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| At Lata Jarum with our little friends |
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| After breakfast, we visited "The United Nations of Raub" |
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| "The United Nations of Raub" |
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| Kampung Ulu Gali. In the background is the karst hill and pit lane for tyre change |
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| Circumventing the karst hill |
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| Sheep farm within a durian orchard on C151. We were so desperate for durians, we stopped to ask. |
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| Gentle, undulating hills on C151 flanked by durian orchards |
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| Hardly any cars comes by |
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| Drinkstop at Kampung Jelu in Dong |
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| Even the Makcik at Kampung Jelu knows how to appreciate Pyrex's Chelsea caserole dish from the 1970's. Another unknown oblong tableware sits next to it ! |
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| Masjid Kampung Jelu |
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| Small stream next to our gerai |
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| Gateway to Kampung Peruas |
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| Dusty road next to Sungai Dong |
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| Sungai Dong |
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| Sungai Dong |
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| Pulau Chekas Riverpools |
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| Slides at Pulau Chekas Riverpools |
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| On our way to Lata Jarum through farmyards... |
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| ...soon we were riding through a forested area... |
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| Tanah Aina is located very near to the entrance to Lata Jarum. You can hear the gushing river from this path |
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| Well kept resort but not opened |
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| Entrance to Lata Jarum |
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Our little tour guides
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| Trying out Basikal Lajak, a modified fixie, usually without brakes |
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| Bridge extensions to the waterfalls |
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| The waterfalls viewed from the bridge. According to the boys, there's another one further upstream but this is the best viewing point |
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| Spectacular view |
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| Route C159 |
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| Regrouping at C159's first peak. From where we stood, the climb seems to continue on, hence we decided to take a longer break. Unknowingly, the second climb is short and gradual before a nice long descent awaits |
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| Even after the steep descent that went on for 1.5 km, gradual glides on rolling hills continue for more than 5 km ! |
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| Stopping traffic !!! |
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| Roundabout junction at Benta |
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| Coconut stop at Taman KSM, right after leaving Route 8 for Route 234 |
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| On Route 234's Jalan Pekeliling, approaching Kampung Pepata. Once, a two lane road is now a single track road due to the recent wet weather which caused the road to collapse. We had to cross a metal truss bridge a little ahead. |
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| Snip taken from google map of the same road before the collapse |
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| Kuala Lipis signage on top of Bukit Kerani. Note the fire station below the hill |
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| Approaching Lipis Plaza Hotel after the roundabout with Lipis District Administration Building on our right and above the hill. Built in 1919, it was once the British Administrative Office of Pahang as Lipis was the biggest district in the state. As the area was rich in gold and rubber, the bottom floor of the building was used for revenue collection and treasury. |
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| Approaching Lipis Plaza Hotel with the Residency Building on top of the highest hill in Kuala Lipis. Built in 1922, it was once the residency of Sir Hugh Clifford before it was turned into a hostel for Clifford school and subsequently a government rest house. |
We said goodbye to Hotel Jelai...
We said goodbye to the clocktower...
We said goodbye to Restoran New Tea House and KF Biscuits...
Most of us were carrying their biscuits from yesterday except for Thomas. He had them for dinner as curry fish head did not agree with him on a hot day. Unfortunately, his taste buds did not agree with the biscuits either!
Passing by The Esplanade, we said goodbye to the wide green fields...
...and our bliss were shortlived when KH dropped something at the busy intersection, right after the town council!!!
Someone shouted. Everyone jammed their brakes. No harm done and we were on our way again after the cargo was picked up.
We said hello to Medan Selera Raub, a food court along Federal Route 8. There was a stall offering Yong tau foo, chee cheong fun and curry mee. Nobody raved about the food.
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| Lord Murugan stands peacefully... |
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| ...together with Kuan Yin on Route 8's Jalan Lipis |
Upon Mindy's request, we stopped at "The United Nations of Raub". Right here, along Federal Route 8 stands 3 religious entities. Raub Chinese Methodist Church, Sri Siva Subramaniam Temple and Kuan Yin Temple, all stood side by side, a good testament to religious tolerance and harmony!
After bidding goodbyes to all Heavenly God's, we suffered Route 8's noise and dust for slightly more than 5 km before turning right to C142. Directly after the turn, we enjoyed a downhill sprint, followed by gentle, undulating slopes through villages. The kampung roads here offered little road shoulders but thankfully, traffic were few to come by.
Route C142 ends in a fork. The right fork takes you to Sungai Ruan, famed for their Musang King durians while the left fork leads you to further obscurity. We took the left fork!!!!
A durian depot located at the forked junction was busy with activities when we arrived. A truck loaded with baskets of durian were being uploaded and weighed for sale to the middlemen. Claudine quietly walked away when told a basket costs around RM2k !!!!!!!
Thorny issues or not, Mindy had her first puncture as we were just about to start riding again. When we rolled again, we circumvented the karst hill which had been beckoning since Kampung Ulu Gali.
Gentle undulating slopes continued on Route C151. Initially, there were one or two durian orchards spotted along the road but these soon gave way to scattered palm oil estates.
Soon, our attention were drawn to Lata Jarum's signboards. Hypnotized, it brought us to the junctions of C144 and C159. At C159, we had to make the decision if an 11 km, one way detour is going to be worth it!
As it was only 9.30 am and Kuala Lipis is slightly more than 40 km away, we decided to make a go for it. After all, arriving too early at our destination will be too boring.
The next 10 km saw us riding through undulating hills. While we had enjoyed gentle slopes earlier, the hill climbs here were slightly more strenuous.
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| Kampung Peruas lies next to the Sungai Dong |
Once we crossed the gateway to Kampung Peruas, we entered a different dimension. Streets were brown and dusty. Furnitures were drying in the sun. We saw a colourful myriad of dining chairs, sofas, mattresses and pillows, all out in the open! The school's wired fencing revealed how high the water had come up. When the river receded, it left its rubbish on the wired fencing!
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| Some trees uprooted at Pulau Chekas Riverpools |
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| Sand build up at Pulau Chekas Riverpools |
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| Part of Sungai Dong, the waters flows from Lata Jarum |
At Pulau Chekas Riverpools, we were disappointed to see the gates were closed. Strangely, it did not fall victim to Covid 19 pandemic but the floods instead. The place was partially destroyed by strong river rapids which flowed from from Lata Jarum.
3 young boys we met at Pulau Chekas soon became our tour guides to Lata Jarum. They explained to us of a recent landslide, upstream causing the waters to turn a deep orange hue. In fact, lorries carrying building materials were spotted on their way up for repair works.
Thankfully, the gates to Lata Jarum were opened as some reviews on google had metioned its closure. The hanging bridge across the river was still intact, allowing us a close up view of the gushing waterfalls.
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| C 144's Jalan Dong-Ulu Dong |
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| Washed away |
Back on the foothills, we thanked our little friends and returned the same way we had come in. Again, we recountered the villager's nightmare. Once more, we stared at the gaping hole in the ground, once a road, now washed away by the river
Back on Route C159, a new challenge was waiting. The whole climb which peaked at 312 m is about 2.5 km in length. However, one segment with 8.4% gradehill required a struggle from 157 m to 286 m over a distance of 1.5 km. We had to stop midway to catch our breaths. But the descent made up for all our hard labour. Initially steep for 1.5 km, the downhill glide continued with rolling hills for up to 5 km.
At Kampung Budu, we stopped for lunch by a roadside gerai. It was while munching on one of the best nasi kerabu that we found out "Chef Wan" has been riding with us all this while. No wonder our lady chef from Terengganu has been especially nice to Thomas since our arrival!
We reached Benta close to 1.30 pm. Here on, we rejoined Route 8 and again had to suffer the noise from the traffic.
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| Wesly, stated as a bar but served decent Eastern and Western food |
We reached Lipis Plaza Hotel slightly after 3 pm. In the evening, after all the laundry has been done, we met again for a heritage walk followed by dinner.
At 9.30 pm, while the team were getting ready to call it a night, a gunshot sound reverberated in room 2-117 !!! An SOS call was immediately sent out to the groupchat. Mindy's tube had burst into 2 while she was trying to inflate it !!!
Photo credits :
Mindy
Kelvin
Chooi
Henry
Thomas
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Kuala Lipis Walkabout
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