Vesak Day – a public holiday in Singapore, falls on a Tuesday. So what better way to celebrate it, than to take the Monday off and go for a 4D3N long weekend ride! Six bikes – divided into 2 teams head up to Cameron. The Honda ST1100, VFR800X and the R1200GS started the journey on Saturday morning, while the XJ6 Diversion, Super 4 and the F700GS made their way up towards KL in the evening.
The ST1100 and the VFR800X (further front) climbing the roads towards Cameron Highlands via Simpang Pulai.Steamboat for dinner at one of the many steamboat restaurants in Brinchang.
DAY 2 – 27May18, Sun Brrrrr! The cold highlands air greeted us in the morning as we rose from a restful sleep after a long day’s ride the previous day. Good morning Cameron Highlands! The plan is to rendezvous with Team 2 who stayed over at KL last night as they started the journey from Singapore in the evening and it wasn’t to wise to ascend the unlit roads up to Cameron in the dark.
View from my room in Iris House Hotel, Brinchang, Cameron Highlands (4.490200,101.387050)18 degC at 840am in the morning! Loving the temperatures up here!Ian and I took a quick morning ride to Tanah Rata and found some street side stall selling Cameron strawberries!Met up with the rest of the gang from Team 2 at Bharat Cameron Tea House 2 (GPS: 4.4574236,101.36587)We paid a RM2 entrance fee and took a morning walk inside the tea plantation.Cameron Highlands Tea!Trempest had to head back to SG and didn’t join us for the walk – so it’s just the 5 of us now.
After some morning exercise walking through the tea plantation, we headed to Ee Feng Gu Bee Farm in Brinchang as Cai wanted to introduce his yellow Super 4 whom he affectionately calls the “Bee” to the…. well… bees of Cameron Highlands!
In front of Ee Feng Gu Bee Farm in Brinchang.Yeah – very touristy. But they keep bees and harvest honey on a commercial scale too.
After all the walking in the morning, we grew hungry real quick. We wanted a nice meal and a few of us had a sudden craving for a nice steak. So, off we went and headed to The Smokehouse.
The SmokehouseWe started with the al-fresco dining option. But the skies seem to be turning dark and were recommended to seat ourselves indoors.They took nearly a whole hour to prepare our lunch. But the steaks were sure worth the wait!
After the lunch stop and filling our souls with some of Cameron Highland’s finest steaks, we headed up to Gunung Brinchang (Mount Brinchang) – Peninsular Malaysia’s highest motorable roads.
Enroute up to Gunung Binchang, we were flanked with highland tea plantations.Stopping for a quick photoshoot.Taking in the beauty of the place.Continued our ascend to Gunung Brinchang.Yet another photoshoot stop.Couldn’t resist walking into the tea hills.…and the classic “me among the plants” photo shot.Yay! We did it! (Though not before SH dropped his bike after going through an uncovered drainhole. – Thankfully, as we were all dressed for the fall, he wasn’t hurt.)2032m above sea level – highest road in Peninsular Malaysia!Yupz! My GPS tells me that we’re more than 2000m above sea level.We took a short hike up Mossy Forest……and were greeted by a splendid view of the surroundings of Cameron Highlands.Yup! We were above cloud level!
Dinner time! And what better food to warm our chilled souls than…. STEAMBOAT (again)!
This steamboat runs on burning charcoal. The interesting chimney seem to suggest that the taller it is, the better the food.
DAY 3 – 28May18, Mon Today we do the loop. The original plan was to do an anti-clockwise loop around the Cameron Highlands region – Brinchang -> Sungai Koyan -> Gua Musang -> Simpang Pulai -> Tapah -> Brinchang.
The planned loop around Cameron Highlands region.Stopping for a photoshoot along the route towards Sungai Koyan.Groupie.Super scenic views here!Nice weather + nice views = a very nice ride!!More nice views when the sun is fully out.Group wefie!Awesome, awesome views!We returned to Cameron Highlands later in the day and stopped by the Lavender Gardens.Flowers, flowers everywhere!Who’s the cutest bear of them all?Apart from lavenders, they grow gerbera daisies too!Stopping to smell the flowers.Strawberries! These ain’t ripe yet.We stopped by the nearby night market at Tanah Rata for some snacks before dinner.
DAY 4 – 29May18, Tue We head back to Singapore today. Gonna miss you Cameron Highlands!
Lor Mee (yellow noodles in braised sauce) – a hearty breakfast before the descent.The obligatory group bike shot in front of the hotel lobby.Cai is still very sore about being cropped out of this pic. LOL!Descending Cameron Highlands towards Tapah, we stopped by the waterfall at Hutan Lipur Lata Iskandar.The sign at the entrance of the waterfall.The wooden huts along the roads are actually snacks and souvenir shops near the waterfall.And the final group pic before we made our 530km journey back to Singapore.
15 thoughts on “4D3N Vesak Day Cameron Highlands Ride”
Nice trip photos. How is the KLIM jacket working out for you?
It’s been great! Love it! Has a “premium” quality feel to it. But since it’s still new and I’ve only worn it a couple of times, it still feels a little stiff around the elbows. Hope that it’ll wear-in after a while. With the protection offered by the carbonite mesh at 750% stronger than standard polyesters, I guess the tradeoff is the (initial?) stiffness in the fabric.
Not sure if I would have the time (or will) to actually gonna do a “full review” – either soon or in the future. ? But don’t wait too long to get yourself proper protective riding gear!
Your details came just in time as i am prepping myself and the bike to be up there solo to Gunung Brinchang and camp there for a nite this weekend. Hope the weather isn’t too beating.
Here’s the coordinates of my camp spot at Gunung Brinchang : 4.522327, 101.398019. I did just this Saturday nite. It’s about 1500m altitude.
There’s no proper campsite in GB, you probably know that already. Hearsay from the locals I can pitch my tent outside Mossy Forest but it’s not where I would like to camp the nite at – a pavilion by the car park. Or maybe they meant inside.
Where I camped is a tight scenic spot by the narrow one-way road used by drivers visiting the mountain. I chose the site probably because of the panoramic view overseeing the tea plantation. Was there to witness the sunset and sunrise. The nite was as expected, freezing cold but I had sleeping bag that tide me well over the nite. Mosquito free, that’s nice.
A real treat for the weekend ride, I would say.
I put up a few pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/716qoSF
That’s awesome!! Did you pass that huge drain that was covered by only 2 metal grills? It was a motorcycle hazard and a fellow riding buddy dropped his bike riding though that hole.
Yap. With the narrow and slopey road condition, I can only go very slow, wouldn’t have missed it. And with my heavy ride, it’s really hard to make a U-turn.
Nice trip photos. How is the KLIM jacket working out for you?
It’s been great! Love it! Has a “premium” quality feel to it. But since it’s still new and I’ve only worn it a couple of times, it still feels a little stiff around the elbows. Hope that it’ll wear-in after a while. With the protection offered by the carbonite mesh at 750% stronger than standard polyesters, I guess the tradeoff is the (initial?) stiffness in the fabric.
Thanks again for responsiveness.
Look forward to a full review on the jacket before I make the investment…I really value your opinion.
Not sure if I would have the time (or will) to actually gonna do a “full review” – either soon or in the future. ? But don’t wait too long to get yourself proper protective riding gear!
Your details came just in time as i am prepping myself and the bike to be up there solo to Gunung Brinchang and camp there for a nite this weekend. Hope the weather isn’t too beating.
Awesome! Let me know of any good camping spots there, as I was just considering doing a camping trip sometime in the near future.
It looks like you guys made it. 🙂
Yeah! We sure did!
Here’s the coordinates of my camp spot at Gunung Brinchang : 4.522327, 101.398019. I did just this Saturday nite. It’s about 1500m altitude.
There’s no proper campsite in GB, you probably know that already. Hearsay from the locals I can pitch my tent outside Mossy Forest but it’s not where I would like to camp the nite at – a pavilion by the car park. Or maybe they meant inside.
Where I camped is a tight scenic spot by the narrow one-way road used by drivers visiting the mountain. I chose the site probably because of the panoramic view overseeing the tea plantation. Was there to witness the sunset and sunrise. The nite was as expected, freezing cold but I had sleeping bag that tide me well over the nite. Mosquito free, that’s nice.
A real treat for the weekend ride, I would say.
I put up a few pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/716qoSF
cheers.
That’s awesome!! Did you pass that huge drain that was covered by only 2 metal grills? It was a motorcycle hazard and a fellow riding buddy dropped his bike riding though that hole.
Looked like you had quite a lot of fun!!
Wow, nice photos.
Wish I still have my GS!
It ain’t the bike, but the biker that makes the adventure! 🙂
But this biker got no more bike. ?
Easy! Get a bike – any bike! 😉
Yap. With the narrow and slopey road condition, I can only go very slow, wouldn’t have missed it. And with my heavy ride, it’s really hard to make a U-turn.