Which road up did you take? Via Simpang Pulai or the old Tapah road? I've gone up to Cameron twice on the Simpang Pulai road at night. Very very very dark, windy roads, with very few cars. If you want to do this, highly recommend you travel in a convoy of cars so incase of breakdown you have friends to help out. But if you like driving, you will enjoy the uphill night climb. Especially when you get close to Kg Raja just before Brinchang, you will see lots of lit "domes" for the vegetable farms. I always thought they look like something from the X-Files.. hehe.

Hehe, price also very nice. Had a drink there one night, and wandered around a bit. Very nice place indeed. But at that price, I'd rather stay in their Pangkor Laut resort.. similar price but you get so much more.

Like Kimmie asked earlier... would you mind sharing further details of the tour? Where is the Kea farm where they picked you up, was it in Tanah Rata? Was a mid-morning to mid-afternoon tour or an early morning till noon tour? How was the weather? Cooler like Brinchang or just cool like Tanah Rata? Sunny? Sorry for so many questions... just quite interested to find out. Thanks.

Should be fine. Simpang Pulai road is easier and less windy than the Tapah road. Just don't take the corners too fast

I was looking at Google Maps trying to see which road you meant, and noticed one that may be what you are referring to. Is this a road from Ringlet to Sg Koyan that uses C156 (as labeled in Google Maps), where the unconnected portion is the road you meant?

Oh.. that looks interesting. Do you think the road is passable for novice 4x4 drivers? ie, city drivers with no experience in hard-core off-roading.

Cool... now all I have to do is persuade my dad to lend me his new 4x4 for a long weekend, hehe!

I found this blog that detailed the author's trip via the Sg Koyan-Ringlet road in June 2009 (with pictures of the road). Apparently most of the way is paved except for a 12km stretch. It took them a little under 2 hours from Sg Koyan to Ringlet. Looks like any standard trunk road with a mild "off-road" stretch. Am planning my own journey next weekend, so I hope to be able to update the info. Who knows.. maybe when I get on it, it will be fully paved.

Also found this article at The Star website:

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file...&sec=southneast

This post has been edited by Traveler: Jan 21 2010, 03:49 PM

Will report on the Sg Koyan-Ringlet road (with pics) after my drive on it this coming weekend. If it's open, it will probably be shorter than 5 hours, as there's about 100km savings in distance vs the Gua Musang route.

Tapah-Ringlet road is shorter, but I prefer to take Simpang Pulai which is a lot easier and not so "death-defying". I can also drive faster on the Simpang Pulai road. It really depends on where you are staying. If you are staying in Brinchang, then Simpang Pulai becomes more attractive as you enter the Cameron Highlands area near Brinchang. If staying in Tanah Rata/Ringlet, then the Tapah-Ringlet road become a lot closer. In the end, it's all personal preference. I personally like driving up Simpang Pulai at night, and as you reach Kg Raja, the view of the farms all lit up in the dark, is quite spectacular. Of course, I would only recommend driving up in a group as the road is very lonely and dark at night.

I was lucky then that the last time I came back from CH, I went via Gua Musang. Thanks for the heads up. On my return from my upcoming CH trip, I better hit the cruise control to limit to 50km/h Hopefully my nuvi 1460 (default latest garmin map) will have the speed limit on the map so I know for sure where it starts.

Update from Cameron Highlands on the Sg Koyan-Ringlet new highway:

About 9km remains uncompleted, at the Bertam Valley end of the highway; a mix of partially paved and completely unpaved (red earth, sometimes muddy, with deep ruts). The security guards there now say that the construction site is now closed to all traffic without permits (no idea where to get a permit, but I presume from the construction company), or unless you have construction site related business. I managed to get through because there were a bunch of SUVs and cars that came up around the same time, and I think the security guard took pity on us and didn't want to send us back.

Some parts of the red earth section have quite deep muddy ruts and one of the Wiras managed to snag a big branch under the exhaust. Generally the sedans got through ok, but I think they probably scraped the bottom on some of the deeper ruts. There were occasional traffic jams with the construction lorries as some parts of the red earth trail was narrow (also one steep section). SUVs should have no problems crossing this stretch.

From the Pos Betua side to where the construction is, the road is generally very nice (one lane each side) and smooth, with many bends (not as bad as the Tapah-Tanah Rata stretch, more like going up to Genting Sempah from KL, but not as steep). I was cruising around 80-100km/h most of the way. Could have gone faster but was on a relaxed drive.

However, a few km into the highway from Pos Betua, there has been a massive landslide that has blocked the entire highway. To get around, there is a makeshift earth/gravel detour (about 100+ meter long) that goes around the landslide. Sedans should be able to do this detour, although any car that is lowered, may face difficulty. Some other minor parts of the highway had also collapsed but did not impede traffic.

Total time from Sg. Koyan to Ringlet and then to Tanah Rata was around 2 hours, which included 15 mins waiting time for the security guard to let us through at the construction site, and some time for slow traffic at Bertam Valley due to a Thaipusam procession. I think once the highway is fully completed, you can probably do Sg Koyan to Ringlet in an hour, maybe add 15 mins if there's traffic at Bertam Valley.

I will post pictures on Monday when I get back to KL. The hotel PC I am using doesn't have a card reader.

A side note:

KKB-The Gap - nice road in good condition, very windy
The Gap-Raub - almost as good as KKB-The Gap, but narrower; and one 50m stretch was being repaired (red earth, steel planks on bridge).
Raub-Sg Koyan - nice road, with the last 2/3 of it being newly surfaced and smooth. Better than many roads in KL.

All in, it was a nice drive from KL this morning. Only used 1/3 of my fuel tank for this 280km drive (actual distance should be slightly shorter, as I had to take a detour at the Batu Caves area).

Some pics of the road condition from Sg Koyan to Ringlet

Sg Koyan to Pos Betau - generally quite good


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Pos Betau to Ringlet:

Landslide near Pos Betau side of the highway, blocked the road completely. Detour around the landslide, around 100-200m in length. Non 4x4 should be able to get through ok, but lowered cars may find it bumpy.


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Pos Betau-Ringlet:

Last 9km of road at the Bertam Valley side still under heavy construction with much of it still red earth, muddy with deep ruts, and filled with construction traffic. Security guard now says road is closed to unauthorised cars (need permit - but I don't know from where; maybe construction company?). We managed to get through after waiting and negotiating for 15mins. I think the security guard took pity on us since there were a bunch of cars and 4x4s that happened to arrive at the same time.

Pic #9 is where we were stopped by the security guard (about halfway through the construction site). From there onwards, the "road" got a lot worse (the muddy deep ruts, etc), but unfortunately, not many pics as my front passenger was not well versed in using my camera and wasn't able to get pics while I was driving through the very bumpy, muddy and deep descent stretches. So the worst parts of the "road" are not shown here.

The Protons got through ok (one managed to snag a tree branch that was stuck underneath the car) by carefully maneuvering the cars but it looked to me that they probably scraped the bottom many times. 4x4s should have no problems just going through the "road". Some of the deep mud parts can cause a car to get stuck, if the driver went through it (4x4 should be ok).

The construction ended right where the Bertam Valley farms and shops started.

This post has been edited by Traveler: Feb 2 2010, 11:57 AM


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I had a Garmin GPS, so I didn't get lost . But given the lack of signs at the turning to the Pos Betua road at Sg Koyan, I think it would be very easy to miss the turning and get lost.

Funny that you went to Sungai Palas, I went to the other Boh plantation below Tanah Rata, around the same time as you went to Sg Palas.

Sorry la, it was my first trip using the GPS (I just got it less than a week earlier), and I was still learning how to use it, so didn't take note of the coordinates. I did however measure the length of the unpaved road using the car's odometer, and it was about 9km in length. The construction ended right at the first farms of Bertam Valley. Not sure if that helps.

Pos Betau - same as above, didn't note down the location, but there is a proper exit from the highway into Pos Betau (not sure if the GPS database has any POI for Pos Betau, as the place has a few buildings - think there was a clinic, not sure - that was visible from the highway. Pos Betau was quite a distance from Sg Koyan. I do notice that Google Maps shows C156 ending midway between Sg Koyan and Ringlet. If I had to guess, I would think Pos Betau is somewhere near that point.

Sorry not very helpful. Still newbie at using this Garmin GPS (and now will remain a newbie, as I have given the GPS to my parents for use in their SUV).

This post has been edited by Traveler: Feb 4 2010, 05:33 PM

Most romantic place for Valentines dinner near Brinchang would be YTL's Cameron Highlands Resort. They have a nice romantic Japanese restaurant at the back of the hotel, nestled next to the hill, and also another restaurant facing the front that serves western food.

Why don't you consider using the newer Sg Koyan-Ringlet highway? It is about 20km shorter from KL (vs Simpang Pulai, and less steep since it ends at Ringlet, and not at Blue Valley). And cheaper in terms of toll as well, you only have to pay toll on the Karak Highway until Bentong. The basic route is: KL-Bentong-Raub-Sg Koyan-Pos Betau-Ringlet.

Note that there are no petrol stations between Sg Koyan and Ringlet. Last stop for fuel would be Sg Koyan (Shell, can't remember if there is Caltex there or not). From Raub, take the "Jalan Alternatif ke Kota Bharu" route, DO NOT take the route to Kuala Lipis. When you reach Sg Koyan, take a left towards Pos Betau. Minimal traffic. Watch out for the occassional landslide (and cows between Raub and Sg Koyan). You will come out at Bertam Valley which leads to Ringlet.

I've taken this route 3x already, and its been open over a year already. It's my preferred route to CH.

Yes easy... once you are at Sg Koyan, and on the road towards Pos Betau, you only need to go straight and follow the road. There are no turnings (except if you want to stop at Pos Betau orang asli village). All the way straight to Ringlet.

Also from Raub to Sg Koyan very easy. Just use the "Jalan Alternatif ke Kota Baru" (follow the big road signs), and then just straight all the way.