Tour of Pahang - Sg. Lembing Old Mines

Practically, all the people in their 40's and 50's I talked to told me they had at one time worked in the Sg. Lembing underground mines.

Since the opening of the mines in 1886, Sg. Lembing had attracted waves after waves of Chinese migrants from southern China who were in search of a better future. My grandfather who was born in 1882 was one of them. He was a young man when he came here probably during the early 1900's. Because of the hardship in China, he chose to leave his young wife and children behind and travelled thousands of miles to this so called land of opportunity. I am sure that it was his original intention to return to China once he had made enough money. Somehow, for some unknown reasons, he left Sg. Lembing and moved to North Borneo. He married a local girl, raised a new family and never managed to return back to China.

During its heyday, Sg. Lembing underground mines was reckoned to be the largest and deepest underground tin mines in the world. It had a tunnel length of 322Km, reaching a depth of 700m - this is far in excess of the height of our Petronas Twin Tower which stands at 450m!

Sg. Lembing underground mines finally ceased operation in 1987 when the mining company found it no longer profitable to mine at such great depth.

Today, the Pahang government has taken over the mines and refurbished it as a tourist attraction. The tunnels which are opened to tourists and visitors are all original tunnels but has undergone refurbishment mainly for safety reason. The obvious improvements are concrete ganiting around the tunnel wall and soil nailing to prevent collapse of the tunnel.

Brief history of the mine.

School children learning geography and geology on site. Entrance to the mines.

Inside one of the tunnels. Note the protruding soil nails

Some of the tunnels were fenced to prevent people from entering

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Besides this old mines, there are other tunnels dug all over the place. Even in the hotel where we stayed, there is a tunnel which is easily accessible. According to the hotel staff, there are still people going into the tunnel looking for unique mineral stones for sale.

During its heyday, Sg. Lembing's underground mines was reckoned to be the largest and deepest underground tin mines in the world. It had a tunnel length of 322Km, reaching a depth of 700m - this is far in excess of the height of our Petronas Twin Tower which stands at 450m!

In fact, we discovered from conversations with the local people that mining activities are still going on to this very day, mainly by individuals hoping to make a few dollars from selling the tin ores.  This is done in ad-hoc basis using mostly hand tools.

Some gold were found among the tin deposit. Our guide related a true story of a Bangladeshi worker who was employed to build a bridge. He was digging to put some wooden stakes in the ground. Suddenly he encountered difficulty when he hit some rocks underneath. He dug further and worked around the rocks. Lo and behold ! He hit a large lode of tin and embedded in the tin deposit was a big chunk of gold! There was of course a lot of excitement among the other workers but the Bangladeshi  immediately quit his job and left Sg. Lembing.

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Remnants of minerals processing facilities are still seen by the road side at walking distance from the town centre.

Tour of Pahang - Sungai Lembing

Another high point of the tour was visiting Sungai Lembing. Even since I knew that my maternal grandfather first landed in this place when he first left China for Southeast Asia, it has been my dream to come and see (this place) and the mines he once worked.

Judging by the popularity of the Hakka dialect being spoken by the Chinese in this town, there was no doubt that my grandfather had indeed been here. The Hakka is literally identical to what is being spoken in KK and Sabah.

During my stay in Sg. Lembing, I did talk to a number of people about meeting up with some local residents whose ancestors may have also come from the village of my grandfather. Somehow, the name of the hometown did not ring a bell among people of a much younger generation. Could it be that all my grandfather's clan had left en masse to North Borneo then?

Many generations have come and gone. These huge trees in the town centre remain to remind the visitors the tenacity of this old town.

This sleepy old town has hardly changed over the years. This will probably remain so for the time to come now that its once thriving mining industry had ceased. Its survival depends very much on the ingenuity of the remaining population to turn this into a tourists town.

The huge Khek (Hakka) Association's building located strategically in the town centre speaks volume of the influence of the Hakka people here.

The hanging bridge across Sg. Lembing is now a symbol of this old town.

The flow of the water in Sg. Lembing was mild and the river bed silted up. We were told that during its flood flow, water level could reach the suspension bridge. We were told that in any impending flood, people in the town would be pre-warned to evacuate and move their important things away including their cars.

Steamers used to ply along this river during the good old days.

Tour of Pahang - Temerloh

One of the reasons for making the Pahang Tour is to meet up with Mr. and Mrs. Lai (Junshi's parents).

 

We had prior agreement to meet up for dinner the day we reached Mentakab. As we drove from our hotel in Mentakab to Temerloh, it was raining very heavily. Visibility was bad and the road markings were hardly visible. Fortunately, my faithful Garmin GPS did not fail me - it led us right to the very door step of their house.

 

Of course, Patin fish is a "must eat" item in Temerloh. After all, they have the mighty Pahang River just by their town and this is where Patin fish is found.

 

We and the Lai's met up again for breakfast in Mentakab. This was followed by city tour of Mentakab and Temerloh.

The Lai's were really friendly and hospitable and they accompanied us in separate cars all the way to the edge of Temerloh to make sure we were on track to our next stop - Sungai Lembing.

 

Mr. Lai said that it was his first time crossing the suspension bridge that spans across the mighty Sg. Pahang. I also managed to capture a photo of this lovely couple when I was following them from behind.

Tour of Pahang - Mentakab

It was not our intention to stay in Mentakab initially. However, since we could not book any hotel in Temerloh online, we decided to stay in a new budget hotel called EV World Hotel in the town of Mentakab. Going to Temerloh is not really a problem because the two places are just 9.5Km apart.

 

There is nothing much to talk about Mentakab. The next day after arriving to this place, Mr. and Mrs. Lai (Junshi's parents) took us for a sort of guided tour in separate cars. They led us to the railway station which is tucked away behind a little hill and later to the "Chinese new village". The station is old and deserted. I saw only one solitary man manning this station!

There is a big coffee shop at the ground floor just below the hotel. I had a chance to eat Loh Mee for breakfast.  It has been such a long time since I last ate this mee. This was first introduced to me in Kuantan in 1974 after I hitchhiked with a friend (Yue Chiang who is now in Perth) from KL to Kuantan during the university days. Loh Mee is noodles cooked in soup thickened with starch and added with a bit of black vinegar.

 

During the emergency era when the government was fighting against the communists, the Chinese in Mentakab were forced to relocate to this place which was totally fenced up. This was to prevent any contact between the communists and the local Chinese population. All such fenced up compounds designated for the Chinese are called "Chinese new village". Rows and rows of houses are separated by narrow lanes.  Since the emergency was declared over, fence was torn down and the narrow lanes tarred. This has since become a tourist destination.

Tour of Pahang - Mossy Forest

After visiting BOH Tea Plantation, our car took a right turn immediately after driving out of the plantation to "climb" a fairly steep hill to go to Gunung Brinchang - the highest point of Pahang. Gunung Brinchang is situated at the border of Pahang and Perak. It is one of the mountains where its summit can be reached by car.

 

At the end of the drive, we had to carry on the climb by walking the trial in Mossy Forest. Fortunately, the first stretch of the climb was made easy by the well-constructed timber boardwalk and stairs. We finally stopped at +2,000m (6,561ft). This trial eventually leads to the Lookout Tower. However, we did not carry on to the Lookout Tower after being told by some returning hikers that the last stretch of the trial which is without stairs and boardwalk was wet and slippery.

 

Vegetation in Mossy Forest is vary similar to that found in Mount Kinabalu. View of the mountain range from the boardwalk was breath-taking. Even at +2,000m, we found ourselves way above the cloud!

 

Somehow, many Malaysians and visitors are not really environment loving people. Empty plastic bottles and other non-degradable rubbish thrown indiscreetly over the hill next to the carpark speak volume of the mentality of these visitors!

 

Mossy Forest was our last place of visit in Cameron Highlands. From here, we drove to Mentakab which is 260Km away.

Tour of Pahang - BOH Tea Plantation

I believe most people (at least the first timers) who visit Cameron Highlands would sure make a stop at the BOH Tea Plantation also called Sungai Palas Tea Estate. Acclaimed as the largest tea plantation in Malaysia, its size is truly immense!

 

It has come a long way since its inception in 1929. Today, it caters for tourists who wish to learn all about tea from planting, harvesting tea leaves and the process of turning them into tea.

 

At their huge cafeteria, one can taste all the different types of tea manufactured by BOH while enjoying the spectacular view of the plantation.

 

Tour of Pahang - Time Tunnel Gallery

It is commendable that someone came up with the idea of creating a small gallery or museum in Cameron Highlands to break the monotony of looking at strawberries and vegetables only while touring this place.

 

Time Tunnel Gallery is not a fantastic gallery. The gallery which consists of a few lots within a row of wooden shop houses sit right next to the main road. This is fairly easy to find if you drive toward Brinchang from Sungai Bertam. The building is fairly run down and the display of all artefacts and items is haphazard. The whole gallery is only manned by one staff stationed at the entrance counter. It seems that her only task is to collect RM5.00 from each visitor before being allowed in.

For people born in the 50's, many of the items on display do provoke nostalgia of the old days!

Because of the lack of electricity in those days, thermo flask was the only gadget to store hot water.

Iron run on burning charcoal.

Every household had a cupboard likes this to store food and cutlery. No fridge in those days!

Trishaw used by people to move around - a form of taxi in those days!

Marbles we used to play when we were kids in the village in the 1950's and 60's.

Paper bag used to hold sundry items when we did our shopping.