It has been more than 15 years we last went to Kuantan, Pahang for a holiday. As it was a long weekend, we decided to make to trip to the east coast Sungai Lembing Kuantan and Kuantan Pahang for a short holiday.
Our holiday started with a very early morning drive from Kuala Lumpur. We decided to take a short detour to try out some talked about food in Bentong for our breakfast. More of this in our food trail.
After a quick breakfast, we continued our journey towards Sungai Lembing, Kuantan where we made a pitstop visit to one of the popular Sungai Pandan Waterfall, we were a little disappointed as there was very little upstream water flowing down this picturesque waterfall.
After a short stay at the Sungai Pandan Waterfall, we continued our journey to Sungai Lembing town where we had lunch at one of the restaurants (more of this in our food trail section) at the town centre before checking into the Pollock View Resort for a night stay.
We took the opportunity to make a trip down memory lane at the Sungai Lembing Museum where we got a first-hand understanding of the history surrounding this little kampung town called Sungai Lembing.
We were told that there is a mine tunnel where we can explore first-hand the lives and experience of tin miners in the early days. So after our museum tour, we headed to the enter the very cooling and damp tunnel.
We really had an insight towards the lives of the miners working in such dangerous environment although, at that time, it was touted as the best paying job during that era.
After that, we head over to the suspension bridge of Sungai Lembing which we thought was a little frightening as this bridge is not only used by pedestrian but also motorcycles as well.
It was a real nice experience though as on the other side of the river, we could see some cottage industry namely the famous noodle manufacturer and the home of the Mountain Spring Water TauFoo.
Before heading back to the Hotel, we had dinner at another restaurant which was recommended by a local we met earlier which said that this restaurant offers the most original Tomato noodles which are a popular dish in Sungai Lembing.
After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to call it a day as we plan to trek Sungai Lembing popular Bukit Panorama the next morning to witness the sunrise which is acclaimed to be a sight to behold.
We woke up at 5am and after a piece of toast and a cup of instant coffee, we made our treacherous journey taking a step at a time to reach the summit of Bukit Panorama to see the first light of the day.
Although feeling exhausted on reaching the summit which is already packed with people, we soon find ourselves overlooking at some the cloud bedded scenery on top of the hills. It was really worth all the effort to look at this beautiful view.
After trekking down from the hills, we made our way to the Sungai Lembing food court, where we had one of the smoothest and silkiest Mountain Spring Water Tau Foo for breakfast before checking out of the hotel to make our way to Kuantan town.
We were told that on our way to Kuantan town, we should make a pit stop at Sivan Temple at Gua Charas where there is a statue of a Sleeping Buddha inside the cave. We reached there at 1230 pm and were not told that the best time to visit this Gua Charas is from 11am to 12pm as there is a light shining from the top of the cave directly at the Buddha's head at 11am until the toe at 12pm.
It was another trek up and a journey that takes us deep into the Gua Charas where we finally witness the Sleeping Buddha. After a short prayer, we then headed back to our car.
We then continued our journey to Kuantan where we decided to take up a special promotion offer for a twin bedded Executive Deluxe room at Megaview Hotel Kuantan which is located at 567, Jalan Besar 25000 Kuantan which is next to the Kuantan River.
One of the nice feels is that this hotel; which is located by the river offers a very relaxing ambience for our holiday and being a public holiday, going to the hotel was a breeze.
Upon checking into the hotel, we find a pleasant nature tone that sets the theme for the hotel. The green colour denotes the natural feel of the environment.
The hotel itself is celebrating its 18th anniversary and we learned that they are refurbishing all their room in stages. We choose the newly refurbished room that overlooks the river.
The rooms were clean and have had in-room coffee and tea making facility.
Our room also came with a glass wall that separates the room and the bathroom to give it an upmarket feel and is really suitable for couples on holiday.
Our bathroom also comes with rain showers for you to relax your tired muscles. One of the plus points for me is the water coming out of the faucet was very strong and when set with the right hot water temperature, it was a marvel to drain away all my tired muscle from all the trekking for the day.
The difference between the Deluxe rooms and the Executive Deluxe rooms is that the latter has a balcony and located on the 8th and 9th floor, while the former only have a windows view. If you are not really on a budget, the executive deluxe rooms will make your stay much more rewarding.
After a brief rest, we decided to venture to visit some of the popular destination in Kuantan, As Kuantan is located next to the sea, one has to visit the many beaches that are less than 10 minutes drive away. Our host brought us to the Teluk Cempedak for a brief walk to a rocky beach. Here the local council has erected a canopy walkway to the other part of the beach which was quite difficult to go some years back. As we walk along the canopy walk, we were greeted by monkeys along the walk, an advice is not to feed them as they can be quite aggressive if they didn't get what they wanted.
After our short trip to Teluk Cempedak, we made our way to Tanjung Lumpur for some popular and Kuantan must eat food, but was disappointed as all were close for Hari Raya Haji holidays. See this we decided to go back to the hotel to check out the food at the hotel. (
Click Here).
After dinner, we decided to take a stroll by the river. As it was a Public Holiday, there were not much going on there, we saw a few people fishing by the riverside. The cool and breezy walk were indeed therapeutic and relaxing.
The next morning, we were awakened to the sound of the fishing vessel coming back from its fishing expedition which is quite a common occurrence this time of the morning. It was a nice sight to behold as the fishing vessel slowly trough along to the inner sanctuary of Kuantan.
We had a nice buffet breakfast which is included in our hotel stay. The hotel breakfast buffet offers some of the local delights like yellow rice with curry, make your own eggs (sunny side up, scrambled and more), Teochew porridge and other breakfast delights.
After our breakfast, we went to another beach which is the Batu Hitam, beach in Beserah. It was a long white sandy beach and only a part of it; is where the Batu Hitam is at. Although it was very hot and sunny, the strong breeze from the South China Sea continues to blow away much of the heat.
We spent about an hour at the beach before heading back to the hotel to have our
lunch at the hotel and bid farewell to Kuantan, Pahang.
Overall, this short trip was a nice break for us as it is quite some time we took to the road to explore some of the special destination and awesome Malaysian food. With a nice and comfortable place to stay, it was indeed a welcome break from our routine. We look forward to our next Malaysian Expedition.
Link to our Sungai Lembing Kuantan Pahang Food trail and holiday
Direction to Sungai Pandan Waterfall Kuantan
Direction to Sungai Lembing, Kuantan
Mega View Hotel Address and Location
Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan Location
Batu Hitam Beach Location
Explore Best Restaurant Other Food Trail
