Ride and Camp to Pos Kuala Mu, Perak

MohdRashidin

Junior Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Location
Rawang
Bikes
1994 Honda Shadow 2013 KLE 650


Pos Kuala Mu is a settlement of Temiar tribe, located about 70km from Sungai Siput, Perak. It is strategically located near the convergence of Sungai Mu and Sungai Perlus which consists of 4 villages, Kampung Besrah, Kampung Gepeh Hulu, Kampung Gepeh Hilir and Kampung Kuala Mu.

In 2013, a project undertaken by Angkatan Tentera Malaysia was completed that upgrades the 16.7km road connection between Pos Legap and Pos Kuala Mu. This upgrades has shorten the travel time from this settlement to Sungai Siput from 8 hours to about 2.5hours and since then, it has become a tourist destination for off-road enthusiast from 2 wheeler to 4x4 wheels.


A series of downpour throughout that week has given me a doubt on the selected date. Weather forecast that weekend was also expecting an overnight rain.

Despite all odds we have decided to proceed as planned and riding with me to Kuala Mu are Syahril and Sallehuddin, both are on Versys 650. We met at R&R Rawang at about 8.30am and departed around 9am on that Saturday morning.


The weather that morning was good and we have plenty of sun along the way up north.


We arrived at Sungai Siput around 11.00am and took an early lunch at Selera D Kebayan restaurant in Chemor.



After a quick petrol refill in Sungai Siput, we head towards Kampung Bawong, where the nice tarmac road ended. It is noon when we started rolling into the off-roads here.



The road leads to Pos Legap is about 65% flat with a combination of loose gravel, red laterite and concrete surface on some climbing section





Land clearing in this area is massive and active logging sites are visible along the road


We stopped and asked for direction as the stretch is unavailable on gps and no signboards



From Pos Legap to Kuala Mu, the road started climbing, a signpost says it’s at 25degrees but it felt more in reality.


Climbing and descending road proven difficult to ride in our road tyres with heavy load of chocolates and clothes for the villagers plus our own supplies.


Sallehuddin first tumble as his rear wheel skidded into soft mud



After the first tumble, Sallehudin took a few more down the road. At this point we are all exhausted and dehydrated as the weather is really hot.

There are small villages along the road


Despite the hardship, all smiles are on board



We arrived at Kampung Besrah around 3.30pm after a lot of stops and rests.


Although this is the first time we met, Tok Batin Hadu greeted us with a big smile.


This was the second big bike expedition here (after SPCT in 2014) and this chief is loving it!


All smiles in Kampung Besrah when we began distributing clothes, chocolates and candies







Tok Batin Hadu then ushered us to the camping site and we camp by the river. The river is very cold as its flows down directly from the mountain range between state borders of Perak and Kelantan.


Unpacking process started and base camp was ready around 5.00pm.


The river is very cold indeed

We started to prepare dinner. On the menu tonight is rice with meat curry and tomatoes.



Setting up camp was swift but I personally felt like a one man circus as we have a flock of children sat nearby to watch the entire process.
We did share our dinner with local children that night




We toast black pepper sausages as our night snacks


That night around 9pm Tok Batin Hadu came to our camp site with fried tapioca and we started chatting.
He said in the late 70s he used to work in Gombak as a house builder (tukang rumah) with daily salary of RM90. He came back to this village when he was 24 years old and stayed ever since.



He leave us around 10.30pm and we retrieve to our tent.

Morning in the jungle is carnival-like as birds and insects chirping can be heard as early as 6am.
Our breakfast that morning was instant curry mee with coffee.


Our children fans came again this time to watch our packing process.
We gave them all the remaining supplies and all smiles are on their faces


We make a move around 10.30am and toured the village for a quick photography session




Streams of cold water flows in the middle of the village


Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Mu is complete with its teacher quarters, which runs on hybrid solar system


Football field with school building and quarters in the background


Entrance leading to Kampung Besrah


Tok Batin Hadu Bin Long house, he has 9 children with a wife


A brand new musolla is under construction


We moved out from this settlement around 12pm


Climbing and descending section.. again


With reduced weight of the bike, riding the same road as yesterday seems much more easier than
before








We arrived at Kampung Bawong around 2pm and after a quick check on our ride before we continue to Chemor.


Despite suffering from a very bad first day, Sallehuddin's bike has suffered only a few minor damages such as bended brake pedal and handle bar.
He is still able to continue the second half of this ride back to KL and that was a commendable feat for both man & machine considering a very bad first day.



Lovely bends between Kampung Bawong and Sungai Siput



We had a quick lunch in Naina Mohamed restaurant in Chemor.
Journey back was a slow one as it is raining and the traffic is very bad. A hand score of drivers took the left emergency lane and driving dangerously in the slippy highway surface.

We arrived in Rawang rest area around 5.20pm and said goodbye to each other.


It has been a very memorable journey despite all the hardship during the off-road section.
We are also blessed with good weather in Sungai Siput throughout the weekend which also made this possible as I could not imagine how would heavy bikes on road tyres can climb those over 25 degrees inclination in wet conditions.


###Originally posted at myridinguniverse.blogspot.com###
 
I might do this route at the weekend while i still have a a ICP / insurance cover .. Is it OK to camp by the river ? I can just ask the chief ? My Bahasa is pretty bad ..
 
Yes you should go before the trees disappears!
Don't forget to bring goodies for the children..
 
Yeah, for sure ! I got lost in Belum and ended at the school, I was rushed by loads of kids, i thought they were going to push the bike over. I will take a bag of candy.

This is an orang asli village ? We have Sarkai here - but they live in brick houses in government settlements, i was really surprised there are quite a lot of 'wild' settlements in Perak.

In Thailand you expect to see a village or something after 10 km or something, on rte.4 they have the hotels on Bearing Island, and nothing either side for at least 40 km .. its still very wild there. I stopped a couple of times for photos or a drink and always, someone stopped to ask if I was OK.
 
Thanks Mohd.
Malaysia looks nice! Hmm...

It is Tim, fuel that's about half the Thai price, great road manners where everyone stops for red lights, motorcyclists are treated as equals by all road users, English is spoken fluently by most people and last but not least the best food in Asia in my opinion
 
Mohamed - I just got back from Pos Kuala Mu ..

A really great ride !! Unfortunately, it rained for the first time this year ! and I could make the last 2 hills up - say 4km from the village.

Both I and a 4WD turned back, but a Pajero managed to winch himself up with a woman coming from the hospital.

The climb after you cross the bridge, i have to check my GPS graph, but i am sure its about 1.2 km at, and its very steep, its just straight up, bend, straight up, bend - no time to a break.
Just one tyre track to balance on. Lucky it didnt rain on that hill as coming down would have been a big problem.

I met a guy from a hydro scheme he says the road off to the left, there is another Aslii village, with a bamboo reconstruction of Petronas towers - and the village headman likes to receive visitors - he has a long hut that for guests that is free to stay in.

The road is pretty good now with work being done on a hydro scheme.

I will post some more after i have chance to recover.
 
It is Tim, fuel that's about half the Thai price, great road manners where everyone stops for red lights, motorcyclists are treated as equals by all road users, English is spoken fluently by most people and last but not least the best food in Asia in my opinion

Hell man, the price of petrol has really fallen the roof .. I was handing over 20 ringgit to the cashier and squeezing 15-17 ringgit into the tank of the Versys .. thats 160B !! for 3/4 a tank ..

I got so excited I just booted down to Cameron highlands on the motorway for the hell of it !
 
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Mhmd,

I just wanted to show you .. the hill after you cross the iron bridge is 2.1 km in distance and has an angle of 2:1 .. Its certainly the longest drop i have ever come down. I screamed when I got to mechanics camp at the bottom.
 
Awesome trip and report you have there Recom273!
If you are serious about doing more of this off-roading, I think you should at least change your wheel to 50-50 tyres and that will help with the climb and descend.

Great stuff!
 
Awesome trip and report you have there Recom273!
If you are serious about doing more of this off-roading, I think you should at least change your wheel to 50-50 tyres and that will help with the climb and descend.

Great stuff!

Yes - I know, these are fine for the moment ( well not really at all - lol ) they did OK. The steep hill in the dry was fun.

It's my first bit of exploring into Malaysia, and has to stop now - I'm not going to be riding the dirt when the rain starts.

Next year I will, swap them over in March.
 
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