Malaysia: Gerik Highway road trip!

[Kilatz]

 

I'm planning to go on a 1800km road trip sometime in July.

 

The plan is for us to use the old trunk coastal roads of the east coast of Malaysia. The plan is for a leisurely drive to enjoy the view and the nostalgic feel of the coastal kampongs and of course the over land drive to Gerik, Perak.

 

Our first planned stop is the Legends Resort in Kuantan, Pahang where we will spend the night before driving up to Kota Bahru, Kelantan the next day. The third day will be the highlight of the drive which is through the picturesque Gerik Highway where we will go all the way to the third night's stop in Cameron Highlands. We plan to start the Gerik Route from Pasir Putih in Kelantan.

 

This trip will just be between 2 good buddies in my car. I will post up the pics and experiences once I come back from the trip.

 

Even though we are seasoned road travellers, will appreciate any bros or sis who can give any advice on the places to stop at and route to recommend. We still have a 3 weeks to prepare.

 

Thanks and wish me luck!

[The_Bear]

I'm planning to go on a 1800km road trip sometime in July.

 

The plan is for us to use the old trunk coastal roads of the east coast of Malaysia. The plan is for a leisurely drive to enjoy the view and the nostalgic feel of the coastal kampongs and of course the over land drive to Gerik, Perak.

 

Our first planned stop is the Legends Resort in Kuantan, Pahang where we will spend the night before driving up to Kota Bahru, Kelantan the next day. The third day will be the highlight of the drive which is through the picturesque Gerik Highway where we will go all the way to the third night's stop in Cameron Highlands. We plan to start the Gerik Route from Pasir Putih in Kelantan.

 

This trip will just be between 2 good buddies in my car. I will post up the pics and experiences once I come back from the trip.

 

Even though we are seasoned road travellers, will appreciate any bros or sis who can give any advice on the places to stop at and route to recommend. We still have a 3 weeks to prepare.

 

Thanks and wish me luck!

 

Good luck and Godspeed for your upcoming trip.

 

Hope to read your detailed journal and get some tips for that part of Malaysia when I finally get around to planning my own trip.

[Shor]

Good luck and enjoy the ride!!!! Remember, drive safely.

 

 

 

I'm planning to go on a 1800km road trip sometime in July.

 

The plan is for us to use the old trunk coastal roads of the east coast of Malaysia. The plan is for a leisurely drive to enjoy the view and the nostalgic feel of the coastal kampongs and of course the over land drive to Gerik, Perak.

 

Our first planned stop is the Legends Resort in Kuantan, Pahang where we will spend the night before driving up to Kota Bahru, Kelantan the next day. The third day will be the highlight of the drive which is through the picturesque Gerik Highway where we will go all the way to the third night's stop in Cameron Highlands. We plan to start the Gerik Route from Pasir Putih in Kelantan.

 

This trip will just be between 2 good buddies in my car. I will post up the pics and experiences once I come back from the trip.

 

Even though we are seasoned road travellers, will appreciate any bros or sis who can give any advice on the places to stop at and route to recommend. We still have a 3 weeks to prepare.

 

Thanks and wish me luck!

 

[Kilatz]

Thanks bros. Heard Gerik highway goes through many beautiful spots. Its the only place in W Malaysia that I have never been to before.

[Drafting88]

Your mention of Pasir Putih, Kelantan gives me a sense of dejavu.

 

I was involved in a chain collision two Saturdays ago at that town while I on the way to Kota Bharu.

We were just 30 km away from KB when the incident took place.

 

Our plan then was to cross the peninsular after two nights at KB to Sg Petani, Kedah using the Gua

Musang route.

 

We started the journey from Singapore at 4 a.m. and took the Yong Peng-Segamat route before passing

through Muazzam Shah, Pahang and the last part of the East Coast Highway. We passed through a few

towns in Terengganu before the accident took place at around 4.30 p.m. at Pasir Putih, Kelantan.

 

After the accident, thankfully, I was still able to drive back the vehicle to Singapore without the air-con

turned on though.

 

All the best to you and have a safe journey.

 

[Ladykillerz]

be 300% prepared and do your homework!

maps on direction is very important and don't forget the numbers to call if required.

 

good luck on your happy journey and be safe!

[Picanto]

and how old is your vehicle?

[Drafting88]

forgot to add.

 

just in case you need them, bring along photocopies of your ic, driving license and insurance certificate.

 

while at pasir putih, i had to go around the town for about 20 minutes just to get the first two documents photocopied.

that was because it was after 6 p.m.

 

the photocopy machine at the police station had broken down!

[Coder]

TS, it is more then 1800km! last month, went to Kuantan, via Gua Murang reach Cameron. return home from Cameron, on the way went Malacca. i'm the only driver, with 1 year old son, wife and maid. good experience, enjoyable trip. my advise, do your home work well, have a GPS. i'm using Garmin device, very detail map got from Malsing web site. if u can speak malay even better.

[Kilatz]

Your mention of Pasir Putih, Kelantan gives me a sense of dejavu.

 

I was involved in a chain collision two Saturdays ago at that town while I on the way to Kota Bharu.

We were just 30 km away from KB when the incident took place.

 

Our plan then was to cross the peninsular after two nights at KB to Sg Petani, Kedah using the Gua

Musang route.

 

We started the journey from Singapore at 4 a.m. and took the Yong Peng-Segamat route before passing

through Muazzam Shah, Pahang and the last part of the East Coast Highway. We passed through a few

towns in Terengganu before the accident took place at around 4.30 p.m. at Pasir Putih, Kelantan.

 

After the accident, thankfully, I was still able to drive back the vehicle to Singapore without the air-con

turned on though.

 

All the best to you and have a safe journey.

 

Bro feel sorry for you. The fear of getting into an accident is in every driver's mind.

I hope everything goes on smoothly...

 

[Kilatz]

be 300% prepared and do your homework!

maps on direction is very important and don't forget the numbers to call if required.

 

good luck on your happy journey and be safe!

 

Thanks. Route already planned out and will try to keep to it as much as possible.

[Kilatz]

and how old is your vehicle?

5 years

 

[Kilatz]

forgot to add.

 

just in case you need them, bring along photocopies of your ic, driving license and insurance certificate.

 

while at pasir putih, i had to go around the town for about 20 minutes just to get the first two documents photocopied.

that was because it was after 6 p.m.

 

the photocopy machine at the police station had broken down!

 

Actually that is a good advice. Thank you. Things happen and we never know when we need something that seems unimportant. Thanks bro.

[Kilatz]

TS, it is more then 1800km! last month, went to Kuantan, via Gua Murang reach Cameron. return home from Cameron, on the way went Malacca. i'm the only driver, with 1 year old son, wife and maid. good experience, enjoyable trip. my advise, do your home work well, have a GPS. i'm using Garmin device, very detail map got from Malsing web site. if u can speak malay even better.

 

I did the calculations and its around 1800km. On the last leg, it will be from CH straight back to Singapore without any stops in other states. Yeah I will use my GPS too but will use a more detailed one from my buddy's. So we have 2 gps haha!

 

Mw and my buddy will take turns to drive so its a more relaxed trip...

[Dwoon]

Do have emergency numbers available just in case. If you have sg registered plates and do not know any contacts there, it'll be chopping time... Especially so in remote areas where there is basically no bargaining power and totally at their mercy.

[Coder]

I did the calculations and its around 1800km. On the last leg, it will be from CH straight back to Singapore without any stops in other states. Yeah I will use my GPS too but will use a more detailed one from my buddy's. So we have 2 gps haha!

 

Mw and my buddy will take turns to drive so its a more relaxed trip...

take care, i suggested u take 2 stop along the 600KM travel back fr CH. forgot to tell u, the road up and down CH is 99 time of 99 turns, u may need to take some prevention for sickness. advisable to travel at CH during day time.

[Hjteo]

Take care, plan and prepare as mentioned by the bros mentioned and then enjoy the drive !

 

Just drove thru Gerik highway last week and it was beautiful. Our route was different - we took yong peng to kuantan then to Marang to stay a few days at Gem Island. We taken the coastal route from Mersing (route 3) before and now with Yong Peng/Segamat route (route 12) to Kuantan - the Yong Peng/Segamat route seems straighter and have more opportunities to over take convoys (even with a 1.3M car). From Kuantan, we took the inner route instead of the coastal way (route 14) as it has few traffic lights. Route 3 from Kuantan has a lot more traffic lights as it passes through some of the small towns.

 

After that, carried on the trip with just our car to Gerik, stayed one night at Belium resort and the next day carried on to Penang. The trip up was to Belium was great - just underpowered on a Hyundai Accent 1.3M with 4 people and full load. With a more power car or lesser payload it will be great (or go on a motorcycle).

 

After a few days at Penang, we drove back via the boring NSHW.

 

Apart from paper maps as backups, we used the GPS which was great and the key thing with GPS is to load it was MalFreeMaps as it has places of interest, hotels, petrol stops, workshops and shopping areas.

 

Have fun and enjoy the drive. I would like to go up again with a better car next time but anyway just use the current car you have, have it checked a week or 2 before, ensure the tires, battery, belts and fluids in the engine are in good condition. My Accent is already 6.5 yrs old, covered 190,000km at the odo. Apart from the hills, still good for flatter roads like route 12 and 14.

 

Blessed day!

[Drafting88]

Happened to see a grey Accent on Sunday 12 June near Kelantan or Terengganu.

 

Was that you Hjteo?