We got a bus from Mersing to Pekan, a small town on the bank of the Pahang River, and far away from the touristic route, but still with a few things to do and visit, once is a popular destination between locals. Mostly because Pekan is the official residence of Pahang’s royal family.
We just spend 2 days here what was more than enough to visit the main attractions, markets, gardens, to try the local delicacies and to stroll around this small and tranquil town.
Pekan’s top attraction is for obvious reasons the Royal Palace of Pekan, that doesn’t allow visitors but still attracts lots of local tourists that stand outside the walls to look at the Polo ground and also the horses.
The other highlights are the Sultan Abu Bakar Museum also known as Pekan State Museum that has artefacts related to Pekan and Malay history and culture. The river front street with its old Chinese shophouses.
The Watercraft gallery was another stop, it’s a small open gallery that showcases different types of watercraft and fisherman’s houses. They have a nice display but the pieces are a bit deteriorate because of the lac of maintenance.
The mosques are quite impressive and very beautiful on the outside, and there’s also a few examples of non-Islamic houses of worship in town like the Chinese temple dedicated to the Chinese goddess of the sea.
Pekan has excellent Malaysian street food and extraordinary fresh fruit.
At the time we were the only westerners in town so we attracted a lot of attention 🙂 Making friends with the people is always a great way to know more about this little town and the Malays culture.
photography – all rights reserved – Ana Rocha