"A 800km Road Trip" Gua Musang Travelogue by chiabh

A Journey Specially For Golf

It was at the last minute that we decided to go to Gua Musang... I have been considering visiting this remote town in southern Kelantan many times but it has always not materialise as it is never an urgency... The push came when Vter Zawawi told me that Gua Musang has a golf course... The chance to conquer another golf course which I have not played before proves to be too irresistable... This provides the incentive to travel the long road to Gua Musang from Kuala Lumpur...

In order not to back-track on our drive to Gua Musang, we decided to do a loop from the beginning, not knowing what to expect as we have not travel some of the roads we will be travelling on this trip... We have heard many tales of the road conditions that we are to expect... So now is the time to find out... So, off we go on the road to Gua Musang...

breakfast at bentong...

We have done this part of the journey many times on our regular trips to Bentong for food... The 50km drive on the Karak Highway from the Gombak toll plaza to Bentong town took about 40 mins... The Karak Highway joins the East Coast Expressway (to Kuantan and the east coast) at Karak.. The drive was pleasant and there are a lot of greenery on this dual carriage highway as we cut across the Titiwangsa range... We passed the exit to Genting Highlands (at Genting Sempah), the exit to Selesa Hills (and Bukit Tinggi village) and the exit to Berjaya Hills (formerly Bukit Tinggi) as the highway winds to the Bentong toll plaza...

We stopped at our favourite coffeshop for our much anticipated breakfast of curry laksa with the famous Bentong yong tau foo, especially the Kwangsi tau foo pok...

passing thru raub town...

Continuing our journey after this brief stop, we hit the trunk road (Route 8) for Raub, some 32km away... The upgraded road is a pleasure to drive on... Raub is one of the oldest towns in Pahang and began as a gold mining town in the early 19th century... The gold mines have since closed down and Raub is now famous for its Sempalit groundnuts (or kachang)...

Passing on, the road to Kuala Lipis narrows to 2 lanes with numerous villages by its side so driving must be done with greater care... About 30km from Raub, we passed the area known as Jeram Besu... There is a rest stop by the road where there is a small rapid with recreational and picnic facilities... Jeram Besu is noted for its white water rafting and entrance to the rapids is thru the town of Benta further down the road... It is about 6km from Benta town...

The road winds its way to a major junction... The right road goes to Jerantut (and onward to Taman Negara entrance at Kuala Tahan)... The left junction goes to the town of Benta, the springboard to the White Water rapids on the Sungai Lipis... Going straight is the road to Kuala Lipis and Gua Musang...

kuala tembeling boat jetty...

Jeram Besu or Besu Rapids is one of the best white water-rafting and kayaking spot in Malaysia... The rapids are categories as grade 2 to 4 depending on the river water level... Rafters can stay at the the Countryview Recreation Park in Benta where accommodations available include chalets, hostels and camping hostels... Jeram Besu is about 6km from Benta... Other activities in the area includes jungle trekking, flying fox and war games...

The entrance to Taman Negara from the south is at Kuala Tahan... To go to Kuala Tahan, you will have to go thru Jerantut, which is about 60km from the triple junction and the road is rather small and winding... There are 2 alternatives at Jerantut... One is by boat from Kuala Tembeling, about 12km from Jerantut... Or you can also drive directly to Kuala Tahan... The boat journey from the Kuala Tembeling jetty to Kuala Tahan will take about 3 hrs... By road, the time is cut to about 1.5 hrs but the road condition is not good... At Kuala Tahan, you will have to cross the Tembeling River to the park headquarters...

kuala lipis to gua musang road...

The distance from Bentong to Gua Musang is about 202km and took us about 3 hours drive... The road is narrower but in good condition... It is less inhabited here with oil palm and rubber estates along the way... The road has many turns and at certain stretches are accident prone areas... There is a turn-off to Kuala Lipis which is about 90km from Bentong... Kuala Lipis is not on the main road and a diversion will taken another 5km to the town... Further down the road, there is a Petronas Station where travellers will stop for toilet breaks... This area is called Kampung Chan and there is an alternative road to Kuala Lipis that cuts across an oil palm estate... I have been on this estate road before during my last visit to Kuala Lipis... The road is not good and it is a rather frightening drive as there are few traffic and is always deserted...

After the toilet break, the road continued to Merapoh and then Gua Musang... Merapoh is also off the main road and is about 3km from the junction... Immediately after the Merapoh junction is the Sungai Relau junction to the Taman Negara entrance... We did a detour to visit the Taman Negara Park entrance at Sungai Relau... Back on the trunk road and 26km down is Gua Musang... As we entered Gua Musang, the distinctive limestone hill that Gua Musang is noted for can be seened on trunk road into the town... You will pass the Gua Musang Golf Club on the way...

road to sungai relau taman negara...

We took a small diversion to go to the Taman Negara Park Headquarters at Sungai Relau... At the junction of Route 8 to Gua Musang, a right turn just after the turning to Merapoh goes to the entrance of the Taman Negara at Sungai Relau... The small tarmac road cuts across an oil palm estate viz the Ladang Kepala Sawit Sungai Relau... At the end of the 7km road is the park headquarters... Besides Sungai Relau, the other entry points to Taman Negara include Kuala Tahan (in Pahang), Kuala Koh (in Kelantan) and Tanjong Mentong (in Terengganu)...

This entrance to Taman Negara are generally used by climbers to Gunung Tahan, the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia... This shorter trail to the peak will take 2 days trekking compared to 5 days from Kuala Tahan... Trekkers will take the 14km jeep ride to Kuala Juram at RM50 to begin the climb to Gunung Tahan, 46km away from the park headquarters...

a palm tree with dates besides the road...

We set off for Kampung Pulai from Gua Musang old town the following morning before leaving for Kuala Lumpur... We did a 3 o'clock turn at the roundabout after the Gua Musang Golf Club... Following the directional roadsign, we were finally in the village after driving on a single lane road with rubber plantations on both sides... The Guanyin temple arch is the entrance to the village... There is a large courtyard in front of the temple which faces a single limestone hill across the (now) still water of Sungai Palas... There is a Dato Temple in the middle of the hill accessible by a small road and up a flight of stairs... The houses here are mainly made of wooden planks with zinc roofing...

We visited the temple and have a chat with the caretaker... He lamented that the young has all left the village for the towns and cities for better employment opportunities and fortune... Only the old are left behind to look after the place... The only employment here is rubber tapping which is now done my the many Thai Muslims who make the village their home... The village comes alive for a week during the annual Guanyin's birthday celebrations on the 19th day of the 2nd moon...

Leaving the village, we use the road that leads to the highway to Cameron Highlands... We were surprised to see a palm tree with its full string of dates... Passing the Gua Musang Hospital, we then come to the junction to Cameron Highlands...

the strawberry canopies at blue valley...

The road from Gua Musang to Cameron Highlands cuts across the Titiwangsa Range which runs from the north to the south of Peninsular Malaysia... It is like the country's backbone... The view on this highway is beautiful and scenic as it make its way across the many valleys and hills... The journey to Kampung Raja takes about 80 mins for the 95km road...

The road cuts thru Lojing where there are currently disputes on illegal loggings which results in bare landscape... You will know that you are approaching Cameron Highlands when you see the many canopies (for the growing of strawberries) that line the road... Large areas can be seen being cleared for new canopies of the proposed new strawberry plantation... You will then come to the State border of Kelantan and Pahang... The junction to Tanah Rata, the centre of Cameron Highlands is a short distance from here after passing by the Blue Valley...

An hour's drive on the next 56km stretch of the highway will bring you to Simpang Pulai on the outskirt of Ipoh... The end of the highway is marred by the "rape" of the limestone hills here where cutting and mining of the hills can be seen... We reached Ipoh in time for lunch... We drove straight to Thean Choon in the old town for the noted prawn mee... However, this time we were disappointed with the quality of the food as it seems to have deteriorated... We decided to miss the white coffee nearby fearing for the same fate...

We then hit the North South Highway for the journey back to Kuala Lumpur... The 186km trip on the highways was un-eventful, so to say, and we were back within 2 hours of tedious driving...