Kuantan

The State Mosque, a Sungai Lembing sunrise and Cherating over three days

Three days give Kuantan a fair shot. Spend the first in town at the Sultan Ahmad Shah State Mosque, with a riverside fish lunch and a Kuantan River cruise. Drive 40 km north-west before dawn on day two to climb Bukit Panorama at Sungai Lembing, and head up the coast to Balok and Cherating on day three.

Day one: the town. Visit the Sultan Ahmad Shah State Mosque on the Padang in the morning, dressed for it. Lunch on river fish at one of the riverside restaurants, then join an afternoon river cruise along the Kuantan River. As the heat drops, ride Rapid Kuantan bus 200 or a Grab to Teluk Cempedak and walk the boardwalk through the coastal forest at the end of the beach, staying on for a seafood dinner by the sand. If you have arranged it with a local agent, a night boat trip to see fireflies is a good way to end the day.

Day two: Sungai Lembing. Drive out before dawn, about 40 km north-west, and climb Bukit Panorama in the dark for sunrise over the forested hills. Walk down for breakfast in the old mining village, see the tin museum in the former mine manager's house, find the hanging bridge north of it, and stop at Gua Charas and its reclining Buddha on the way back.

Kitesurfers go to Balok, closer to town; everyone else carries on to Cherating, about an hour away, for a long lunch, the turtle sanctuary in season and an afternoon on the beach. Pekan, the royal town to the south, is the alternative, on bus 400.

Patin in tempoyak, keropok lekor and Teluk Cempedak grills

Pahang's signature dish is ikan patin masak tempoyak, river catfish in a sour curry of fermented durian, served at Kuantan's riverside restaurants. Snack on keropok lekor, fried sticks of fish and sago dough with chilli sauce, and eat grilled seafood by the shore at Teluk Cempedak. Most restaurants here are halal Malay.

Riverside restaurants in town specialise in freshwater fish such as patin, kerai and tengalan, sold by weight and cooked to order, and Akob Patin House on the bank of the Kuantan River off Jalan Besar is a well-known example.

Keropok lekor, chewy sticks of fish and sago dough, fried and dipped in chilli sauce, is the east coast snack, sold from roadside stalls in the late afternoon. For breakfast, look for nasi lemak and the coconut rice dishes common up the coast towards Terengganu.

Seafood is at its best on the shore. At Teluk Cempedak, restaurants along the beach grill fish and prawns in the evening, and the Cherating coast to the north has its own simple seafood places near the chalets.

Kuantan is more conservative than the west coast, and most restaurants are halal Malay places. Some stalls take a break around Friday midday prayers, and during Ramadan daytime eating slows, while evening food bazaars spring up across town.

Sungai Lembing's tin-mine village and Bukit Panorama at dawn

Sungai Lembing, about 40 km north-west of Kuantan, is a quiet former tin-mining village whose big draw is sunrise from Bukit Panorama. Climb before dawn, then visit the tin museum in the old mine manager's house and eat at the noodle shops. Rapid Kuantan bus 500 runs about hourly, but a sunrise climb needs a car.

One of the world's largest underground tin mines worked beneath it until it closed, and the village it left behind is quiet now: rows of wooden shophouses, a few noodle shops and a river.

Locals and visitors start up the steps in the dark to reach the top before first light, when mist often fills the valley below and the sun comes up behind the ridges. Bring a torch, water and decent shoes, and expect company at weekends.

Afterwards, the tin museum fills the old mine manager's house with tools, photographs and models of the tunnels. North of it, on the narrow, winding road from the museum entrance, is the hanging bridge across the river, a little hard to find. On the drive back, Gua Charas in the limestone hill at Panching holds a large reclining Buddha inside the cave.

Time it with the weather too. Kuantan's dry season runs from about March to September, and April averages only around 136 mm of rain, while December averages over 700 mm, when the climb is slippery and the view often lost in cloud.