[Trip Report] M'sia HighLands Conquest (Cameron - Genting - Melaka)

[moccajava]

Hi people,

 

Just thought wanna share my solo trip up the 2 known highlands in

 

Malaysia. I used this forum, especially the thread from Greeko, to

 

somehow or rather plan the trip up to Cameron. The rest was based on

 

travel instinct and gut feel.

 

Day 1:

Left home about 6.30am and headed to 2nd Link GP Esso for top up and

 

get this... I just bought the map from there haha. Rode through till

 

Pagoh for short rest and top up of petrol. Took about 1hr 20mins on

 

constant 120-140km/h speed. Next stop was Seremban for brunch and

 

petrol top up again.

 

As it's still early in the morning, I figured I wouldn't know what to

 

do if I were to reach Cameron too early in the day. Hence, I decided to

 

recce and find this funny kampung named "Batang Berjuntai". Literally,

 

it means "Hanging Stick"... but we all know what it's supposed to mean.

 

 

From Seremban, I changed to Nilai Utara route and exited to the town of

 

Klang. Passed by Port Klang and proceeded towards Kuala Selangor. As I

 

was nearing the town, I noticed that the main signboard CENSORED the

 

town's name! I couldn't believe it but it was too hilarious! I stopped

 

to take photo of the censored board and asked a local if the kampung's

 

name was changed? (they finally realised!!) Good news is that the town

 

still exists and I proceeded onwards without hesitation!

 

Had a time of my life and decided to proceed to Cameron before it gets

 

dark. Not exactly a good idea to ride up a mountain in the dark now is

 

it? I linked up back to the highway (EMPTY as hell! test speed limit

 

here ) i travelled the extra 70km or so to the Simpang Pulai way up

 

to Cameron. Definitely worth it since the view along the way was

 

magnificient! Highly recommended to all.

 

The initial road up from Simpang Pulai was rather full of gravel and

 

looks like marble quarry or some shyt full of trucks. Few kms onwards

 

the road was better and so did the fun! Twisties and full of twisties!

 

Easy to lose yourself here so must be disciplined! hehehe... no

 

shortage of nice views here. gets tiring after awhile the twisties and

 

you wonder when you'll reach straight roads.

 

Finally hit the first town of Kampung Raja and after that towards the

 

town of Brinchang. Reminds me of Sri Lanka... small town, chock full of

 

landrovers and mostly indian community. the town was buzzing with

 

restaurants, small shops selling strawberries and other stuff. At

 

Brinchang, saw the road that leads to Boh Plantation Visitor Centre and

 

Gunung Brinchang. It's only 4hrs and decided still got time to venture.

 

The road here is pretty treacherous with mud and holes and tight blind

 

corners with oncoming vehicles. Can get pretty nerving.

 

Passed by breathaking views of the tea plantations. The visitor centre

 

closes at 4.30pm so decided ot hit Gunung Brinchang. A wrong turn

 

nearly cost me my bike and me to fall. Proceeded towards Gunung

 

Brinchang route but the road was pretty steep with gravels. My bike's

 

tuning seemed to run and not powerful at low revs as I switched to full

 

system without proper tuning/jetting.

 

Decided not to continue as the engine was pretty strained at this point

 

and there were four vehicles climbing up in front of me. Any mishaps on

 

their part would've gotten me into deep trouble. I have no idea how

 

ValenYono did it. Proceeded to Tanah Rata to check in to Bala's Chalet.

 

I chose this as I wanted to spend the night in the "highlands" feeling

 

instead of the town area... even though it's 1.5km away from the town

 

and pricier. Nice English style houses! And good/safe parking for my

 

bike. RM120 per night.

 

Wanted to recce the town at night but it was raining since I checked in

 

and I need to rest after 11hrs of riding since I left

 

Enjoy the pix below for Day 1:

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5861/day1ev8.jpg

 

1. Some nice stadium along Nilai Utara highway

2. Carlsberg beer factory along Nilai Utara highway

3. The censored town name

4. Triumphant shot at the town of Batang Berjuntai

5. Roads in the rural side

6. Nice views of the rural side

7. Highway from Tapah to Simpang Pulai

8. Huge hill with cave along the highway from Tapah to Simpang Pulai

9. Amongst the cloud en route to Cameron Highlands

10. Scenic and exciting road awaits

11. Tea bushes ready for plucking

12. Route up Gunung Brinchang before the steep segment

13. Nice view of tea plantations

14. Bala's Holiday Chalet room key

[sabbaha]

2nd day bro?...cant wait to hear bro! Very interesting...especially u r goin touring alone!

[Bluesky]

Solid man!

 

So how many days u spend up at CH? or ya still there now?

[pktan]

Nice one Bro. waiting for more.

[moccajava]

hahaa typed out oredi but fell asleep in front of the pc... tsk...

[moccajava]

Day 2:

The day begins with cool dawn amongst the clouds. Walked downstairs towards the lobby and took some snaps of the surrounding hotel area. Talked to the night guard and he told me nowadays most of the plantation tea leaf pickers are from India, Nepal and Cambodia. No wonder they looked different.

 

Checked on bike. So far so good. Decided to hit it early and got ready to breakfast at town. Tanah Rata town is pretty laid back but a nice town nevertheless. Had breakfast and backtracked to Brinchang to stop by and get some strawberries. Proceeded to Boh visitor centre. It's a real nice place! The old commercial brought back some memories. Bought some souvenirs for the people back home. Returned back to hotel and checked out. Passed by Tanah Rata town again and down towards Ringlet. This road down is not as developed as the newer one from Simpang Pulai up but passes by Orang Asli villages. You gotta be patient here as there are plenty of slower vehicles in front to prevent you from overtaking.

 

Along the way down towards the town of Ringlet, you'll pass by Lata Iskandar waterfall lined by touristic huts selling local souvenirs. Onwards down and topped up petrol at Tapah before joining back into the highway to proceed to Genting.

 

Nothing spectacular upwards towards Genting... or at least the first part of it. once the road joins from the KL route upwards... the fun starts... the race with other vehicle and crazy curves. no wonder the local bikers love this route every sunday heh. pity the strain on my bike really but it held on good. parked at the multistorey carpark of first world hotel. its so quiet felt bit uncomfortable parking there but no choice. strategically parked it next to the staircase leading to the lift where many people will pass by. covered and locked my bike for good extra measure

 

If you ask me how paranoid I was, I checked on my bike every 3-4hrs hahaha...

 

Enjoy the pix below for Day 2:

http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/3333/day2ht5.jpg

 

1. Bala's Holiday Chalet

2. Main Lobby

3. Bike parking

4. Inside the English Tea Garden

5. Lovely flowers on roofs

6. Beautiful morning on Cameron Highlands

7. Tanah Rata town (direction towards Brinchang)

8. Tanah Rata town (direction towards Ringlet)

9. One of the many strawberry shops/farms

10. Filter roads toward either Gunung Brinchang or Boh Tea visitor centre

11. Boh Tea Centre @ Sungai Palas

12. The cafe overlooking the plantations

13. Strategic parking

14. Boh Tea factory

15. Lovely view of the plantations

16. En route to Genting Highlands

17. Space Shot ride at Genting Outdoor Theme Park

18. Colourful First World Hotel

19. Genting Hotel with funny Energizer ad

20. Early 70s ad with pretty models

21. Early 80s TV commercial that I remembered

[moccajava]

Day 3:

Bike is in good condition and ready for the journey down from Genting Highlands and back home. This route down is different from the way up as this leads to the roundabout with a rest stop including a McDonald's Drive Thru.

 

Saw some fierce Malaysian bikes at the Petronas station, including a Repsol CBR1000, K6 1000 and a Z1000. All wore protective jackets and boots, even those riding the kups. Initially I thought they were going to Sepang however a friend told me they could be going for their weekly Awana runs, which is the curves leading up to Genting.

 

Turned left towards KL and passed by this tunnel... cool place and the highway after that was equally fun with lots of bends that allow for high speed corners. However, my plan to pop by Batu Caves didnt materialise as I missed the exit and took the highway on the outskirts of KL. I hate that route as it's quite jammed and hot as it's in the middle of the city.

 

Stopped by along the highway for funny billboards along the way to Melaka. Had to pop by Melaka as mother out-law loves the Aik Cheong coffee powder. Heh the things you do to score points huh?

 

On the way back, I saw this super4 with a pillion and was doing about 140km/h. The WEIRD thing was this guy had 2 top boxes stacked on top of each other! Monokey+Givi condominiun on the move!

 

And that concludes my 3-day 1300+km ride conquering the highlands. Not exactly something new for the biking community though. Ride on!

 

Enjoy the pix below for Day 3:

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/691/day3bu4.jpg

 

1. The town of "Janda Baik"... can be translated as "Power/Sexy Divorcee"

2. Billboard ad with a famous Malaysian actor

3. All the way to Melaka just for Aik Cheong coffee powder

4. Entry gate to Melaka

[wait4me]

poweer

 

wish i could follow u

[icex]

[WingZer0]

gd ride and report bro! and gdluck for ur Hatyai trip with S4M.

[Guest quizesilver]

wah!

cheer!!!

how come to make a trip to tampin.

haha explore explore.

going on tml 24th March.

[ValenYono]

Well done. Another S4 dat makes us proud.

[Specs]

nice ride mocca.. gd luck for your next trip to

 

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pe23ff353262d49d3d630ec1144a24d02/ea36164f.jpg

[moccajava]

Khawp khun mak krap puwen!

[nastrix]

Marvellous bro!!

Solo rides to concur the 2 highlands with just a map…. You really made S4 riders proud. Very interesting reports and pics u have. I enjoyed reading it. Great achievement

 

All the best to your next ride, Thailand!!

 

Safe Riding!!

[sabbaha]

Well done bro...can u roughly estimate wat's the mileage from GP Esso to strawberry park htl...? The total mileage Thanks.

[moccajava]

600+ km hv i think

[sabbaha]

Originally posted by moccajava@March 31, 2007 06:21 pm

600+ km hv i think

orite bro!

[pktan]

Bro,

 

Manage to ride up to the top of Gunung Brinchang. Engine die off 2 times...

 

Here the link to all the picture taken by me

CH Picture

 

Some Highlight

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/16/16/1/55/37/2317155370100148484LbLYGs_th.jpg

BOH TEA best male promoter of the year

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/59/559/3/30/44/2369330440100148484qtywaj_th.jpg

Tea leaf harvesting

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/57/657/1/54/73/2803154730100148484KrCtrJ_th.jpg

Road lead to BOH TEA factory @ Sungai Palas

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/59/459/5/30/67/2084530670100148484PXBfDz_th.jpg

Another view in BOT TEA plantation

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/16/17/1/79/59/2055179590100148484LKOpnq_th.jpg

Junction to Gunung Brinchang

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/53/753/6/45/29/2456645290100148484dYEhwQ_th.jpg

Top of Gunung Brinchang

 

http://thumb4.webshots.net/t/57/457/4/70/57/2990470570100148484SKfKwN_th.jpg

Another view from top

[moccajava]

PK Tan congrats on reaching Gunung Brinchang. jealous hahaha... how far away was I from the summit from picture #12 first posting... ?

 

is it from there just that steep slope?

[pktan]

bro, i think very near to the top liao ler.. .

[moccajava]

######

[sabbaha]

Originally posted by pktan@April 14, 2007 10:02 pm

bro, i think very near to the top liao ler.. .

How far was the steep slope from the start till the summit?

[pktan]

Actually, quite okay if no car follow you or coming from the ops direction. But at some part the road condition very bad for bike to move on. sand, small rock and hole here n there, have to go as low as 1st gear on some part.

 

All the way to the top, there is a little tower for you to go up and have the full view of CH.. very shiok up there.