Driving to Sungai Lembing from Kuala Lumpur (KL) using East Coast Expressway (ECE) will have your senses turned from tense to relax within the 4 hour journey. Before the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 (ECE1) opened in April 2004, one had to endure 5 to 7 hours of driving from KL to get there.
Whether you are from the northern or southern region, if you are driving there, take the North South Expressway (NSE) to KL. However, if you are coming from the eastern states (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and eastern part of Johor), head to Kuantan and follow the Sungai Lembing signboard.
From KL, look for Kuantan signboard that leads you to Karak Highway. You will drive pass Gombak and Bentong and reach Karak toll plaza. Between Karak and Kuantan toll plaza, there are two petrol stations: Shell at Temerloh rest area (129 km) and Petronas at Gambang rest area (194 km). At 128 km, you will cross the Semantan Bridge over the Pahang River (440 km). You should exit Kuantan (EXIT 833) which is about 238 km from KL. Immediately after the Kuantan exit, you will reach a T-junction traffic light, turn right to Sungai Lembing.
From there, the two-lane trunk road winds through scatter of villages, palm tree and rubber tree plantations where it ends at Sungai Lembing. You may encounter some local drivers with laid-back driving, lorries transporting palm fruits or timber, village kids playing on roadside, animals crossing (chickens, goats, cattle, monkeys, mongooses, snakes, monitor lizards and on a very rare occasion wild boars and even the rainforest clouded leopards), the unmistakably Gua Charas (Charas Cave) limestone and if the weather is fine, you can see Mount Tapis (1512 m) on the horizon. When you are approaching the town, there is a sharp bend that you may be caught by surprise! An outsider once lost control and crashed his car into one of the villager's house in 1960's. The locals dubbed it 'The Death Curve'.
You should drive with extra care especially at night. Most part of the road is pitch-dark and with many slopes, it's hard to see what is ahead of you. With the car headlight as the only light source, you may suddenly see light flickering in the middle of the road. By the time you realized what it is, you might have just hit a cattle!! A few fatal accidents had occurred at Kolek and Panching Selatan (south of Panching) areas that killed both human and cattle.
The cattle are owned by villagers nearby and they are usually left wandering at night. Their eyes reflect light. The tar road is warm after absorbing the heat during the day and serves as a warm and comfy bed for the cattle at night. You have to slow down and negotiate your way to avoid hitting them.
Alternatively, you can exit Gambang (EXIT 830) but this makes the journey longer. After the Malaysia Electric Corporation City (MEC City) and University Malaysia Pahang (UMP), you will come to a traffic light crossroad, turn left to Kuantan. After the Caltex petrol station, you will reach Jalan Panching (Panching Road) T-junction traffic light which is next to TUDM Kuantan (Royal Malaysian Air Force of Kuantan), turn left to Sungai Lembing. After 24km from TUDM Kuantan, you will reach another T-junction, turn left again to Sungai Lembing. The Panching Road serves as an alternative road during floods. The winding road can lead you to Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) palm tree plantations. You can make a detour to the Sungai Pandan Waterfall which is about 11 km from TUDM Kuantan.
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