Article/Photo by Ujang ERC/ ManCyber
‘No Highway Ride’ was the brainchild of Saiful, who wanted to offer something different to the members of ERC XTREME. After a series of meetings, and the tribe has spoken. The destination will be to the north of the country through Kuala Lumpur, coastal routes of the west coast, Penang and to Wang Kelian in Perlis near the Thai border, and further through Grik Perak, and the road along the east coast. The purpose of this ‘NHR’ is to fully absorb the natural beauties surrounding Malaysias old roads, and as much as possible, to be a no highway ride.
Let’s Go…
We gathered at Restoran Zaman, famous for its Nasik Lemak Special at the Batu 12, Jalan Gambang, Kuantan. 8.45 am sharp, a dozen ERC XTREME members began the journey to Kuala Lumpur through the old Bandar Maran road and to Temerloh, which is famous for ikan patin (catfish), where we refuelled. Through there we headed to Karak across Bandar Lancang and arrived Kuala Lumpur at 12.50pm. We were running quite late as the route from Gambang to Karak was rather busy with heavy vehicles, causing a slow ride for us.
In Kuala Lumpur, we paid a visit to McDonas workshop where our members are all familiar faces. Our party was greeted by the owner, Mr Khairul. Here we also met our friends from the scooter club SEC, KL to exchange smiles and pats on the back. 2 of our ERC guys, Epin & Epul even managed to get their bikes serviced.
We resumed our journey heading to Kuala Selangor across Tanjung Karang, Sabak Bernam and other districts using the coastal route along the west coast. It was simply breathtaking to see how villages still appear reminiscent of the old days, with vast green padi fields filling the backdrop. We managed to snap us a few pictures.
We continued the ride to Sabak Bernam town heading to Sitiawan Perak. The clock struck 4 and we had to slow down as the road condition was rather bad, and narrow and risky.
After almost 2 hours of riding, we stopped for a meal in Pantai Remis, Perak. Coincidentally the place was bustling with night market peddlers, who were just starting tonight’s trading. Though the road ahead is still far, we were no less enthusiastic than we were at the start of the journey.
Our stomachs taken care of, we resumed our journey to Pulau Pinang via Gopeng and passed the first checkpoint at around 10 pm. There waited our friends from the NEC Scooter Club Penang who brought us to a renowned Nasi Kandar Restaurant, before we drew the curtains for the first day.
Day two, we managed a quick stop at an accessory shop in Seberang Jaya to buy some riding equipment, and continued the ride to Wang Kelian, Perlis. We stopped in Gurun, Kedah for lunch and zohor prayers before resuming the journey to Changloon, Kedah. Here we went to a stall near the Changloon town overhead bridge, famous for nasi bendang and hot soup. This stall was even featured in a Tourism Malaysia promotion under the special foods category. The only nasi bendang in Malaysia . “Hah! sebelum masuk ke Danok, baik singgah di sini..terbaik dan murah..” (“Before you go to Danok, why don’t you stop here…the best and cheapest..”
The journey to Perlis witnessed a change in scenery, with the right side full of sugarcane plantation, a change from what we saw during our ride through Tanjung karang which was full of rice fields. We snapped a few momento photos at the main arch which announced “SELAMAT DATANG KE PERLIS” (“WELCOME TO PERLIS) and continued the journey to Wang Kelian, which was still nowhere in sight.
At 4.30 pm, we reached Wang Kelian. We found the entrance to the Thai frontier filled with scores of tourists who came to shop, and I even made friends and chatted with a visitor from Jengka, Pahang who came with his family. Something unique about this entrance is that we don’t need an international passport to get to the town in Satun, Thailand on foot, we are still within the customs lane.
Once done with our shopping, we hit the road again to Padang Besar where we did some further shopping, though we arrived rather late into the day. At around 6.30 pm, we headed back to Pulau Pinang at around 11 pm. We were again brought for a tour by our friends from the NEC scooter club.
Day 3
We left Pulau Pinang and headed to Grik, Perak and from there on to Terengganu via Kelantan. We made a few stops throughout the journey, to eat, refuel, and rest.
As we passed Tasik Banding, the convoy had to go through a difficult route, negotiating treacherous bends. This was where a convoy member of ours, Anuar, met with a minor accident.
Thank God he only sustained minor wounds and could still carry on the journey to Terengganu. As soon as we arrived in Terengganu we were greeted with much grandeur by the Classic Motor Club Terengganu. They even managed to get us a homestay, and treated Anuar’s minor wounds.
Time to go home
Today we spent a little bit more time to rest and rode casually. Before pushing off to Pahang, we made a stop at Pasar Payang, a must-see place when you’re in Kuala Terengganu City.
2 am and we began the journey home through coastal roads and stopped by at a workshop owned by a friend in Chendering, Kuala Terengganu. We had Anuar’s motorbike looked at and repaired. Finally at around 5 pm we arravied safely in Kuantan, Pahang.
Before leaving section we would like to give a huge thank you to Kedai Motor Titanium Biker, Kedai Motor McDonas KL, Kelab NEC Penang and also to Kelap Motor Klasik Terengganu who sponsored and assisted us in our NO HIGHWAY RIDE