Offroad Ride And Camp To Dungun, Terengganu

[mohdrashidin]

Last Friday we rode to a campsite on the riverbank of Sungai Kelemin, which is about 18km north of the peak of Gunung Berembun, Hulu Dungun Terengganu. The river flows from the same mountain range that supplied water to Kenyir dam and Sungai Tembeling. Although there are active logging activities, the water remains clear and cold with lovely jungle chime at night.

My tip for this campsite came from Mr. Asmazi Omar, who have been there on both his bike and on 4wd vehicle before which led me to our local guide Mr. Zaki & Mr. Lan Bro. These two locals are pivotal to our trip as they helped us to our feet when we fall as well as being our guidance into this campsite. The plan is to ride through ECE all the way to Paka as we planned to arrive there as early as we can before meeting our local guide in Pasir Raja.

Joining me and Syahril on this ride are Mr. Lester Liew and Mr. Jason Lee. This is Lester’s first off road experience while Jason have been to Mat Daling prior to this ride. All of us planned to meet at BHP fuel station just after Gombak toll but a heavy downpour that Friday morning changed it. Syahril is the first on scene while I arrived 10 minutes to 8 am and Lester arrived half past 8.

We decided to start without Jason around 8.45am. The rain subsided just after Karak and its clear all the way to Terengganu. We arrived at Temerloh rest area around 10.16am and met Jason shortly after that. After a quick refill and rest, we continued towards Paka.

When we passed Perasing rest area, our fuel is still enough to make it to Paka. However we arrived at Paka rest area, we didn’t know that fuel station is unavailable there and fuel for all the bikes are critically low. Lucky we made it to Felda Kerteh for fuel refill and revert back to east-coast expressway. We arrived at Bukit Besi around 12.41pm and have lunch at Bukit Besi Simpang Tiga rest area.

We contacted our local guide Mr. Zaki there and agreed to meet in Pasir Raja. This is my first time in this area and we got lost when we stopped at Kampung Minda instead of Pasir Raja. We are about 30km north of Pasir Raja and we have to ride back about 20 minutes before we finally arrived at Pasir Raja. Mr. Zaki invited us to his house and we meet his family.

A bit of crowd gathered outside his house to welcome us. Sometimes a little hospitality is all it need to make you feel warm & welcomed. We had cold drinks and keropok.

Pasir Raja is a well-known transit point for adventurers as it is the last village before you go hiking into the jungle heading to Pahang towards Kuala Tahan. We make a move from Mr. Zaki’s house around 3pm towards Pokok Chengal Besar road.

Off road trail head GPS Coordinate: 4.71121, 103.02923

We begin offroading around 3.30pm and we stopped to reduce our tire pressure and checking our straps and equipment. The route is nice compacted red soil surface with rocks and road tires have no issue at all going on it.

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Lester slipped his front wheel and fall. His side pannier was detached in the process. I am glad he is still smiling!

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Jason was next as he made a turn too small and lost footing.

One small river crossing about 2 feet deep and 12 feet wide with sandy bottom.

Versys on bottom mounted standard exhaust muffler? No problem at all!

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

The last section into the riverbank has a soft mud pool. It is soft mud about 1.5ft deep.

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

After almost 11km of off road we safely arrived at the campsite around 4.30pm. I have to ride both Lester’s and Jason’s bike into the campsite as both riders are exhausted.
The riverbank has soft sand and medium sized bedrocks.

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Campsite Sungai Kelemin, Dungun GPS 4.78993, 103.03072


Facility: Clear and cold river water

Note: According to our guide, this area still has some wild animals like wild pigs, Beruang Matahari (Ursus malayanus), Elephant & others. Elephant droppings are seen nearby and the next morning I saw beruang's footprint crossing the river about 200m away from this campsite. Please be advised.


Zaki & Lah set up our common area and by 6pm all tents were erected. Syahril prepared rending ayam and chicken curry with rice for dinner

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

After a long and hot ride, we cool ourselves in the crystal clear and cold water

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

It is raining around dusk and we sat under a flysheet having dinner and getting to know each other. What happens in camp stays in camp!!

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Lan Bro & Zaki brought some anchovies and budu

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Lester's sleepy eyes that is before lamb slices made an appearance

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Around 10pm I began putting lamb slice on the pan...

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

Photo Credit to Jason Lee
By 11pm the mist began to fill the river and its surrounding area and it is bright as it is a full moon night.

We chatted through midnight and everyone retrieve to their tents soon afterwards.

The next day begin early as Lester began preparing breakfast. We had tomyam instant noodles with eggs and canned mackerel. Total of 12 packets of instant noodles has been consumed by 12 mens that morning.

Photo Credit to Lester Liew

We took our time to chill and only began packing around 11pm. By noon we have cleared the campsite and began our journey out.

Photo Credit to Lester Liew

I fell on one of the climbing section as my bike is rear-end heavy and the front wheel is lifted as I tried to get out from a hole.

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

Lester did very well on the way out and we made it under 50 minutes. Last night's rain has turned some sections into muddy surface.

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

Zaki & Lan Bro

Photo Credit to Jason Lee

We stopped to increase our tire pressure and took some photos.

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

We said goodbye to Zaki & Lah Bro and continued towards Kuala Kemaman for lunch.

Photo Credit to Syahril Zulkifli

We went through Kampung Durian Takilan E124 and turning right to Padang Kubu. We make a quick stop at Shell Bandi for refueling before heading towards Kampung Ibok.

We arrived at Otak-Otak Che Wan in Kuala Kemaman around 2.40pm and have lunch there.
Syahril said his goodbye there as he is heading to his sister house in Kuantan and the rest of us continued towards Jabor and entered East-Coast Expressway to Karak. Traffic was bad from Bentong towards Genting Sempah as people are coming back from their school holiday and long weekend.
We arrived at Gombak toll around 7.05pm and said goodbye to each other.

This has been an interesting ride as the campsite is very refreshing and the river is very clean & cold. Thank you to Lester and Jason for joining us and making this ride more fun. Zaki & Lan Bro also has been entertaining host and we may return next year?

Photo credit to Lester Liew

Photo credit to Lester Liew

One advice for future riders planning for the same route is to keep the place clean and preserve our environment!
##############Originally posted on myridinguniverse.blogspot.com########################################

 

[brian_bkk]

Looks like fun indeed. Nice and slippery for big bikes too..

Cheers
Brian

 

[Moto-Rex]

What a ride,...what an adventure.
Great stuff.
Love this photo.

Moto-Rex

 

[ianyonok]

Wonderful stuff guys. Looks a great adventure. It's not the bike you ride, it's the attitude you have that counts....

 

[mohdrashidin]

It is true ianyonok.. I was always prompted by others to upgrade or even question why am i bringing a versys to off-road. I only repeat what you've said above, its not the bike, its the rider that made the difference

 

[ianyonok]

I am fortunate enough to have ridden a 15 year old machine with 50 year old design (Royal Enfield Bullet 500), across the high desert of Tibet to the Mt Everest Base Camp, across frozen rivers and along boulder strewn tracks, on worn street tyres. That tour was running every year and several companies doing it. Mind you, the Bullet is a tough bike.
Don't let the type of bike stop you going where you need to go.....

 

[rcm273]

You needed a guide bro ?

I just saw a fishing video on Royal Belum, it said that you needed to book a hotel / package - in excess of 100 Ringgit (ETS : 1000 ringgit, thats 10,000 THB !! ) to gain access / obtain an entry permit. You have ridden Royal Belum at Gerik right ? :S

Keep posting your adventures here and on FB .. I may relocate from the South of Thailand soon, but I want to get back and ride the trails next hot season.

 

[mohdrashidin]

Yes I haven't been to Belum and tha is planned for 2017 as raining season is coming very soon making offroad riding a dangerous activity. One group is going to Belum on 14/15/16 Oct but i have another plan on the same weekend.
Let's go in maybe in February or March 2017