If anyone feels bored of the jam in expressway, fed-up of speed trap on the highways like me, or looking for ways to save your RM5 KL-Karak Highway toll fees, here is a good offer for you – the old road from Genting Sempah to KL. This serves as a challenge for you if you are looking for tougher road circuits, but I strongly discourage any car racing in there.
Recently I had a chance to explore the old road to Kuala Lumpur, since I have to perform my medical selective via medical attachment with Hospital Orang Asli Gombak, like all IMU (International Medical University) Medical Students do, I am opt to find a cheap and economic way to get there by daily traveling from Bentong, Pahang (Bentong district, where Genting situated in). When I surf the internet for relevant info, I only manage to found 1 blog by a blogger (Malay uncle) who was a nature-lover, as he recorded some traveling experiences along the road. Therefore I have decided to write this blog to aid some of you who have similar needs as me. Hope you find this helpful.
This is an old trunk road opened way back in the 70s, connecting Genting Sempah in Pahang to Batu 12 in Gombak. The whole journey is 15km long, if driving on 20km/h-80km/h, it takes average of 20 minutes drive to arrive at destiny. It is downhill from Genting Sempah towards Gombak near the Orang Asli settlement (Aborigines) and uphill vice versa. Road circuit dangerous level: 50%, road circuit beauty scenery: 70% (as compared to the KL-Karak Highway).
I would like to provide some handy tips for you traveling along this trunk road in order for your safety whilst maximizing your pleasure traveling on this journey.
Coming from East Semenanjung, be it Gua Musang Kelantan, Kuala Lipis, Sungai Koyan, Raub or Bentong, once you passed by Bentong town, exit to the KL-Karak Highway, paid your RM3 toll fees, you shall head up all the way to Genting Sempah.1 As you approaching the Petronas and Genting Sempah Mc Donald, aim for 2nd exit which will lead you to a roundabout, the roundabout at 12 o’clock continues to Genting Highland or Gombak, 3 o’ clock to Kuantan and thus is a u-turn, the lower 3 o’clock position heads towards Kuala Lumpur, and 6 o’ clock going to restaurants at Genting Sempah, and back to Berjaya Hill Resort in Bukit Tinggi.
Take the 12 o’ clock turn to Genting, go straight up to the wide and slightly winding road. After 30 sec, you would arrive at a Y-junction, where turn left to Gombak and turn right to Genting Highland. If you wish to go to Genting Highland, Ghotong Jaya or from there towards Batang Kali, or further on to Kuala Kubu Bharu in Ulu Selangor, or further out to Ipoh and thus Cameron Highland, turn right. As you plan to go to Gombak (thus arriving In KL saving your RM5 toll fees, follow me, turn left). Turn left when you see Lian Hup Car Repair Factory 联合车厂, you will head to a sloop, slow down, very soon you shall see the trunk road, turn left to start your journey.
This is a downhill journey lasts you for 20 minutes, and only of 15km long, so do not be stress-out when you travel on the road first time and doesn’t seems to reach the destiny, you can always counter-check your car meter and time to sooth your nervousness.
You can drive quite safely on this old road by following some of my advices. First, drive confidently at the speed you are comfortable with, do not rush, as this is the trick of driving on old road and this is how the profession drives. You can drive without following the curves of the road, driving in the centre, as long as there is no car coming from the opposite. At some parts you can see the road in front of you up to 500m away, so you should be able to see is there car or not. However, when you come to corners that you totally cannot see the front, press your brake to slow down to a speed as slow as stopping the car, and give every corner a generous horn to alarm the opposite car approaching you. This is a very crucial and important precaution to take if you wish to travel safely on this road, do not underestimate the corners and drive recklessly, the moment you are over-confident, you may knock into some unexpected lorries. Later I will provide you some more tips on handling the lorry drivers.
There are 2 parts of the road with some land slides but has been covered with shield. It is rather safe. There are 2 bridges in which road is rather narrow, do not over-take or speed when you approach them, one bridge near the beginning of the road, the other one near the ending part of the road. There is a very narrow part of road which almost half of the road has slide, means leaving one lane to drive, the only part which I rate as the most dangerous part of this road. However, when you drive cautiously, it should not be a problem, because the road was under construction and repair, and would see no further sliding at the moment. Even the longest truck can drive through it safely, moreover, you are able to see the road in front of you, this is not a sharp corner. There are few parts of the road where you can see the sky and the other mountains clearly, you can park your car aside and enjoy some beautiful sceneries. There are 2 slopy-corners near the Genting Sempah side, both parts are wide enough for you to travel, but do not corner to fast. The lorry drivers and truck drivers usually will stop at 2 spots, 1 near the landslide area, the other one almost approaching the end of the road near Gombak, where streams of water flows out from the hill. They often rest and bathe there, or stop at a side for the car behind to over-take them if the driver has not successfully attempted one. You shall see an electricity tower, which marks the middle of the journey; when you see a few yellow signboards with green marks, you are near Gombak. Those signboards indicate the reserve forest and tree species where the University Malaya Forestry Faculty students are studying and doing research on, it also means that you are near their Faculty, which is on the right side if driving from Genting sempah to Gombak. Later on, you shall observe a sikh shrine (like those Chinese red shrine (tokong) put outside their house, a long one)
stood by the roadside with a rubbish dump opposite it, you are mostly on straight roads and almost near the exit to Gombak. Drive a little further, you will see a white colour signboard with “Kampung Sg. Rumput”, this marks the beginning of the Gombak Orang Asli (Aborigine) Settlement, there are a few houses by the roadside, one really pretty restaurant, driving further on you will see the department of development, handicraft, technical skills training department, and then the Gombak Orang Asli Museum will be seen at your left side. When you spotted the museum, you should be able to see the piece of land dedicated to Hospital Orang Asli Gombak, which is the largest transit station for the aborigines in South East Asia. This is Batu 12 of Gombak (12 miles).Driving along the road, you are in the kampung (village) of Gombak and should be driving towards town. By this time, you should be quite familiar to the road already, you can drive out to Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) if you turn left at the first and only traffic light you see so far, this will lead you to UIAM (University Islam Antarabangsa), at the second traffic light drive straight uphill, at the 3rd traffic light, turn right, at the 4th traffic light, turn right again, and you are out to the main road, while seeing the Gombak Toll beside you at the main road. If you are aiming to drive along the old Gombak road, at the first traffic light, drive straight following signboard.
Now I shall give you some useful tips on the road.
First, about the lorries and trucks. Oh yes, there are way many Lorries and trucks as well as cars traveling on this road too. They may not necessary be a hindrance to you, just the opposite, they may serve as your best companions on the road. The lorry drivers are much more experienced than you when coming to this kind of old trunk road, they are familiar with every twist and turn and cornering. If you are driving downhill and encounter a truck or lorry in front of you, do not immediately rush to over take them. Mind you of the concept of “inertia” in science, the heavier is a moving vehicle, the harder it is to start, and the harder it is to STOP! Means, the lorry is definitely heavier than you car and speeds better than your car downhill! If you over-take them at a wind you are not so familiar, you may not be in time to cut back to the track when the opposite road may have a car coming towards you. Besides that, tailing behind a big lorry/truck downhill provides a benefit to you, where they serve to open way for you. If they are cornering, certainly the opposite car will slow down, and chances of them knocking into you is decreases, if they would bang, they would bang into the lorry in front of you first, and not you, aren’t this is safe? Then, as they turn at sharp corners where you cannot see the front, you can observe them and estimate your speed; if they drive to the centre of the road, this means that there is no car coming from the opposite for the moment, and you can drive safely at a moderate speed without horning at the corner.
When it comes to dealing with lorries and trucks, you must be a bit more skillful and observant. Look at the line on the road, this will serve as your guide, if that is discontinued lines indicating you can over-take the lorry in front of you if you are confident enough, especially when driving uphill. When the road is 1 straight line, this indicates that the road condition is not very suitable for you to over-take vehicles, anyway, when the lorry in front of you put an “inward signal (left signal light blinking), means that he has observed the road condition in front for you and thinks that is time for you to overtake him, and he is moving to a side to let you overtake. If he is giving you an “outward signal (right signal light blinking), do not over-take him yet even though you think you are confident enough, and do not think that they are owning the road and refusing for you to over-take them, it is merely for your safety. There was once where I do not understand the meaning of the signal light, I came to a not so winding part with continued line during uphill from Gombak back to Genting Sempah, I thought I was confident enough to overtake them during uphill, when the lorry driver in front of me was giving me an “outward signal” (a right blink), I ignored that and went ahead overtaking him, when I did that, I immediately saw a car driving towards me downhill from the opposite lane, I have to highlight the car while I was stuck and forced to stop on the road in order not to bang straight into the car, thank God I was safe. Later on when condition permitted, the lorry driver gave a left blink inward signal this time, and I managed to over-take him. From then on, the lorry drivers served as my best partner on the trunk road.
This is a brief account of the challenging Gombak Trunk Road, it saved me lots and lots of time and toll money of traveling daily to Gombak Hospital, avoiding the big u-turn back from Kuala Lumpur, I landed straight in the hospital. I want to take this chance to thank God for the safe journey He blessed me with everyday. Some other small advices I would like to give you, including do not drive on this road if you are not confident enough or as a beginner in driving, bring along a companion when you are traveling first time, do not travel when weather does not permit or when day is getting dark, and you are strongly discourage to travel as a female motorcyclist on this road. Some days the tree branches may fell down and you got to be extra careful, however, these are cleared up very soon at the very same day, so I would say that this road is rather well maintained. If you are at the right time, some days you shall be able to spot some mountain-bike cyclists traveling and training on this road, they are one of the beautiful spots I enjoyed.
That is all I have to say, other than that, I enjoy the scenery on this brief and economic journey and spent time praying to God and conversing with God on this road, I am proud to be the only female driver on this road as well.
1Alternatively, without exiting Bentong, you can drive towards Ketari side, heading towards Kuala Lumpur where you passed by SMK Ketari, Sulaiman, Technic; at the T-junction towards KL, instead of turning left, go straight to enter into the old road which will end in Bukit Tinggi. Here I won’t dedicate much towards the description of the Bukit Tinggi old road.
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