Day 3
The day started a bit late as the ride was expected to be a short one even though with a slight detour south to Batu Kawan to visit a KTM dealer. So in the morning some of us took the advantage to visit the local military museum which is just a walking distance from where we stayed the night at the Belium Rainforst Resort.

With full anticipation of another awesome riding day, KTM style we got ready and rolled out from the resort close to lunch time as the lunch venue was only 30km away. After lunch we continued on the Gerik highway this time on the newest part of it so the tarmac was well and smooth.

But as soon as we cleared the twisties and hit the kampung roads, the clouds rolled in and started dumping buckets and teasing us with the occasional dryness before starting to pour again. The pattern seemed to follow us for the rest of the day until we reached Gunung Jerai.

However as mentioned we headed south first to a KTM dealer in Batu Kawan to show support as the dealer was in the midst of conducting a KTM roadshow. The rain stopped just short enough for Amir, the KTM CKD stunt rider had a chance to wow the crowd with his stunt act using a purposely modified for stunts Duke 200.

But even without that show Amir was an entertaining guy to ride with and not to mentioned helpful. You can spot him occasionally doing crazy stunts like legs over the bar or one side of the bike as we go through some of the more sedate sections of the ride.

After the stunt show and some drinks and “kuih”, we went on for the last mountain in the list, Gunung Jerai, which is just a few kilometres after exiting toll Gurun on the Plus Highway.
However there was one last detour that needed to be done, to MAksu’s special laksa place. What makes Maksu’s laksa stand out is that its cooked using charcoal, and you know what they say, anything cooked that way taste way better.

Done with the hot meal which was a welcome after braving the cold rain, we head off for the final push to the top. Though Gunung Jerai or Puncak Kedah as it was formerly known is just 1217m high, the road leading up is narrow, same as you could imagine riding on Fraser’s Hill.

However the Gunung Jerai road is not only narrow but steep, on a few corners we actually had to shift down to first gear and use our feet to balance the bike to negotiate around the bend. Good thing we were riding Dukes but more about the bike later.

It didn’t help also that by the time we started the climb it was already 7.30pm and the road was wet from the rain. Stray too far away from the centre of the road and wet leaves are waiting to catch you at the side of the road. Thrilling climb it was, the scariest of all four days.

For first timers like us it would seem that the only thing that could be up there is an open camping ground for us to stay for the night but surprise surprise that there is an actual four star resort run by the Regency.

Day 4
The dreaded day home but everything will an end. It has been an exhilarating riding experience that few countries could rival thanks to our Titiwangsa mountain range.

So after three days of riding and conquering five mountains, the last challenge for us was to ride down Gunung Jerai and head south towards home. The decent was as tricky as the climb up, the roads we still damp when we went for the decent, small miscalculations on the brakes meant the bike would actually slide which happened to a few of the riders.

As we all got down safe at the bottom, it was the boring part of the whole ride which was a long ride on the highway so we’ll spare you on this.
As a conclusion, this could be considered as one of the most epic ride a Malaysian biker could do. You don’t need to leave the country to do it and you get to see scenery you never knew existed in this country.

We covered close to 1200km in four days on all types of roads and if anything that could be added to the route it would be the Kuala Kelawang stage from Hulu Langat down to Kuala Kelawang town and head up north into Karak before going up Genting.

I will surely repeat the Five Mountain Santai Ride route again in the near future, may add the Kuala Kelawang route just for kicks. Or if you have any suggestion I would love to hear it, put it in the comments below and lets plan.

Some of the pictures are from the KTM CKD facebook page