Sunday, January 18, 2009

1300km of East West Highway, Banding Lake & 7 Waterfalls

During the Xmas holidays, I embarked on my epic journey through two East West Highways in Malaysia..
1. East West highway (Grik - Jeli)
2. East West Highway ( Gua Musang - Simpang Pulai)

I started off from KL at 6am, stopping by Bidor to have breakfast. I stopped by this famous herbal duck mee soup restaurant and I wallop my wan tan mee with gusto after finding out the whole wan tan was fully packed with shrimp.
Soupy breakfast
Yums


After the sumptious breakfast, I headed to the Kuala Kangsar exit where adventure and uncertainty awaits me. Once I entered the kawasan kampung, everything was different. There were less Cars , mountains were more visible, bridges spanning across numerous lakes, more greenery and definitely less people. My first stop was at Lata Perahu in Kuala Kangsar. A beautiful and cascasding waterfall, it has a pool that's refreshingly awesome to swim in. And the best part, no one was there.
Lata Perahu
Mexican cliff diver

I spent around an hour exploring the regions of this waterfall and found
it to be in pristine condition with not much damage done. On the way out, I stopped by this abandoned kampung house located next to the kampung road.
Eerie Kampung House

I ventured in for a bit to take some pictures when an old man emerged telling me that this rumah is berhantu. His next proposal shocked me !!!
Rumah ni berhantu tau!
Notice the knife on the pakcik.He wanted to skin the cute kitten!!

After denying the old man's proposal, I headed on to Lenggong for some awesome freshwater fish. Lenggong is famous for their freshwater catches. But before I reach Lenggong, I stopped by a lake and took some pictures.
Raban Lake
Moving on, I saw a sign "Lata Kekabu". I made a sharp left turn and ventured into my 2nd waterfall for the day. Again, there was no one there and had the waterfall all to ourselves. At Lata Kekabu, I tried the art of cliff diving perfected by the Mexicans but I didn't quite mastered it yet.
Off I go with my chest slamming on the water's surface
What a rush!!!


Goofing around 2 waterfalls sure made me hungry like a wolf and how I satisfied my insatiable hunger was a stop by Sin Hup Lik Restaurant.
Sin Hup Lik Rest in Lenggong
My whole family has always been frequenting this restaurant for the past 30 years now and by golly, the fish is oh so fresh. I ordered a freshwater ikan(the stomach part) and the moment you out them in your mouth, the meat melts away.
Thought I Died And Went To Heaven Meal
The amazing lunch puts a nice touch to the impromptu fun trip I had. The next journey was to the awe inspring and breath taking East West highway which spans from Gerik to Jeli. Along the way, I couldn't help but be amazed by the images of lush rainforest and grand mountain ranges as far as the eye can see.
Lush rainforest
My father calls this Green Mountain

An hour passed and I arrived at Banding Lake and it's either I stay in Banding Lake or drive straight to Kota Bharu. I've always wanted to see and stay at the grand Belum rainforest resort built by Emkay Berhad but after finding out that it costs RM200 a night,
Nice chic Belum Rainforest Resort
I opted for something cheaper, a RM10 campsite in one of the islands at the lake.
RM10.00 campsite

Campsite View

It's not that I cannot afford it but it's such a waste to spend RM350 for just 13 hours. Moreover, it's always my dream to swim and take a cruise on this mind boggling lake.
TO BE CONTINUED

1 comment:

JoyLee said...

Hi Yeoh, I was googling for info of grik & jeli pass and came upon your blog. It's great. I am JoyLily with my group of friends (5 of us) intend to do a 4 days 3 nights trip from west coast Malaysia to east coast and back to KL. And I intend to follow your route.

Can I ask if it is ok for you to allow us to call you on phone so that we can have more idea on how to get about. Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much. JoyLily