Our three-day road trip (a weekend plus my last day of annual leave, possibly ever...) was a wonderful reminder of the sheer beauty of Malaysia.

We hired a car. It was a little long in the tooth, and vibrated like a ship at sea, but never mind, it did the business.



Our goal was to cruise the backroads. So, rather than blasting up the motorway, we took the wiggly, squiggly old Kuantan road, almost as far as Bentong. We'd taken this route the other way, when we stayed the night up at Bukit Fraser. But in this direction it seemed better than ever. Looming over the tight little valley, with its tree-ferns and monkey tribes, are the forest-jacketed, mist-shawled mountains. Very little traffic uses this road, and on Saturday morning, we found it mostly given over to weekend cyclists.

We needed a quick bit of motorway and some commercially oriented roads to get to Temerloh, which we briefly revisited for lunch, but after that we picked up the quiet, lovely road that follows the majestic Sungai Pahang. You couldn't always see the milk-chocolate tones of the river, but it was never far away. This whole route delights your eyes with shades of green. Unplanned, rivers became the theme of the trip.

Our first major stop was Gua Charas, the hollowed-out inside of a lone limestone outcrop. This massive cave is a sacred site for Buddhists, Taoists, and Hindus, and various shrines are distributed throughout the enormous space. The combination of natural and artificial lighting makes it exceptionally photogenic.





























We based ourselves in Kuantan, which has changed a bit since our previous visit in 2012. Many of the previous administration's big plans are now on hold. But a humongous tower is going up right by the river, the herald of glitzier things to come.

The KUANTAN sign (on the Kuantan River) is now illuminated; a few murals have appeared; and the cafe scene seems to have perked up. We especially liked Pickers, which does Malaysian staples like nasi lemak and soft-boiled eggs with roti bakar, but also offers Vietnamese drip coffee and excellent cake.







Day 2 we spent in Sungai Lembing. This translates as Spear River. The name has various explanations, the merits of which I'm not equipped to judge. What we do know is that Sungai Lembing was once home to a truly massive tin-mining operation, which folded in the 1980s when tin prices plummeted.

Eventually, the little town remade itself on the back of tourism. But it has not turned chintzy and cutesy. Its fine old trees and slightly dilapidated buildings give it a history-laden but homespun charm.















Our first stop was Bukit Panorama. A cheeky little climb, this, despite the provision of a set of steps. Said steps basically set straight off up the hill-side, and offer no respite until you've got to the top. During the first part of the climb, we were still early enough to catch the mist in the valleys and the whoop of the monkeys. By the time we got to the top, the landscape was a sea of blue haze, with Gua Charas standing out like a galleon. On the way down, we were accompanied by an army of cicadas, now zingingly in business for the day.











All pretty exhausting, but nothing that a few glasses of iced lime and a bowl of mee Jawa couldn't cure. Once restored, we headed for the museum, which overlooks the town. The technical bits about tin-mining went over my head, but I found the old photographs fascinating.













Further up the road, you can visit a bit of the old tin mine, but we passed on this, having already experienced mines a couple of times.

Day 3 took us to Pekan. It was Monday, so the museums were closed. But it's a nice little town to stroll in. You get to see a bit more of the Pahang River; there are some beautiful old buildings; and the whole place exudes a dignified, if sleepy, charm.























We fetched up at a nice little warung for drinks and an early lunch of nasi kukus. This is apparently an east-coast speciality, and we had it a couple of times during the trip. I don't think I've ever described it, and it comes with slight variations, but the key components are individually steamed portions of rice (and this separateness gives the grains a creamier texture, it seems), spicy chicken, and sambal. Then you need a slurpy bit (which might be gravy or curry), and a crunchy bit (acar, perhaps, or savoury sprinkles). It's nice...

All in all, this trip has been a great reminder of the beauties of the Malaysian Small Town. Unpretentious and pleasant, these little stalwarts offer history-steeped streets, quirky juxtapositions, helpful but unpushy people, and wonderfully cheap food.



On the way back, we followed the road along the Pahang River from Pekan, joining our previous route a little further on. Again, this road seemed even better on the way back. You got more of an impression of the gradations: flat until about half-way to Temerloh, and then offering a lovely series of undulations, the mountain views becoming ever more spectacular, and the river ever more broad and imposing.





We wanted to try a different route over the mountains, though, so we turned away from the river at Kampung Mengkarak.

Here began a little interval of chaos, as the GPS went blinky on us. The previously oh-so-reliable woman with the clear instructions suddenly developed amnesia, leaving us in the lurch at crucial intersections, and arbitrarily changing routes. We were also suddenly in the realm of thundering lorries and wall-to-wall oil palm.

We briefly stopped for a restorative cup of coffee in Mengkuang. The sound of a train made Nigel realize we must have gone through here on our epic rail trip from Gemas to Wakaf Bharu.

And not long after we were back on track. The GPS stopped being annoying, and soon we were swinging along through Simpang Durian and Titi. This is another phenomenally beautiful road, twisting and turning its way up, amid squadrons of diving swifts, through the thickly forested mountains of Negeri Sembilan. No photos, unfortunately, as it's not a road that's big on stopping places.

From way up high, you can see Kuala Lumpur's twin towers and menara standing out proudly in the distance. Which is an impressive sight -- only that's when you know your road trip is over, and now it's back to work...