Sungai Lembing is a tin mining town 42 km northwest of Kuantan. Lembing is Malay for spear, and "sungai" means river. Per local legend, the local ruler saw a vision of a spear in the nearby river and thus named his town after this vision. As for industry Sungai Lembing was a major producer of underground tin until the 1970s. The town dates back to the 1880s and has some cute little kampungs which are predominantly islamic or Chinese.
The pit mines were closed in 1986 due to high operational costs and low yields, but during their heyday they were said to be among the "largest and deepest in the world". The total tunnel length is 322 km, with a depth of between 610 m and 700 m. The town of Sg Lembing is in decline although it was once the richest town in Pahang, known as El Dorado of the East. What we saw were lots of wooden shoplots not open and some overgrown homes.
About 15km on the Kuantan side of Sg Lembing is Gua Charas which is a temple cave.
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