Cameron Highlands Loop ( March 19 to March 25, 2022), Day 3 : The REAL Challenge, Tapah to Brinchang

 

Breakfast of noodle and yong tau foo at Kedai Kopi Soon De Wei. Their tea and coffee comes foamy after the barista whipped up the milk with a blender!

Taking cover from the rain at a pisang goreng shop, next to Lata Iskandar

Lata Iskandar

Lata Iskandar

Batu 19, near Sungai Jor's TNB Hydro Power Station

Batu 19, near Sungai Jor's TNB Hydro Power Station

Batu 19, near Sungai Jor's TNB Hydro Power Station

We finally made it to our stay at Sam Jade Guesthouse at 4 pm

Evening walk in Brinchang town

Brinchang town

Chilling at 17 degrees celcius

The Awesome Team

A rustling sound woke her at 2 am in the morning. At the foot of the bed, a dark silhouette loomed over her!!!

Nahhhhh....this is NOT going to be a ghost story! But something equally terrifying!!!

Recognising the shirtless man and his paunch, she asked, "What are you looking for?" The person rummaging through the plastic bags replied, "Something bit me again!"

Suddenly, the lamp on the bedside table was flicked on and the quilt flipped to one side. "What is this?" He asked.

Propped on her side, she observed to her horror, several crawling creatures. Some were black tiny specks of about 2 mm moving creatures.

One was BIG! As big as a dog's tick! This one was moving slightly slower than the rest. Its abdomen was slightly transparent and glowing in a red hue!

"POP" it went, splattering VT's blood all over the white sheets.

At 2.20 am, equipped with enough photos on her camera, she went down to the lobby, pyjamas and dishevelled hair all together. The reception was empty but thankfully the receptionist came out after a ring to the bell.

Yes, she wants a room change.

No, she will not check out of room 208 and return the key card. So please just handover another room key so she can continue with her sleep and she will return both key cards in the morning.

Despite a room change, sleep did not come easily as the idea that the whole hotel could be infested kept her from resting well. When dawn came, the usual morning routine was run in zombie mode.

Adamant for blood money, they waited for the hotel manager who, upon her arrival, refused to a refund claiming a room change had been honoured. Had they checked out at 2 am, then a refund would be apt! She also refused to take as proof, the photographs of the bed bugs despite the time and date stated on the camera, suggesting a room inspection for bed bugs and their eggs.

A shout out ensued as Claudine refused to waste another minute with the unnecessary room inspection. VT backed her up speaking in Malay about "kutu" when a guest walked in. Embarrassed, the hotel manager quickly pulled out 2 pieces of RM 50 note and handed it to them just to quiet them down.

We started our Cameron Highlands challenge 10 minutes past 7.30 am. Half an hour later, sweaty palms reminded Claudine she had left her gloves still hanging by the hotel's bed side lamp.

The odds of getting them back was tough after the heated argument with the hotel manager. Try, she must, as the descent from Cameron Highlands the day after was long and steep!

Back in the olden days, a swollen eye will garner "Peeping Tom" teasing from friends. 

Less than an hour into the ride, the third horror began for Claudine. Her right eye began to swell! At one point her right vision was halved!

Empty stalls at Kampung Batu Lapan...8! Called for HELLLLLP!

These guys having a good time until the ants attack!

When she finally met up with the group, she knew it was time to call for help. Robert was tasked to retrieve the gloves and to bring the meds. While texting Robert for help, Claudine also texted the groupchat, roping in Andrew and Angel as back ups for the gloves.

Robert jumped into the tasks swiftly. He called the hotel hoping to retrieve the gloves but was informed they will only hand them over to the guests themselves. As most pharmacies do not open until 9 am, he sped to the group, catching up with them in less than 15 minutes later.

Kampung Batu Sembilan...9! HELP is on the way

Kampung Batu Sepuluh...10! HELP arrived just after the bridge, at Kedai Runcit Norlian!!!

Upon the HERO'S arrival, a short discussion on meds ensued. Joyce had antihistamine in her bag but advised against it as it could induce drowsiness.

Rummaging through her bags for her supply of Loratadine, Claudine was dismayed, there was none! She found serratiopeptodase, an anti-inflammatory drug for sore throat. Unsure if it will help, she swallowed 2 pills all the same.

Strangely, it did the trick. The swelling reduced by the time she reached Ringlet.

9.30 am, before Lata Iskandar. Some segments of the road is beautifully paved while others are filled with pot holes

Meanwhile, Andrew and Angel soon caught up with the groupchat and decided to help with the glove issue. They went to the hotel and were refused on the first attempt. Thankfully, they persisted a second time and succeeded! Hurray!!!

Roadside waterfall at Batu 12

Lata Iskandar at Batu 14

Sungai Jor at Batu 19, near Sungai Jor's TNB Hydro Power Station

Bridge traversing Sungai Jor

There were a lot of hillside waterfalls and streams along the way. Usually tiny ones, Lata Iskandar was spectacular and incomparable to the rest. Multi-tiered, the last drop at 25 m can be viewed easily along Route 59.

If you look closely, you can see the streaks of rain

There are many shops around Lata Iskandar. John managed to buy a rattan basket which costs 30% less as compared to KL prices. The basket went up Robert's car, thanks to support vehicle.

Unfortunately, grey clouds competed with cascading water for our attention. After a few clicks on the camera, a downpour ensued. Taking shelter by the roadside stalls, we waited for Chooi and Mr. Lim to arrive before proceeding to Ringlet. Their arrival was delayed, having taken shelter by the school at Batu 14.

11 am at Sg Jor

11.15 am, right after Batu 20...bridge traverse a deep ravine

Ringlet took a long time to arrive. With lunch time approaching, we were getting restless. As there were no phone signals, we could not gauge how long more we had to wait for lunch.

11.22 am, 35 km under our belt !

Look who we picked up along the way...Jac had stopped to take photos, allowing us time to catch up

At one point, Mindy, John, VT and Claudine were riding together. They made stops regularly not because of exhaustion but due to demotivation.

Close to 12 pm, Mindy called for snack time. She chatted away when she eats, when she rides and even on steep climbs. Gosh, she has lungs of a diver!

11.40 am, 36.5 km from Tapah, we came across this accident scene.

Later, we made a police report in Brinchang. Policemen said this area is accident prone and could not determine if it was the same accident that happened a month ago or a new one. They promised to send a team over to check.

Soon, we found each other again. All the front riders of Jac and Mr Liew had somehow slowed down to wait for the back riders. Everyone were asking everyone how far is Ringlet.

Counting the number of hairpin bends, there were 7 more to Ringlet. But that did not stop Jac from gliding back down 50 m to offers of chocolates from Mr Liew!

1 pm at Ringlet

True enough, Ringlet came after 7 bends!!! We were ecstatic feeding time had  finally come!

Joyce and Robert were equally ecstatic to see us having long finished their lunch and even multiple naps! But they had more waiting to do. Mr Lim and Chooi were still a distance away, finally arriving at 2 pm. Unfortunately, the bigger group had missed them by a mere 10 minutes.

The ride after Ringlet was a lot easier than anticipated! First there was the 2 km downhill glide all the way to the lakeside. This continued with a flat 1 km ride before the actual ascent continues.

2 pm, The Lakehouse in the background

2.45 pm, the air is tinged with the sweet fragrance of tea leaves from Bharat Plantation.

3.50 pm, Griddle road circumvents Sultan Ahmad Shah Golf course

Peaceful Griddle Road

The Lakehouse in Tudor architecture and the floral gardens with "I love Cameron" signage were some of the eye candies that kept us going. Passing Bharat Tea Plantations', our senses were piqued by the sweet fragrance emitted by the tea leaves.

Having a support car at our Cameron challenge has its benefits. Joyce had the assurance she could go up the car anytime she call quits.  None of us had to carry our panniers. Plus Claudine had her medication sped up to her in minutes.

However, it does comes with drawbacks. We relied on the support car to sweep the slowest rider hence Team Spirit to finish the challenge is gone. Coupled with analysis paralysis, the last 2 riders went up the support car upon arrival in Ringlet, ending their challenge!

While the rest of the team arrived at Sam Jade at 4 pm, there was no doubt that the whole team could have finished together at 6 pm without a support car. Every single rider would have had no choice but to labour on, turning the crank slowly but surely.

That evening, we winced and hobbled our way up the short flight of stairs which connects Jalan Pecah Batu to the open spaced carpark by the edge of the knoll. The entrance to the carpark leads directly to Jalan Bandar and voila, we were smack in the middle of Brinchang town. After much debate, we sat down at Restaurant Yow Ho and indeed, the food was as good as per the name of the restaurant...in direct translation....Yow Ho means Got Good!

Photo Credits :

Mindy

Jac