So, my job had required me to drive all the way to the North East – or to the state of Kelantan to be exact – which would be my very last road trip out of KL before I moved back to Sabah. Instead of taking the easy way out by taking a flight, I decided to go by road which would take me across four different states, excluding Kuala Lumpur which is considered a state in itself and where I was residing at that time of course. The plan was to go to Kelantan via the newly-opened Central Spine Road and to return to KL via the East Coast Expressway. The road trip would cover around 1000km in a span of 3 days with 2 overnight stays. At least that was the initial plan, and plans do change. Heh.
So after packing up, I exited the famed Klang Valley via Gombak toll plaza which took me straight into the green lungs of the Malaysian Peninsula. I stayed on Karak Expressway, through the famous Karak tunnel, until I reached the exit ramp to Bentong of Pahang. I had always wanted to go for a weekend escapade to Bentong, especially after reading about its old restaurants on some Air Asia in-flight magazine. Some of these restaurants are said to be so old and have been in operation for over 100 years so if they were wines, they’d be the vintages.
Somehow, my busy life back in the city hadn’t really permitted me to get around to it so the plan had never materialized. Now that I was in Bentong, it wasn’t really the best time to explore for the fact that most of the restaurants were still either fully-closed of half-open due to the ongoing movement control order. Then I had a very long way to go, so I had to spare Bentong probably for another time.
I did take some time to do a lil bit of detour – to a well-known waterfall known as Chamang. The road was quite a zig-zag, with some major repairing work going on, and of course at the end of the road I was welcomed by a fully-maned gate. I knew it was still closed, but I just wanted to try my luck a bit so now that I was there, I called out to whoever there was at the gate house that could probably grant me with some sympathetic access.
A face-masked Malay guy came out to me, telling me that the instruction was for the waterfall to remain closed, until he was instructed otherwise by the management. Trying to negotiate my way in, I told him how I had always wanted to see the waterfall, that I may no longer be able to do it any time after because I was due to be posted back to Sabah soon. He didn’t budge, and I had to give him the respect he deserved, for standing his grounds no matter how hard I tried to persuade him into letting me in.
So I continued North, past a small town called Raub which is known as the district of Musang King, the super-deli but expensive durians. To tell the truth, it wasn’t my first time driving through Raub. I remember driving across the little town about 10 years ago, also while I was heading towards Kelantan on another outstation trip. It was the old Oriental-looking rows of shop lots that captivated my attention when I first came upon them. They looked like a piece of the George Town in Penang – so oriental and yet so colonial. Again, the long way ahead didn’t really permit me to stay around so I had to continue North, this time to another small town called Kuala Lipis.
Now, Kuala Lipis had caught me quite by surprise. I had never been to this little town so I didn’t really know what to expect. After making a few wrong turns, even to the depths of some housing area with narrow roads at one point, I finally made it to the centre of town and instantly liked it!
Kuala Lipis really looked like a vacation town. Located on a hilly patch surrounded by greenery, I was fascinated to see the presence of beautiful and historical-looking buildings. Of course, standing out among the lot is the beautiful Lipis District Council office building which is strategically located on top of a hill that overlooks the little town of Kuala Lipis. A little bit of Google search had brought me to the finding that Kuala Lipis was apparently made the state capital town of Pahang by the British before it was handed over to Kuantan some time in 1953. That explains the existence of an array of colonial buildings that really fascinated me.
Embracing the excitement that I found myself in, I parked my car in front of probably the only KFC outlet in town and took a little walk around town. The central townscape is dominated by a large field called Dataran Lipis. I could imagine how on any given day the locals would make their way down to the field in hordes for an evening stroll but of course it was not any given day. The whole country was experiencing one of the worst pandemic crisis ever so restrictions were in place to forbid the locals from gathering around.
It was beginning to drizzle a bit so I returned to my car to get the umbrella before making my way to a food hawker which was almost impossible not to take any notice of. It was quite a spread of food choices and I was having quite a difficult time to decide which to buy for dinner. But of course that was before I knew there was Patin tempoyak soup among the spread. Patin soup may not be that special, but this one is cooked with durian, so it has that pungent smell and sweetness and sourness of durian in it.
I’m not really a big fan of durians but Patin tempoyak soup which consists of Patin fish cooked with usually fermented durian somehow hits the right taste buds for me. In fact it is one of my favourite Malaysian delicacies. And since durian is a seasoned fruit, the availability of this Patin tempoyak soup is very seasoned too. It was a clear choice. I had to go for it.
I really wanted to stay longer in Kuala Lipis but I knew I had to keep moving or I’d spend the rest of the day’s trip driving in the dark. The target was to reach the newly-built Central Spine expressway before nightfall. Somebody reached out to me through twitter, asking me to try to reach the Central Spine before sunset. I did try, but I was a bit late. I did get a little bit of glimpse of the beautiful sunset over the far horizon before reaching the highway – and I knew it would have been a fantastic sunset view to be enjoyed while cruising along the highway. It was certainly a wasted opportunity.
After what appeared to be an unending drive on Central Spine and beyond, along which I’d find myself driving all alone across the darkness, I finally arrived in Gua Musang thankfully still in one piece. I checked into a hotel that raked in quiet a good rating on Agoda.com. The room was quite spacious and I had a good watch over the car that I parked just outside of the hotel.
After unpacking myself, it was time to enjoy my Patin tempoyak soup. Understandably, it had turned cold in the air-conditioned car but the taste was still very much there. It did not have to be hot to be super-deliciously tasty and I enjoyed every bit of it. And of course, with a refilled stomach and after spending almost the whole day on the road, I fell instantly into a deep sleep the moment I laid myself on the soft and super-comfy matress. It would be another long day the next day.