Memory Lane 1
GELUNG GAJAH
WAKAF BATA
CHEKOK KELAWEH
Next was Chekok [junction] Kelaweh. There is a shop, Kedai Halim at the junction still exists till today where I used to go watch TV shows - the only TV available in my kampong back in the 60's.
KAMPONG CHINA
About one km cycling from Chekok Kelaweh we arrived at Kampong China - also known as Kampong Tanah Merah. There were many Chinese settlers [China Kampong] along Kelantan River banks. I still remember the same shop [Kedai Guan] belongs to Tan family where I used to go shoping regularly about 40 yrs ago... nothing much changed ever since except there is a new brick house next to it.
The GUILLEMARD BRIDGE
We moved on along the old road, down the memory lane towards the famous Guillemard Bridge.
KUSIAL
Sad story of Kusial...(Utusan Malaysia)
Kemeriahan suasana di kampung Kusial lenyap dengan tiba-tiba pada tahun 1988 setelah kenderaan awam tidak lagi berulang-alik di Jambatan Guillmard di kawasan itu untuk menyeberangi Sungai Kelantan.
JOH and KUALA SAT
SUNGAI BAGAN Estate
My late uncle, Wan Ismail spent most of his life working here. There was a large rubber estate before converted to oil palm plantation. He started as a clerk... many yrs later he was promoted to asistant manager before finally transfered to Sungai Tong Estate as the estate manager in late 70's.
There is an island adjacent to the estate, named as Pulau Raya. It is the largest island in Kelantan River.
I spent some time at Sungai Bagan around the place where my late uncle used to stay. While pedalling under the shade of palm trees I demonstrated to my son how to drag for a quick 90deg turn. Still learning how to master a quick 180-degree drag though.
KELAWEH and HUTAN PUTIH
These two villages are actually where I belong. Lemme tell a little story....
The story began about one-half of a century ago. I was born in Kg. Kelaweh and brought up by a loving grandmother until I was 6yrs old when I had to stay with my biological parents at Bt Melintang near Jeli to start schooling. Fortunately when I was 9yrs old my grandmother regain her 'belongging' and I was re-transfered to SK Kelaweh in std 3. At Kelaweh I stayed under one roof with many cousins - boys and girls. Every day full of joys, sometimes fightings over durian territory did occur too... otherwise just played hide and seek or fighting games.
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My son and I went cycling about 45km down my memory lane around Machang suburbs where I used to live and play during the first 30% of my life (1955-1971) .
We pushed off from my sister's home near Machang at 6:40am towards Gelung Gajah, Wakaf Bata, Kampong China, then crossed Guillmard Bridge to Kusial, Kepat, Tebing Tinggi [Tanah Merah suburb], crossed Tebing Tinggi Bridge back to Kg China, followed old road to Kelaweh - stopped over at aunty house for tea, then continued to Kuala Sat, Sungai Bagan, Joh, Lalang Besar and finally returned to where I started this journey.
GELUNG GAJAH
Gelong Gajah is not far from my grand parents kampong [on my mom's side]- it is a very large farming and grazing area stretches over thousand of hectares. The natural vegetation around this area is quite similar to the savanna in Africa. During flood season [Nov and Dec] I used to follow my grand dad to catch fish.
Today Gelong Gajah is now well known for its hi-Q Royal Watermelons.
WAKAF BATA
After passing through Gelung Gajah we arrived at Wakaf Bata which is located along state road [D213] connecting Machang and Tanah Merah before route #4 was completed. There is an infamous place called Padang Kelupang which cuts the road communication between the two towns during monsoon season when the nearby river, Sungai Sat overflows.
Padang Kelupang, near Wakaf Bata
Sungai Sat
CHEKOK KELAWEH
Next was Chekok [junction] Kelaweh. There is a shop, Kedai Halim at the junction still exists till today where I used to go watch TV shows - the only TV available in my kampong back in the 60's.
Kedai Halim today...
I used to walk or cycle 2km from my grandparents's house [on my dad's side], who lived at Kelaweh by the banks of Kelantan River [downstream of Kampong China and upstream of Sungai Bagan]. I was in primary school then. Only after entering secondary school I stayed with my parents across Sungai Sat at Kampong Hutan Putih - about 3km frm Machang.
KAMPONG CHINA
About one km cycling from Chekok Kelaweh we arrived at Kampong China - also known as Kampong Tanah Merah. There were many Chinese settlers [China Kampong] along Kelantan River banks. I still remember the same shop [Kedai Guan] belongs to Tan family where I used to go shoping regularly about 40 yrs ago... nothing much changed ever since except there is a new brick house next to it.
Kedai "Guantanamerah"
The GUILLEMARD BRIDGE
We moved on along the old road, down the memory lane towards the famous Guillemard Bridge.
The echoes of KTM train pulling through the GUILLEMARD bridge [the longest of its kind in SE Asia, and probably was built as strong as the HUMBER Bridge in the UK] brought me back to the past. This bridge was part of my life in those good 'ol days. My dad was a territory army and at some point in history he was stationed in a camp nearby. I used to cruise upstream in river boat from Kg Kelaweh to meet him regularly. I was staying with grand parents then. Even as a child I was amazed by the bridge engineering.
The Guillemard Bridge, over Kelantan River near Kusial in Tanah Merah, Kelantan was constructed in 1920 by The Metro Carriage & Wagon, Finance Co. Ltd, Wednesbury Works, England and was completed in 1924.
During the 2nd World War the bridge was bombed down [the scraps are still there till today]. The severely damaged bridge was rebuilt in 1948. Spanning over 600m, it was previously used by all vehicles till Feb 1988 after which a new bridge for other road transports was completed along route #4. From then on the Guillemard Bridge is exclusively for KTM only [bikes and pedestrian still can use the side passage though]
KUSIAL
Sad story of Kusial...(Utusan Malaysia)
Kemeriahan suasana di kampung Kusial lenyap dengan tiba-tiba pada tahun 1988 setelah kenderaan awam tidak lagi berulang-alik di Jambatan Guillmard di kawasan itu untuk menyeberangi Sungai Kelantan.
Jambatan Guillmard yang merupakan jambatan kereta api ditutup kepada kenderaan awam yang 'menumpang' selama ini setelah siapnya jambatan konkrit beberapa kilometer dari jambatan bailey itu. Sejak itu, kampung di pinggir jambatan itu lengang dan sunyi dan sebahagian penduduk kehilangan punca pendapatannya memasarkan hasil tani kepada pengguna laluan itu yang menunggu giliran untuk menyeberangi jambatan selorong itu.
Seorang penduduk, Zulkifli Mansor, 62, menceritakan, dulu penduduk dari kampung sekitar datang untuk memasarkan hasil tani termasuk buah-buahan di samping kuih-muih serta keperluan harian lain di satu pasar kecil di Kampung Kusial.
''Anak-anak kampung pula ada yang menjaja dari kereta ke kereta manakala pemandu yang lama menunggu singgah seketika untuk membeli-belah atau berehat sambil berbual dengan penduduk," ujarnya.
Seorang penduduk asal Paloh Rawa, Che Mah Che Hamid, 83, yang pernah merasai sendiri kegemilangan Jambatan Guillmard itu meminta kerajaan negeri memberi nafas baru kepada produk bersejarah itu.
"Amat sayang jika selepas ini jambatan ini hanya sekadar tinggal nama dan tidak diketahui kisah sebaliknya oleh orang ramai terutamanya golongan muda. "Dulu kawasan jambatan ini amat meriah dengan tumpuan aktiviti ekonomi apabila ia menjadi satu-satunya penghubung antara Machang dan Tanah Merah.
Tinjauan Utusan Malaysia di sekitar kampung itu mendapati terdapat sisa-sisa konkrit bekas stesen kereta api, stor, kuarters pekerja dan tempat penjaga palang laluan kereta api. Sementara itu, Majlis Tindakan Pelancongan Negeri Kelantan (MTPNK) memang menyedari potensi yang terdapat pada Jambatan Guillmard bagi diangkat menjadi salah satu produk pelancongan bersejarah di negeri ini. Pengerusinya, Abdul Aziz Derashid berkata, ia akan dibincangkan secara mendalam pada mesyuarat MTPNK termasuk mengenal pasti beberapa kemudahan prasarana berhampiran yang akan turut dinaik taraf sebagai pelengkap kepada produk berkenaan.
Menurut beliau, secara dasarnya ia boleh dimasukkan ke dalam kalendar pelancongan negeri dengan menyediakan pakej tertentu sebagai pelancong untuk melawat tempat bersejarah dan menarik di negeri ini.
"Kita memang melihat potensi jambatan ini kepada salah satu produk pelancongan negeri tetapi bidang kuasa penyelenggaraannya berlaku sedikit kekeliruan sama ada ia tertakluk kepada pelancongan iaitu MTPNK atau sejarah iaitu Jabatan Warisan Negara," katanya.
Jambatan Guillmard mempunyai nilai sejarah yang cukup tinggi tetapi agak merugikan jika ia tidak dieksploitasikan dalam pelbagai bentuk dan pendekatan termasuk melalui filem. Nasib jambatan ini jelas berbeza dengan Jambatan Sungai Kwai Yai di Kanchanaburi, Thailand yang boleh dikatakan sezaman dengannya dan cukup popular dengan kisah tahanan perang Tentera Berikat yang dikerah menjadi buruh membina landasan kereta api maut Thailand - Myanmar. Hasilnya, pembikin filem Hollywood telah menerbitkan filem The Bridge of River Kwai yang menggunakan latar belakang pembinaan jambatan di Thailand itu yang sekali gus memperkenalkan daerah Kachanaburi di peta pelancongan dunia
JOH and KUALA SAT
Small Holder at Kg Joh
Kuala Sat Bridge
SUNGAI BAGAN Estate
My late uncle, Wan Ismail spent most of his life working here. There was a large rubber estate before converted to oil palm plantation. He started as a clerk... many yrs later he was promoted to asistant manager before finally transfered to Sungai Tong Estate as the estate manager in late 70's.
There is an island adjacent to the estate, named as Pulau Raya. It is the largest island in Kelantan River.
I spent some time at Sungai Bagan around the place where my late uncle used to stay. While pedalling under the shade of palm trees I demonstrated to my son how to drag for a quick 90deg turn. Still learning how to master a quick 180-degree drag though.
KELAWEH and HUTAN PUTIH
These two villages are actually where I belong. Lemme tell a little story....
The story began about one-half of a century ago. I was born in Kg. Kelaweh and brought up by a loving grandmother until I was 6yrs old when I had to stay with my biological parents at Bt Melintang near Jeli to start schooling. Fortunately when I was 9yrs old my grandmother regain her 'belongging' and I was re-transfered to SK Kelaweh in std 3. At Kelaweh I stayed under one roof with many cousins - boys and girls. Every day full of joys, sometimes fightings over durian territory did occur too... otherwise just played hide and seek or fighting games.
After my dad retired from armed forces he moved to Hutan Putih, near Machang. I stayed with my parents only after I entered 2ndry school from 1968-1971. I visited my dying grand mom quite regularly - it is just 3km away across Sungai Sat.
In 1972 I left Machang to continue my secondary education at Technical Institute Kuantan for two years, and later on at SMS Penang for pre-U courses before continuing my study in UTM in 1974-1979.
After graduation I was sent for on-the-job training somewhere far away before finally moved to SKV in the 1980 and stay there untill today.
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June 2nd, 2008
Memory Lane 2
On day 2 we cycled almost 60km in total. We started the journey from Hutan Putih at my sister's house at 6:45am.
From Temangan we continued our journey along Jalan Bkt Besi then cycled up to the summit. When I was a kid I had a dream to conquer the summit on bicycle. Today [i.e about 40yrs later] I do it in style with my son after cycling more than 25km from the starting point.
It was really hard to go up there but in return we enjoyed the 2km downhill free-wheeling. The Proton T-Bolt ATB air-suspension soaks up bumps and drops very well.
Those ATB/MTB kakis in Kelantan, particularly around Machang pls take this challange ya!. If you come from a long way, you can stay at my uncle's Gaharu Guesthouse so that u can start climbing up very early in the morning.
At the midway I met a couple of kampong folks [probably the immigrants from South Thailand - based on their loghat] returning home from work. I asked them whether there is still tiger roaming around. I was assured it is safe. The iron ore mining has also been reopened...
"And We sent down iron in which there lies great force and which has many uses for mankind "
( Al-Hadid 57:25 )
Memory Lane 2
On day 2 we cycled almost 60km in total. We started the journey from Hutan Putih at my sister's house at 6:45am.
Along the way we passed through Pangkal Meleret, Limau Hantu, Kg Pak Roman, Paloh Rawa, Kuala Krak...
...finally Temangan, another place of mine and where I left Kelantan on train to start a new life in Klang Valley back in the 70's. Today the interstate trains no logger stop there.
The old railway station had been demolished.
The station master house is still standing, though the paint is cracked and dried...
...and there is an old tree that I used to play on....
The disc brakes and knobby tyres assured excellent grips.
Those ATB/MTB kakis in Kelantan, particularly around Machang pls take this challange ya!. If you come from a long way, you can stay at my uncle's Gaharu Guesthouse so that u can start climbing up very early in the morning.
At the midway I met a couple of kampong folks [probably the immigrants from South Thailand - based on their loghat] returning home from work. I asked them whether there is still tiger roaming around. I was assured it is safe. The iron ore mining has also been reopened...
My son was collecting samples of iron ore...
A closer look at the ore...
"And We sent down iron in which there lies great force and which has many uses for mankind "
( Al-Hadid 57:25 )
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May 31st, 2008
the Hidden Paradise
My son and I left our home just before dawn of May 31st - expected to arrive at our first stop before sunrise for the dawn prayer prior to climbing up to the Sunrise Summit.
As scheduled, we arrived at the sunrise summit [almost 300km away from home] just on time when another new DAY was about to begin. As the sun was rolling high, we moved to a suitable spot for the packed breakfast while enjoying the view of the unspoiled landscapes and listening to the symphony of the nature...
Meanwhile, the bikes were reassembled for the highlands adventure. We then moved on two wheeler deep into the highlands jungle to a HIDDEN PARADISE.
This small continental hatch-back can easily carry 2 people and up to four bikes at one time when the rear seat is folded down - something my bigger booted car cannot. A roof carrier for the bikes is absolutely unnecessary.
the Hidden Paradise
My son and I left our home just before dawn of May 31st - expected to arrive at our first stop before sunrise for the dawn prayer prior to climbing up to the Sunrise Summit.
Look, a new JOURNEY had just begun.
Meanwhile, the bikes were reassembled for the highlands adventure. We then moved on two wheeler deep into the highlands jungle to a HIDDEN PARADISE.
It started to rain in the midday. We had to stop exploring the highlands and moved on to another hidden paradise about 200km away...
Latarek, is neither a waterfall nor rapids - it is something in between the two.
It is believed that there is an underground water passage below those rocks - look at the picture and compare the amount of water running down those rocks with the remaining which flow downstream... there must be some kind of 'leak' somewhere...it has been reported a few cases of people were missing there! Be cautious, otherwise somebody will be sent out directly to the heaven from there.
This small continental hatch-back can easily carry 2 people and up to four bikes at one time when the rear seat is folded down - something my bigger booted car cannot. A roof carrier for the bikes is absolutely unnecessary.
Almost everything is in the 'boot' and still have plenty of room left. Ready to go... virtually anywhere.
