Ipoh - Lenggong Ride: Part 3

Food for thought: Large dumplings...

The high road to Lenggong..

I had a couple of hours of good sleep.
At 05:00am, the alarm rang.
Half an hour later, my panniers were packed and the bike was ready to roll.
We made plans to meet at the Inn's entrance and roll out from there. 
The fear was this: we won't be able to find food.
But this was unfounded as there was a coffee shop down the road towards the Grik junction, which is roughly about 3km away.
We found the place and had a simple meal there. 
After a good fill, we rolled out towards an intersection with the signboard "Grik" written on it.
That was our destination.
The cool morning made it perfect for us to slowly ascent up the road towards Tasik Raban.
This is where we staged the ride to have more food!

Riding out to the coffee shop

Into the clouds: The road to Grik

Prior to the ride, we were told about the awful climb towards Lenggong.
But I guess after riding for two hours, the claims were not true.
We were looking at gradients between 2 - 5% throughout the route.
The 'real' horror lies ahead after Grik.
It was just wonderful to ride above the clouds and we did pretty well by reaching a rest area in Tasik Raban before 10:00am.
There, we stopped for a drink and a plate of nasi lemak..

Roger, rolling down a slope

Taking on a gradual climb

Tasik Raban

The Mongol and his steel Mule..

I had the smallest bike in the team.
My combined weight with the luggage is way above 100kgs.
Even with the full load, I was able to clear the hills.
This is an average climb of 120meters with 1,039 in elevation gain.
The Dahon Speed P8 held up very well.
I don't know about what lies ahead after Grik, because I haven't been there, but as far as Ipoh - Kuala Kangsar and as far as Lenggong is concerned, the Speed P8 did its job.
Its like a Mule and although I averaged at 13km/h throughout the ride, I got to where I intended to.

I am very happy with my faithful 2009 Dahon Speed P8

Meeting the Perak Man

After a break at Tasik Raban, we rode to Lata Kekabu, a recreational waterfall nearby.
The junction to the Lenggong archaeological museum was in the distance.
It didn't take long for us to reach the site which is 2km away from the junction.
We were surprised to see such a big complex in the middle of nowhere.
Entrance to this facility is free and there were scores of tourists there.
What was displayed, was a replica of the cave where the Perak man was excavated.
Its as good as it get and I must say that a  lot of effort was put to display the findings.
The Perak man was found in a cave buried with some game meat, seashells and ancient artifacts.

At the museum

A replica of the Perak man's burial site

Forward to Lenggong

We spent some time at the museum to appreciate Perak's heritage.
After we were done, we rolled out towards Lenggong.
It wasn't far as we slowly ascended the sloped road towards this town.
I don't know much about Lenggong, just stories shared by travelers.
But one thing I can say is this: Its a hilly town! 

There at last!: A the town's marker

Checking-in at the rest house

We have a night to spend in Lenggong before pushing straight to Ipoh to board the ETS back to KL Sentral.
Since we arrived early, Roger had time to change the rooming arrangements.
Individual rooms costs RM20 more than the published rates on the internet.
One of the staff at the Lenggong rest house said the charges were not updated.
We settled for a large room with three beds at RM120. Split three-ways, its RM40 a night, which was ideal for our budget.
Before we settled-in, we went down to town in search of some good makan...