# Pekan

Pekan is the royal town of the state of Pahang, Malaysia, and an interesting place to visit.

## Get in

Pekan is 45 km south of the much larger city of Kuantan, Pahang's capital, and approximately 130 km north of Mersing, which is on Johor's east coast.
You may reach Pekan by a direct bus from Pudu Raya Terminal-Utama express, twice a day or by another option, take a bus from Kuantan. It takes approximately 1 hour to reach Pekan from Kuantan. There are many buses from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan daily.

## Get around

1.Get (rent/borrow) a bicycle from the local and cycle around the town.
2.Sunday market (less than 1/2 km from Hospital Pekan)-where you can get various types of home grown vegetables, raw water fishes, spices and lots of local foods and goods on Sunday.

## See

* The Sungai Pahang, the longest river in Peninsular Malaysia, ends at Pekan.
* Pekan State Museum on Jalan Sultan Ahmad.
* The Royal Palace of Pekan and the Polo ground and also the horses.
* The Malay villages and fruit orchards.
* The Chinese Temple to Mazu, a Goddess of the sea.
* Bird watching - You may spot hornbills in Pekan, at close distance!
* Big trees - You may spot lots of big trees in Pekan.

## Do

Make friend with the people there and get to know more about Pekan. Tip: Address the elderly man as "Uncle" and the elderly lady as "Aunty" I'm sure they'll be more friendly to you.
Read books-as they're not much of entertainment outlets. No Bar, no pub, no cinema, nevertheless, it's a good place for a good rest.
Star watching at the riverside, there's less light pollution in Pekan therefore you may see the sky clearly at night.
Sea fishing, ask the Chinese in town, don't be surprise they might have friend who own a boat for sea fishing.
Lepak-a culture of village people where they just laze around, sit and chat, or play guitar and sing with friends outside the house at anywhere, anywhere they feel comfortable...

## Buy

You may get fresh seafoods like fishes and oysters from the wet market or from the Sunday market.
Salted fish.
Tit-Bits from the local shops-there're fun to eat and usually come in small packets and cheap too.
Tobaccos-D.I.Y, wrap the tobaccos yourself in leaf/paper, all available for sale at shops.
Kids Toys like tops, pebbles, kites, slingshot, paper dolls, cards-with printed cartoons/robots- you may learn many ways to play it from the village kids.

## Eat

Murtabak is a unique Indian Muslim food that can only be found in Pekan.
Nasi Dagang is steamed white rice and glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves with small chunk of Tongkol fish-sort like Tuna fish.
Keropok Ikan-Keropok=cracker, Ikan=fish. It is a popular finger food made from fish. It's cheap and easy to get too.
You may also get some fresh fish from the market and bring it to a nearby Chinese restaurant named Sri Pekan, which is right opposite the market. You may then ask the cook to prepare it your way!
There are Malay food stalls gathered around Pekan Bus Terminal. You may get a variety of local food and drink here.

## Drink

Beers are only sold at Chinese Restaurants.
Ais Kacang/Cendol-blended ice with toppings.

## Sleep

Pekan rest house.
Seri Pekan-affordable budget rooms attached to a Chinese restaurant.
Sleeping bag/tent.

## Go next

Kuantan