3D2N Sg Lembing, Pahang (20 till 22 September 2015)

Sungai Lembing is a tin mining town 42 km northwest of Kuantan.  According to local legend, the local ruler saw a vision of a spear in the nearby river and thus named his town after this vision.

Until the 1860s, Sungai Lembing was a major producer of underground tin. Sungai Lembing town developed in the 1880s when the British set up the tin mining industry, although the history of mining in this area extends much further back. From 1891, the Pahang Consolidated Company Limited, (PCCL), which was under British control, had a 120 -year lease to mine the area. PCCL managed the mine from 1906 until its liquidation in 1986 when world tin prices collapsed.

The pit mines were closed in 1986 due to high operational costs and low yields, but during their heyday they were among the largest and deepest in the world. The total tunnel length is 322 km, with a depth of between 610 m and 700 m.

We visited the museum which highlighted the tin mining industry.( opened in 2003 ). The museum is housed in an old bungalow once used by the mine manager. The museum houses a collection of mining artifacts.

Today the town of Sg Lembing is in decline although it was once the richest town in Pahang, known as El Dorado of the East. In the 1940s about 1400 people worked in the mine. Today many of the wooden shoplots are closed and people are moving away. The town straddles the river, and the main street on the right bank is split by an avenue of majestic trees. At the end, an old wooden building overlooks the padang where games of cricket and other social activities were held.

We spent first day visiting hanging bridge which brought us to a shop selling famous tau fu fah .  We also dropped by Crystal house the see the cystal collection of a site supervisor.  Dinner was at a restaurant Hoover which served local Lembing food.  The food is fairly priced but due to holiday we had to wait almost an hour for the meal.  We bought some snacks to eat at the resort.  Later Kwee Yap and the children walked around and played some games at the resort.  We slept early as need to wake up at 5.30am the next morning for rainbow waterfall.

Rainbow Waterfall (21 Sep 2015 – Monday)

We woke up at 5.30am in the morning to get ready to go Rainbow waterfall.  We had a quick breakfast at the pasar where they served sumptuous Lembing mee.  This waterfall is quite far from Sg. Lembing Town. It requires 1 hour of  wheel drive ride into the jungle.  The resort arranged for 4x4 ride which was quite fun.  They stopped us at a small hill to catch sunrise.   After the 1 hour 4x4 drive, we climbed about 45 mins to where the rainbow waterfall is located. The hike up is over small rivers and rocks. 

Thus, it is advisable to wear rubber shoes. I rent a pair of Adidas Kampung for the walk. It was a holiday season when we went to this place. Thus, the place was quite packed with people. The view was fantastic. We were fortunate to see the rainbow on this day as the skies were clear.

Rainbow waterfall or Air Terjung Pelangi is located near the quiet town of Sg. Lembing in Pahang. The tiny water droplets from this high waterfall create a ‘rainbow’ effect when the sunrise rays hits it…hence Rainbow waterfall. This romantic phenomenon has attracted many visitors from as far as Singapore and has in recent times been a popular get away site for many local Malaysians as well.

Panorama Hill of Sungai Lembing (22 September 2015- Tuesday)

A view of the 260m high Panorama Hill from below, we were quite fortunate as it is Tuesday and the crowd is quite acceptable.We reached the peak around 6.30am and saw a beautiful sunrise and misty clouds of Sungai Lembing.The climb takes about 30 to 40 minutes depending on traffic(climbers)and we came at 530am just in time to catch the sunrise.

May/Jun2015 holiday : Lenggong - Royal Belum – Kota Bahru – Taman Botani Negara - Zoo Negara

We started journey in the morning.  We stopped by Bidor for breakfast and proceeded to Royal Belum.  It was a very last

30 June 2015 - Lenggong

Last minute decision to stop by Lenggong to visit the gallery.  In fact we past the gallery slightly before making a U turn to take a look.

The Lenggong valley in Ulu Perak is one of Peninsular Malaysia's most important areas for archaeology, as excavations have revealed many traces of Malaysia's prehistory. It is the site of the oldest known place of human activity in the Peninsula. The Lenggong Valley was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage siteon 30 June 2012.

Perak Man

Lenggong area is very important as it contains much evidence relating to the prehistory of Malaysia. It is the oldest area where remains have been found, and all the sites are situated conveniently within a small area.

The oldest human skeleton found in Malaysia was in the state of Perak in Peninsular Malaysia. Its exact location is at Gua Gunung Runtuh, a cave of his final resting place situated in Bukit Kepala Gajah or Elephant's Head Hill in the Lenggong Valley of Ulu Perak. The skeleton was a male with a height of approximately 157 cm, aged 50s. It was discovered in 1991 and the skeleton has been dated to around 11,000 years old. 

The Perak Man dates to about 11,000 years before present, and is one of the most complete skeletons for this time period in this region.

Royal Belum (“RB”)  30 May – 2 June 2015

Why RB ?  have always been hoping to visit Taman Negara and upon learning that RB is less commercialised, I guess there is not much doubt that RB is selected.  The Belum Temenggor forest reserve forms the last and largest contiguous block of natural forest in Peninsular Malaysia, covering an area of over 300,000 hectares. It is located in the Malaysian state of Perak and crosses into Southern Thailand.

The tropical rainforest of Belum Temenggor is believed to have been in existence for over 130 million years, making it one of the world’s oldest rainforests, older than both the Amazon and the Congo.

In the heart of the forest lies a lake – the Tasik Temenggor – covering 15,200 Hectares, which is dotted with hundreds of tiny islands. The forest is home to a vast number of species of animals and plants, many of which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth.

The unspoiled magic of Belum, which literally means “land before time”, makes it the perfect habitat for some of the world’s most threatened mammals, including the Malaysian Tiger, the Malaysian Sunbear, the nearly extinct Sumatran Rhinoceros, the White-handed Gibbon, the Asiatic Elephant, and the Malayan Tapir.

The stunning landscape of the rainforest houses over three thousand species of flowering plants, including three species of Rafflesia, the iconic giant flower. It is also the natural habitat of unique species of ferns and mosses.

The lake Tasik Temenggor is home to over twenty species of freshwater fish and five species of turtles. Wild boars, deers, pythons and countless species of small reptiles and insects roam free in the jungle.

Over three hundred avian species fly over its skies; it’s common to spot eagles catching fishes. Belum Temenggor is the only place in the planet where all the ten species of hornbills that inhabit Malaysia can be spotted at once.

An enchanted place that people call home.

Belum Temenggor is home not only to an astonishing number of plants and animals, but to many orang asli or “aboriginal people” who having been living in the forest for millennia. The orang asli were the first inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula of Australo-Melanesian origins, with many of their earliest burial grounds dating back 10,000 years ago.

The orang asli that settled in along the area of Belum Temenggor were traditionally nomadic or semi-nomadic, mostly hunter-gatherers, sustaining their communities with fishing, small farming and trading of medicinal herbs, spices and handicrafts. Semi-nomadic orang asli villages can be found today on some of the islands of Temenggor; they still live in their traditional way in bamboo huts, hunting small mammals using blowpipes, fishing and gathering plants and honey from the forest.

Belum Temenggor forest reserve is open all the year through to both foreign and national visitors. The reserve hosts research facilities too.

We visited the forest reserve of Belum Temenggor and hike in the rainforest, visit orang asli villages, bathe in waterfalls and almost spot wild animals.

As we reached Belum rainforest resort in evening, we took our time enjoying the pool overlooking Temenggor Dam followed by buffet dinner and a 45 minutes night walk.  It was a good experience for the kids as well as myself.  Probably given another chance, we should opt for the longer 2 hours walk.

We spent the next day exploring various small islands around the Dam ,  Unfortunately Raflessia has yet to fully bloom, the biggest was still at 4 months.  Also toured salt lick made by elephants.  It acted like a clinic for the elephants.  Had our packed lunch next to a waterfall.  There were 4 waterfalls at the island and we went to all 4.  Fortunately we had the 2 boys and Kwee Yap to help Ern Tong.  There was also an abandoned army camp nearby.  We also visited a small island occupied by less than 100 orang asli.  There was a school and the ducks are reared not for consumption.  On our way back, it was raining cats and dogs and all were drentched.  We checked out the place nearing noon after a late breakfast and headed for Kota Bahru.

Kota Bahru – 2 – 3 June 2015

It was our first visit to Kota  Bharu , the state capital of Kelantan, on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

The hotel we stayed which is Cystal Lodge  was within walking distance to Pasar Wan Khatijah.   There is a good Kopi shop right opposite the hotel.  Noticed that it is full all the time, could see customers from all walks of life.

We were fascinated by the fact that the so-called Islamic state of Kelantan actually has quite a number if tenmples.

Great temples to visit in the nearby towns to Kota Bharu Town: near Tumpat there is Wat Pothivihan (huge reclining Buddha).  It was really huge and there are some stalls nearby.

We also visited Wat Machimmaram which has the tallest seating Buddha in South East Asia, something unexpected. 

We visited Pasar Wan Khatijah twice, found the place really colourful and so full of goods.  We dropped by a Pusat Batik next door and found the batik really interesting.  Quite tempted to purchase.

We did some shopping at Parkson shopping complex nearby and at night visited pasar malam next to Parkson.  Kota Bahru turned out to be quite interesting.

On our journey back, a tyre punctured and we had to stop to have the tyre repaired.  Reached home at 1 am next day. 

During this holiday, we also watched interesting movies like San Andreas, Tomorrowland and Jurassic World.  During the weekend, we joined Kwee Yap for his Bank’s family