7 Must Visit Places in Sungai Lembing

17 June 2014

Sungai Lembing, was once the richest tin ore producer in Pahang. Due to the drastic drop of tin price, the mining factory has to close down in 1986. Since then, this once glorious town has transformed into a nostalgic tourism places. Almost every weekend, Sungai Lembing is packed with people indulge to experience Mother Nature, mining information as well as enjoy local delicacies. The 7 must visit places in Sungai Lembing are as followed.

1) Rainbow Waterfall 

The waterfall is believed to be discovered by the local aborigine who was collecting rattan (Rotan). This undisturbed natural waterfall is located deep in the forest. We took around 1 hour on 4 wheel drive vehicle to the nearest base camp. Then, we hiked for 30 minutes to reach the waterfall.

To be able view the rainbow depends on one luck and weather. Around 9.30 am the first ray of rainbow appears in the middle of waterfall. Around 10am, a slight curve rainbow appeared link to the rock near the cliff. Around 10.30am, some visitors claimed to see double rainbows. At around 11am, visitors swim or walk toward the cliff. Here circular shape rainbow

2) Panorama Hill or Bukit Panorama

The staircase toward “heaven” was mended a few years back. Visitors can easily walk up to see the beautiful scenery.  Around 6.30am, face toward east, visitors can see the awesome sun rise. Getting bored with the sun rise view, turn around and face toward west. Ocean of white clouds blanket the hills below your feet. Tilted a bit, visitors can see the street light in Sungai Lembing Village. It is like the starry night on earth.  Hikers with good stamina take around 30 minutes to reach the peak. 

3) Hanging Bridge over Sungai Lembing

The houses are built by the bank of Sungai Lembing which are connected by a few hanging bridge. Visitors enjoy the soft breeze when crossing the bridge. Sometime, it may sway a bit, due to the multiple steps  of other visitors. 

4) Sungai Lembing Museum

A museum stands on the top of the hill, overlook the once Pahang’s richest manufacturer of  tin ore. In the museum, visitors can learn the history of Sungai Lembing and some old technologies to of  tin ore mining. It used to be free entrance. Now the entrance ticket charged RM2 for Malaysian. For Non-Malaysian is RM5.

5) Mining Tunnel Museum

Old mining tunnel is transformed into a museum. Visitor can experience the hard core life of mining worker when they were inside the mining tunnel. This museum may not be as lively as The Hobbit’s holes, but it is truly an amazing and informative experience.

6) Sunday Morning Market

There are many stalls selling different types of herbs and local delicacies in the Sunday Morning market.  

7)Sungai Lembing Noodle Factory

This factory has been established for 78 years. It has been passed down to the third generation. The owner uses fresh mountain water to prepare the noodle. Then he uses firewood to cook the noodle. The cooked noodle is left to cool before packing into sell-able sizes.

* This article is meant for Visit Malaysia Year 2014.Due to some unforseen reason, it was not selected.

by LerLer Chan
Follow me at Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+

Reflection on Sungai Lembing Trip

Firstly, tones of thanks to

• My best friend forever , BFF for inviting me to join the trip 
• Mr. Chan, the most wonderful planner
• Mr. Vincent, who help me carry bags 
• Mountain guides for handling unexpected questions from a curious hiker

 Photo Credit: Unparalleled Grace

Sadly, my stamina is quite bad for this trip. I need to practice more yoga and Zumba.

Do you know that Mr.Chan and Mr. Vincent will visit Sungai Lembing every year?  His Facebook post answers my question. 

Image Credit: Mr. Chan

Indeed, some place have this attraction factor. You will always have the urge to go back and visit and meet the old friends there. Each visit will give you different feeling too. I really enjoy chatting with my bff and making new friends. But I am too shy to approach them on the trip. >.<

To conclude this trip's post, let me end my reflection with some ridiculous conversation during the hike.

Ler:      Encik, you pernah nampak gajah di hutan ini
Guide: Tak pernah...
Ler:      Encik, you pernah makan durian gajah?
Guide: apa tu?
Ler:     itu saya dengar lah. Itu gajah telan durian dan keluar sebiji tahi. Kan kami ada kopi luwak. mungkin kah kita ada durian gajah. Mereka cakap durian gajah paling sedap oohh
Guide: Mana boleh. Itu durian banyak duri. Dia mana boleh telan.
Ler:     itu saya tak pasti. saya ingat you pernah jumpa ke makan ke...
Guide: ...Aiyo!  ini soalan saya tak tau nak macam jawab....hahaha

English Translation:

Ler:     Sir. Have you seen wild elephant in this jungle
Guide: No
Ler:     Sir. Have you tried the elephant durian?
Guide: What is that?
Ler:      I heard it from someone and somewhere. Elephant swallows the whole durian and pop out as elephant durian. Since we have Luwak coffee, maybe we have the elephant durian too. They said elephant durian is the best in the world.
Guide:  How can it be? Durian has many thorns. I don't think the elephant can swallow it.
Ler:      That I am not sure. I thought you tried before.
Guide:  Aiyo! I not sure how to answer your question..hahaha

During the whole conversation, Mr. Chan and Mr. Vincent kept giggling only.....

#WTH #Shy #LerTravel

Expenses
Transportation = RM50
Hiking trip + Hostel + BBQ dinner = RM70.00
Food : RM40.00

Contact Personnel

1. Ugalaxy Tour Bus: Mr. Chiam 017-654 8926 

2. Lohas Homestay: Ah Lam 016-921 2244 

3. 4WD: Lee (Ah Pek) 016-923 8639 

4. BBQ: Ah Fang 019-988 7736

Disclaimer: All names are distinguished to protect their identities.

by LerLer Chan

Food Journal in Sungai Lembing

Never keep a Malaysian away from food. This post is full of food pornography photography. I only know Sungai Lembing is famous for its tofu and coconut biscuit. This trip, I got the chance to enjoy more dishes.

Hakka Clan Yong Toufu

Dried Sungai Lembing Noodle.

Yong Tou Fu. I have a feeling this is not home made. 

The fried wonton is cold. It is not popular among us. In the end, the guys eat up all.

This is the famous spring water bean curd or "shan shui tou fu "山水豆腐. The roufu have very smooth and soft texture. It is like "tou fu hua". Zup, It just slide down my throat.

Dishes : Hakka Yong Taofu, Sungai Lembing noodles
 
Place : Lim's Brother Stall 林兄弟面档, Sungai Lembing Hawker Center

Price : RM20.00

Review : Fried wonton not recommend. Shan shui toufu is the best I tasted. The sauce is a bit swet and sticky. The combination of sauce and toufu is wonderful.

Curry noodle
The curry gravy is nice. Young to fu and curry gravy is a good combination.

Shan Shui toufu from the famous stall, Ah Feng's noodle stall

Sadly, the tofu is burned at the based. The taste just went wrong. The tofu sauce quite watery and tasteless. The only thing I can praise the tenderness of the tofu. 

Dishes : Hakka Yong Taofu, Sungai Lembing noodles
 
Place :Ah Feng's Noodle stall 阿凤面,  Sungai Lembing Hawker Center

Price : RM21.00 (I help others to buy too)

Review : Long queue. Crystall, another hiker mentioned that Ah Siang's noodle stall served better tofu. I am quite full that day. Hopefully, can try it another time.

Tomato noodle. The history of the noodle is explained in previous post. The gravy is very sweet. Totally different from the usual spaghetti tomato sauce. The stall lady is very generous withe the noodle. Around 10 of us shared and tried this dish. Most of the ladies can accept the sweet taste.

Dishes : Tomato noodle
 
Place : This stall is located 2 stalls behind Ah Feng's noodle stall,  Sungai Lembing Hawker Center

Price : RM4.00

Review : Fried wonton not recommend. Shan shui toufu is the best I tasted. The sauce is a bit swet and sticky. The combination of sauce and toufu is wonderful.

Dishes :Fried pork roll, roasted pork
 
Place : Sunday Morning Market

Price : Bough by other hikers. We just eat >.<

Review : Fried pork roll is like "goh hiang". It have very crunchy pastry skin. The meat mince is well marinated, tender and juicy. The roast pork lost its crunchiness on the ski. It may due to "tabao" wrapping paper. The steam from the pork soften the skin's crunchiness.

Hakka Egg Tidbits

Dishes : Hakka Yong Taofu, Sungai Lembing noodles
 
Place :Sungai Lembing Noodle Factory

Price : RM10.00 for 3 packets

Review : A very delicious tidbits. I can't stop eating while watching world cup final.

Dishes : Soya Bean drink

Place : Sunday Morning Market

Price : RM1.80 per bottle

Review : This drink is very smooth. It does not have the texture like commercial soya bean. commercial soya bean have a thick texture that stick to the throat.

by LerLer Chan
Follow me at Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+

Panorama Hill @ Sungai Lembing, Pahang

15 June 2014

Sore. My whole body is very sore. Due to lack of exercise, rainbow waterfall's hiking take effect on my body. Lesson learned. Never take youth for granted. Consistent exercise is needed. 

Round 05:00am, I wake up and do some clean up. Ehh no water. O.O Luckily, Mr. Chan explains to me that Sungai Lembing practice water rationing. We need to take water from the reserve tank. The consequence of sleep too early. I missed last night's briefing.

 After hiking for 1 hour, we reach the hill top. Damn with my stamina. On the west, you can see Sungai Lembing's village.

 A small trail toward telecom station.

 On the east, you can see the Cheras cave hill

Try caption this photo? I run out of idea. 

The cloud sea and sun rise are not so beautiful that day. The hill is too crowded with hikers. However, it is very easy to climb.

by LerLer Chan
Follow me at Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+

Rainbow Waterfall @ Sungai Lembing, Pahang

14 June 2014

After 5 hours of driving from southern of Malaysia, we reach the silent little village, Sungai Lembing. The village that only have one main street. There is only one coffee shop on the street. Believe or not, the guys are just amazing. After driving non-stop for 5 hours, they can just jump off the car and watch football. Amazing. Even though world cup game is 4 years once, they are determined to catch the show. While not for us, girls. Girls immediately flop down on the chair and drift into slumber land. Occasionally, I still can hear "GOAL !", "OOOOHHHH", "EISHH". 

Around 4am or 5am, another group of friends arrive from Kuala Lumpur. I don't know the actual time they arrived. I am in slumber land. NO one can disturb my beauty sleep.

Do you know Sungai Lembing practice water rationing too?
Every night around 10:00pm to 06:00am, there will be no water. That why most of the hostels have lots of water tanks for reservation. 

Around 05:30am, I can not find a place to brush my teeth. We really search around the place and find one tap with water. Luckily, our organiser, Mr. Chan arranges a room for us to clean up.

 After breakfast, we move on to the next task. Our tour operators arrange 3 four wheel drive vehicle for us. How many of us? Hmm. There are around 37 of hikers for our group. That why need 3 vehicles. How I wish I can drive this vehicle. This is my dream car.(PS: still working toward this dream. The road tax, petrol price car loan........ headache)

 Here we go. On the way to base camp.

Since first portion of the road is quite easy to drive, the driver drive quite fast.  I enjoy the chill morning breeze on my face. Then again, I wish to drive this car. I prefer to be on the steering. But I think my BFFs don't feel good if I am the driver. Sigh....

 We reach the first photo shot location.

 This location, we can enjoy beautiful sun rise and cloud sea. After 10 minutes of photo shoting, we move on. This photo is taken around 07:00am.

YES. The best part of 4WD drive is going through small stream. Girls on another car are screaming with thrill when passing through the stream. I do not scream. I am focusing on capturing the moment. Then again. Why not me driving?.......... I prefer to feel the thrill behind the steering.

 We pass through a logging farm. I just feel sad to see so many trees been chopped off. Come to think again, no logging, no money, economy not good. Hopefully, there are no illegal logging and the forest department do their part in monitoring.

The road become more bumpy and challenging. Hikers that sit on last row is having a difficult time to balance.

 

 Another small stream to drive through. This is the most difficult part through out the drive. There is a very sharp turn after this little stream. The driver need some skill to control the pedal, break and hand break. At some point, while adjusting the pedal, the vehicle will slide back a bit. That is the thrill of controlling a 4WD vehicle. Then again, I am not the driver. For my friends from East of Malaysia, they are so familiar to 4WD vehicle. They feel nothing for this route. While another car, the girls keep screaming. Me? Busy enjoy the scenery and taking photos.

 Around 07:30am, we reach the base camp.

Photo Credit: Mr. Chan

With unity we stand. With Hamony, we strive. The cause shall never end. As long as we're alive. We're one, we're one Always, always.

~ extracted from Anthem of Unity

  The water current at base camp is quite fast. Everyone is helping each other to get through

 Walking toward rainbow waterfall.

 A serene small water fall while on the hiking route.

 Around 300m or 400m of the route, I can see the cliff. 

There is a small "traffic jam"  here. I turn around to shot some photos. While waiting for the traffic clearance, a tour guide offer me some spring water. There is another small stream on the right of this path. The spring water is very fresh and free of chemical smell. The most interesting part is the tour guide use leaf make into a container. I miss that shot.

 There is a Chinese idiom to describe this scenario. 人山人海。 It mean people mountain people sea.

Photography enthusiasts are taking their location for the 09:30am rainbow.

 Photo credit: Mr. Chan or Ms. Lavender ( Can't remember which friend's photo)

Tour guides are busying preparing some refreshments for us. Thanks to them, we can enjoy some snacks. All the rubbish are collected and bring back to the village. Leave nothing but footprint

 Beautiful rainbow in the waterfall

 Photo credit: Mr. Chan

After 2.5 hours having fun at the waterfall, Mr. Chai takes out the watermelon from the waterfall. The watermelon been chilled by the cold, natural, pure water. It is very juicy and refreshing. 

Photo credit: Mr. Chan

Time to go back hostel at 12:30noon.  The road is drier now under the exposure of dazzling sun. The sand keep flying into our face. No choice, we need to use towel to cover it up.

Photo credit: Mr. Chan

Good Bye. Rainbow waterfall.

Next destination: Panorama hill, Sungai Lembing. I look forward for the next destination. However, food is more desirable at this moment.

PS:  Please ignore the author's desire to drive a 4WD vehicle. Since young, the author been joining 4WD off road and over land adventure. That why she obsess with 4WD vehicle.

by LerLer Chan
Connect me at Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Google+