That trip was supposed to cover another round of locations but time did not permit it. Only more than a month later did I have the opportunity to complete it. And thus another series of writings were posted under the main title "The Negeri Sembilan journey continued" starting with the article The Negeri Sembilan journey continued : A look at the fort of Lukut...
Last week on very short notice, a girlfriend called and asked me to accompany her to see a certain religious old lady in Rembau. So I accompanied her... And without plan, the visit was extended to other locations and in turn quite a long round through Negeri Sembilan!
If the trip 3 months ago was a semi-circle through part of the outer rims of north-east Negeri Sembilan via Kuala Klawang on to the state capital Seremban before it was closed at the tomb of Raja Melewar in Rembau at night, the following trip more than a month later was also a semi-circle but through Sepang, Lukut and on to Port Dickson and Tanjung Tuan in the west-coast before it also ended at night at the tomb of Raja Melewar. The recent trip on the other hand could be said to start at the tomb of Raja Melewar... And then it weaves on through a route I've never ever taken before to the royal town of Seri Menanti and then to a certain location before heading to Seremban and then back to Kuala Lumpur. Here is the story...
Originally this trip is supposed to be only up to the said lady's place. She was recommended by a friend as someone of much foresight and gave us some valuable advice on life. There at her house, when I was about to answer the call of nature it came to mind... I'm already in Rembau, why not have another look at the tomb of Raja Melewar?
For the record, I've been at the tomb twice, during the previous trips around Negeri Sembilan but arrived there both at night. It was noon when I made the trip to visit this old lady. So there should be ample time to get to the tomb and see it for the first time in broad daylight... After all it is about 20km or so from the lady's house... For pictures of the tomb, please read the article Makam Raja Melewar di siang hari (The tomb of Raja Melewar during the day) in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART)
We also took the opportunity to visit the replica of Raja Melewar's place which is also a museum. This is the first time I went in as it was closed both times I was around before. Do have a look at the article Replika istana (The palace replica of Raja Melewar) , also in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) .
The old lady whose father is a deceased prominent religious person said to be of saintly status said we should also visit the tomb of Sheikh Muhammad Said Linggi in Seremban. I've been there a few times and the last one was in the opening trip around Negeri Sembilan 3 months ago. Have a look at the article Makam (tomb of) Sheikh Muhammad Said Linggi .
Actually after the thought to visit the tomb of Raja Melewar came to mind, came the feeling to visit the tomb of Sheikh Muhammad Said Linggi even before she mentioned it. So it was already in my ad hoc plan for the day should we have the time. Another place which came to mind then was the tomb of Tuan Tulis some distance to the east of Seremban which I last visited perhaps more than 5 years ago! Now here is another prominent saintly personality of Negeri Sembilan.
So this was the plan... After visiting the tomb of Raja Melewar, I would head back up north to Seremban to visit the tomb of Sheikh Muhammad Said before going east to the tomb of Tuan Tulis. Then also came a desire to visit the royal small town of Seri Menanti too but it is slightly off the way, quite a few kilometres actually... Would I be able to visit all this places in time? Before the girlfriend had to return home to Kuala Lumpur before dark?
As it turns out, it was at the replica of Raja Melewar's museum that I learned of a route which would make a trip covering all the said places possible within time. I found out that I could get to the tomb of Tuan Tulis which is towards the town of Kuala Pilah without going to Seremban... I have to go through to Seremban later anyway to get back to KL, so I could reserve that for the finishing leg...
Coincidently while going from the old lady's place southwards to get to the tomb of Raja Melewar, I saw the junction in the picture above which somehow made me feel I must go through this way one day, perhaps later if I have the time to see what's inside. As it turned out, it is the alternative route to get to Kuala Pilah from Rembau without going to Seremban...
So I took the road and saw this nice view. At the end of the horizon, the road would climb and weave through a saddle lower part of Malaysia's main mountain range, the Banjaran Titiwangsa.
Somewhere on top of that part of the range is the Rembau-Kuala Pilah districts border...
Later, I came across a junction to a small unmarked road. By unmarked, I mean the whole length of the road didn't have any white paint to mark the centre or sides...If I remember correctly it points the way to Senaling and I've been told by the attendent at the Raja Melewar palace replica and you could get to Seri Menanti from there. So I took the road... After sometime it starts weaving down some area which looked like it is earmarked to be a plantation before entering some rural settlements. That's when I saw this house, originally owned by the hereditary rulers of the province of Johol but now preserved as a local heritage site...
A few kilometres down the road, I saw this view which I thought was rather quaint!
Why, I even walked a distance out of the car just to snap this picture of the mosque...
Soon enough, we reached the royal town of Seri Menanti... Ah. To be here again after a lapse of 5 years or so. To think that I forgot to include it in my itenary of Negeri Sembilan travels now preserved in video clips peppered in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU . Perhaps this unexpected trip to the state was meant to be so I could cover certain prominent locations which I've forgot? Then again, the initial travel under the "Journey to Negeri Sembilan" series was originally made to cover locations which I've never been to at my whole life. That's why I didn't include Seri Menanti because I've been here a few times. To be continued... Cheers! :]
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