming from the opposite direction. They must be the early birds who "took to the hills" much earlier than us. The route is very scenic with lots of green to look at. The morning sun shining on the trees is a real treat for tired eyes. It really shows the glory of nature in it's full splendour. There were even monkeys (real ones) on the road, just to underscore how quite the place is. The pix on the right gives the perpective on how vast the "jungle" is compared to a bike (red circle on lower right of picture).

This was the road that I used to take some 30+ yrs ago when I was working in
Kuantan. Then, the buses, lorries, taxis, etc. would take this road between KL and Kuantan. It was narrow then, and still is now. Once in a while, you will see vehicles "squeezing" past each other. Imagine a lorry balak and bus in the situation in the pix. It was real scary then when I had to travel by bus. For a bike, no problem lah.

Following the road, it took us to the Orang Asli Musuem but we did not stop there. Rather we went a little further up to the Bkt Tinggi area where there's a coniferous forest reserve. Stopped for a while just to admire the place. Thereafter, we headed towards Janda Baik and stopped by a river. Again, it was a joyful experience to be close to nature, nearly unspoilt. Further down the same river, we met some bikers enjoying themselves in the water. Looks like this is a favourite place for city folks to get away.

After the brief stop at Janda Baik, we headed towards Bentong and had ABC and pulut nasi lemak in the town. This is our friend's favourite food, so he tells me. Then, the Ktn-KL bus would stop here for a short makan break before continuing it's journey. If I can recall correctly, it would take about 7 hours for the jouney, which explaines the makan break. Everyone and everything changes with time and the town has changed from when I last saw it about 30 yrs ago and I could hardly recognise it.

Leaving Bentong and a short ride toward Raub, we left the main road and headed towards Chamang Waterfall. You won't get lost here as the road ends at the waterfall! Being a Saturday, there were quite a number of people there but the place was big enough to take in all of us without having to feel "cramp in". We spent some time at the waterfall just lazing around and admiring the view.

The amount of water that gushes down the slopes is so much that just a minute's worth of that flow will probably meet my whole month's worth of water usage, or more. The white water looks real dangerous and I wouldn't want to be in it. There's even notices put up by the authorities warning people to stay away from these areas.

Lower down the fall is the pool area, and this is where one should be swimming.

Noticed that there were some butterflies at the edge of the pool where the people were swimming. Wish I could have joined them. The water looked so cool and refreshing that I just wished that we have came better prepared. Sigh!The next time we go on a trip like this, I am going to bring everything, except the kitchen sink!!! We ended the day taking the Karak Highway back to KL and I reached home at about 4.30pm. Overvall it was a great way to spend a Saturday. I loved it. Do it again? Definitely!

Over and out. - IHVR