NL LIEW's Blog: Road to nowhere...

Since I was a boy, my father instilled the love for leisurely promenades in car or in bikes in me and now, it has become a 'need' when I have some free time to spare. I remember accompanying my father on his trips along the country roads whenever he needed to see his friends or his potential clients (my father made traditional houses for the kampung folks, aka a carpenter ). My wife, in return, acquired it from me as we made it our 'must do' activity whenever possible. Well, I must admit in these times of global climatic concerns that it is not a very 'green' practice but until I can afford greener solutions, the wanderer in me still needs to do his own bits.

The northern part of Raub- direction Kuala Medang was once an isolated and inaccessible backwater of this part of the country until the tarmac rolled in together with development. I won't argue that development is not good for the people but the almost always sorry part is the way that development has to arrive. In those days, this area was heavily covered by thick pristine jungles of the Main Range and a trip to Pos Sindirut (an Orang Asli encampment) will need 2 days' trekking. When the need for timber and agricultural land surpass the need to keep these natural environment, along came the tarmac so that lorries can transport oil palm and timber. And so, the once inaccessible Betau valley opened up to mundane local travellers like myself. My memories of the early days of the Sungai Koyan Felda Scheme is still vivid: my father made some of the settlers' wooden houses as prescribed by the scheme. I remembered playing in a tiny stream behind the rows of houses that my father was working on and what still strike me was that I could scoop out tiny spanner barbs (a jungle fish) with my bare palms - and I was only a 7 year old gamin! I remembered too, the hordes and hordes of kepiat, spanner barbs and rasboras in the tiny cryptocoryne-covered stream. Those days are definitely gone; now and forever as I have never in my whole life as an adult rediscover any streams with the same natural richess...and yeah, in those days, upon reaching Batu Talam, one has to mind the way as there were risks of elephants crossing and you don't want to be on their way when they are around!

Back to the story of the road trip...from Sungai Koyan direction Kuala Medang, one only has to take a left turn towards Pos Betau and keep driving. This road will take you to the edge of the Main Range through the Betau valley and right to the doorsteps of the Cameron Highlands. What is most insane about the whole thing is the fact that we have the need for yet another road to the already environmentally challenged highlands through this part of the country. The good news is, people from the East coast need no longer travel through the East-West highway and then through the North-South highway to get to the highlands. Until now, this highway stops abruptly, short of around 11 kilometers before reaching the highlands but by my last count the works has started again to finally connect the missing links.

Here's a pictorial of the recent trip:

A road sign announcing homestay at Kuala Medang

The serpentine Sungai Belida traversing the Betau Valley, one of the main tributary of the Ulu Jelai River.

Swatches of bamboo forests are common on the Main Range especially areas once used for cultivation by the Orang Asli. The bamboo is one of the main raw building material for the Orang Asli.

A huge Tualang tree growing from the valley floor.

Signs to remind the travellers of dangers lurking around the seemingly calm road.

An aerial view of a cascade from a bridge

Winged seeds, like wings af an angel found on the grass

The buck stops here - this is the end of the highway. Some time back, there wasn't even any construction at the back - just a puzzling full stop amid the jungle.