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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007


It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.


While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".


My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.



Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.


My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".


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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.


Friday, December 11, 2009

The road from Dabong to Gua Musang

I think it's time to continue the story about my latest trip to the East Coast made during the holy fasting month of Ramadhan ya. Now, the last article here on this trip which is titled From Kuala Besut on to Tok Bali... talks about the journey made as me, wife and the kids re-entered Kelantan through the northern boundaries of Terengganu while this new article has us already moving to a different location more than 200 km away. Details about what happened in-between has been explained in the Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU. But for continuity's sake, let me also fill in the blanks here as we made the journey from Dabong to Gua Musang...


Here's the view a few minutes after we've entered the Dabong to Gua Musang road...


What happened was, after leaving Kuala Besut in Terengganu and taking a breather at Tok Bali in Kelantan, we stopped at the town of Pasir Puteh to find some goods for the kids...

On the very same day, 31st August 2009 we returned the kids to their uncle's place near Kota Bahru. After all they were scheduled to get back to school the next day while me and wife have to return to Kuala Lumpur...


So we then headed back to Kuala Lumpur. Except we decided to take a different route. Instead of the usual one going through Kuala Krai and on to Gua Musang, we passed through the fringes of Pasir Mas and one to the town of Tanah Merah before heading to Jeli where begans a road southwards to Dabong, a road which goes alongside the main mountain range of Banjaran Titiwangsa.



If I remember correctly, the last time I took this road was while travelling solo on my big bike in 1998. Sorry if I can't remember exactly when as I have made many many solo trips on the bike all over Peninsular Malaysia...




I do remember this though. While the 50 km plus trip from Jeli to Dabong was fairly smooth with the occasional potholes (and cow droppings) appearing here and there, the road from Dabong to Gua Musang was really horrible as it was practically destroyed, they say because of logging activities around.





Why... I took the road because I thought it would cut the journey short. While many have reminded me of its poor condition which made it looked just like a 4x4 challenge path adding that the Kuala Krai route which is more than 50 km or so longer was the only viable one, I sticked to my guns and decided to explore it myself. After all, I've seen the route many times in the map and have pledged to try it out. The result... I started at 3 pm and arrived in Gua Musang after 9 pm. My bike has slipped down more than 5 times and I was up to my head in mud...





Now the conditions of both the road from Jeli to Dabong and Dabong to Gua Musang have improved vey much, the Dabong to Gua Musang route especially as you can see from all these pictures...







Yes, there are still bad patches here and there but this is nothing compared to the huge cut in distance if one were to used the traditional Kuala Krai route instead not to mention the superb views around...






The only downside is this. It takes a while before you come across civilisation as the road cuts through the virgin jungles alongside the Banjaran Titiwangsa...





We stopped at this little mosque (or was it a surau? a small praying hall) to do our prayers...






I thought by then we were already close to the town of Gua Musang...







As it turned out there's still quite a distance to be covered...


















At one point we crossed the convergence of two rivers...








I found the view so exhilirating that I decided to stop the car and take a closer look. Here's one to the right...





And one to the left...






As the clock ticked closer indicating the coming of the dusk Gua Musang was still nowhere to be seen...











It is only at this juncture that I could say we have arrived near enough to Gua Musang as not to worry about going through the rest of the journey in the dark. If I'm not mistaken the town is only 5 km from here. For the record the distance from Dabong to Gua Musang is more than 60 km...


Anyway we stopped by at Gua Musang, to fill in the petrol tank also to fill in our own gastronomic tank. To be continued...



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