Due Vagabondi: IPOH - Hipster Capital of Malaysia & the CAMERON HIGHLANDS

We are startled to discover that the efficient, clean but very large (size of a small airport) Amanjaya bus terminal for Ipoh is far out of town, as is the hotel room that we booked. The hotel staff kindly help us find accommodation in 'new town' Ipoh. As usual, we call Grab to get us around in Malaysia. Sometimes research falls by the side!!

I don't understand the reasoning behind the 'hipster' moniker for Ipoh, but then I'm not in the tourism industry, nor am I hip enough to get the subtleties of the designation.

Ipoh, capital of the state of Perak in the Kinta Valley on the banks of the Kinta river is a pleasant 4.5-hour bus ride layover on our detour to Cameron Highlands then south on the Malaysian mainland. With a population of 702,464 its the country's fourth-largest city. The valley has a mountain range to the east and one to the west. The valley is brilliant green with limestone hills that pop up from the valley floor.

The discovery of tin in the late 1800s gave birth to the rapid development and the wealth of Ipoh. It brought a rush of Chinese immigrants, then in the 1900s people came from India to work the rubber plantations. The Malay people, Chinese, Indian and other cultures have lived in harmony in Ipoh for over a hundred years.

The collapse of tin in the 1970s dealt a tough blow to Ipoh, however recently it has become a tourist destination and is proclaimed to be the best foodie destination outside of Georgetown.

While enjoying all that the town has to offer: its colonial buildings, parks, night markets, food and wall art, we especially treasure getting out into the country amongst the limestone hills to see some of the many natural caves and cave temples and a small lake, but don't have time to get to her waterfalls or geothermal hot springs and only visit two cave temples.

The river divides the town into Old Town and New Town. We divide our accommodation between the two and prefer the peaceful Old Town. Its a 20-minute walk between the two.

The first thing to do after checking into Tourist Information is to follow the yellow footprints for 4 miles around Old Town on the 'Heritage Walk'. Map Heritage Walk It takes us past old colonial buildings such as the Railway Station, Town Hall and Post Office, numerous banks and past the enormous St. Michael's School, the pretty green and white Town Padang Mosque, to Little India and the delightful nooks and crannies like Concubine Lane, the First Concubine Lane and the Wife Lane. Its time and energy well-spent.

James Birch, the first British resident of Perak state was assassinated by Malay chiefs in 1875 and a nearby street is named after the man who killed him. That man is considered a local hero for resisting British Imperialism. Below is the Birch Memorial Clock Tower.

The mural depicts 40 famous historical figures.

Railway Station - AKA 'the Taj Mahal of Ipoh'

There are a couple of stories about how the three Concubine Lanes came to be. One is that a wealthy man had a home in each lane, one for his wife and one for each of his concubines. The other that these were simply the lanes where wealthy men hid their second wives. Only one original house remains on Concubine Lane today. The lanes are vibrant with colour, flavour and trinkets of all sorts. They must be walked a few times to see everything.

One day in Old Town, we wander into what appears to be a sign shop. A young couple is inside. They tell us they live in the neighbourhood and noticed that the old signmaker's shop was closed for a long while. They find him in hospital and have his blessing to turn his shop into a kind of museum of his work and an art gallery. What a lovely idea.

Photographs of the Signmaker at Work

The Signmaker's Tools

A Sample of his signage

Other Art

The businesses in this small area are putting on a huge feast for the community to celebrate the Chinese New Year with dinner, two music stages and lion dancing. Seventy percent of Ipoh's population today is of Chinese descent. Unfortunately, the tickets are all sold out. Our hostel room overlooks the party. It is huge. People who couldn't get tickets (including us) gather on the bridge above the party to see the entertainment.

Tables wrapped around 3 sides of this multi-building block - seating on both sides of tables

I can't imagine how many people were fed that night. Incredible.

As elsewhere in Malaysia the food choices are delicious. We eat a few times in a restaurant that serves one thing and one thing only ... I forget what its called!! Each person gets a bowl of broth, then there's a plate with noodles, chicken, bean sprouts and a bowl of rice that can be stirred into the broth. It's delicious. The sprouts here are very crunchy and apparently the soil they are grown in gives them their peppery flavour. We eat Japanese and Indian and Malay and Korean and Western food. The choices are endless.

On the other hand, it's not so easy to find a drink (with alcohol) here. The street food places usually do not have beer or wine, nor do the Muslim eateries. Some of the hipster places are quite expensive. In the end, we often have fruit juice or water with a meal and then hit our favourite bar for a drink.

This Sinhalese Bar in Old Town was started in 1931. Now run by the quite elderly son and the son's wife, it is simple, plain and good value. I imagine it to be exactly as the father left it. There is no music playing, a TV on a sports channel has volume on low. You may get a very small serving of peanuts if he hasn't run out. Other than the owner's wife, I'm the only female there. Two or three tables full of men having earnest conversation and drinking hard liquor poured into mickeys from larger bottles behind the bar are ever-present. Each time we are there the owner stops by for conversation and on our last day, he follows us onto the street to thank us for coming to his establishment, welcomes us to return and to sincerely shake our hands. There aren't many places like this anymore.

The Father

Some Street Art in Ipoh

To go for a walk away from traffic there's the liner walkways along the river, the D.R. Seenivasagam and Sultan Abdul Aziz Parks. Other parks are a bus ride away. We don't go to the tea fields outside of town as that's an activity we've planned for the Cameron Highlands, nor do we explore the Rafflesia trail as we hear Borneo is the best place to try to see this rare flower, but if Ipoh is your only stop, an opportunity is here. If you are travelling with children, there is always the theme park: The Lost World of Tambun.

The first cave temple we visit is also our favourite. Kek Lok Tong is also known as The Temple of Great Happiness. A short and inexpensive bus ride from the bus terminal adjacent to the Railway Station gets us there and there's no admission.

This beautiful temple has been here for over a hundred years. You enter the cave then can exit into a peaceful garden that surrounds a lake. You can walk or rent a bicycle or a paddleboat to go on a short canal trip alongside a limestone hill.

Entrance to Cave Temple

Decorated for the Chinese New Year

Some alters & statuary within the temple

Looking down from a staircase high in the cave

Exiting through the cave temple

Beautiful grounds, lake and limestone hills

Statues of Monks

Each monk has a history

The next day a city bus ride in the other direction takes us to Perak Tong cave temple. Its worth it to climb the 500 stairs to the pavilion at the top of the limestone hill for great panoramic views of the valley.

The approach to this 94-year-old temple hints of more beauty to come.

Interestingly this temple has cave wall paintings.

The statues here in Perak Tong, as in Kek Lok are all bronze. I was disappointed in a temple in Georgetown to discover the statues were plastic.

This huge main Buddha inside the cave temple is 40' tall

View from the top

Our final visit to a cave is just over a 24 km journey by city bus through several villages to Tempurung Cave. The information we had failed to say that the Cave is almost 3 km from the bus stop to the cave entrance (in the sweltering heat). A lovely woman stops to suggest we get in her car. Upon leaving we hitchhike and a car full of young men make room for us in their little vehicle and pepper us with questions about Canada for the journey to the bus stop. We are grateful to all.

This cave is the largest in Peninsular Malaysia, reaching 1.4 km into the limestone mountain. There are five huge domes inside the cave which is estimated to be 400 million years old. We opt to just go on what's called the 'dry' self-guided tour on the steel platforms deep into the cave. You can put on your swimsuit and go on a guided 'wet' spelunking tour with helmet and flashlight, but that's a bit over the top for me.

One passage in the cave is called the wind tunnel and it's quite a feeling to go through there. By the time one reaches the 5th. and final platform you are 125 meters above the water in the bottom of the cave.

While not spectacular with stalagmites and stalactites this cave is remarkable for its enormity and some unusual formations. We're glad we made the journey.

Random Photos Ipoh

Brass Bell at Perak Tong Cave Temple

Ipoh is definitely worth a visit.

Now we board another inexpensive, comfortable and on-schedule Malaysian bus to take us to the Cameron Highlands.

The Cameron Highlands is known for its hiking trails, Mossy Forest, tea and strawberry plantations. Interestingly enough it's very hard to come by a map of the hiking trails. Perhaps its because they want you to buy a tour. Finally, a young woman says her hostel has them and leaves us with her map.

Our hotel is a km from town uphill all the way, so it feels like we do mini hikes a few times every day.

The first trail we attempt is number nine, a moderate 1-hour hike that will take us to Robinson Waterfall, then following a water pipeline, scrambling down a steep descent. In the beginning, it goes through a part of town with a beautiful decorative waterfall and a large civic garden/park. What a great resource for the neighbourhood. The park is closed this day to the public as workers trim, plant and rake the site, but we sneak in for a few photos anyway.

in behind the falls

We are unable to complete the Trail 9 hike as near the end, a pack of about ten street dogs who now live in the forest hear us and start growling and barking like they mean business. We turn and a few follow for a short while. The next day a tour operator tells us that a tourist was bitten by one of the dogs. Nothing like spending your vacation getting rabies vaccinations.

along Trail 9

Since the dogs have made us retrace our steps, we go up Trail 4 to Parit Falls.

We walk along a stream, then come to a nice community green space and on to the falls with a lookout over the falls. In my opinion, this trail should be closed until they can clean up the garbage floating in the stream and at the falls.

We are advised that Trail 14 is to be avoided as there have been some assaults and robberies on this trail.

We decide to do a half-day tour that will go to the Mossy Forest so that we don't have to rent a 4x4 ourselves to get there. The Boh Tea plantation (founded 1929 by an Englishman and still owned and operated by his descendants) is on the agenda and a tour of their tea factory, including a break with goodies like tea, scones, cream and strawberries. Finally, it includes a hike on Trail 3 as the guide points out various flora and fauna. It's very inexpensive and worth it.

The vistas over the 465-acre tea farm are nothing short of breath-taking. Its cool here and we're so high up that it's misty. At times it seems like mist from the ground rises up to meet the falling mist; then there are brief moments when the sun briefly through the clouds.

We are told that Malaysian people don't want to do farm work as the pay is too low (20 cents/kilo for tea) compared to the relatively high living expenses, so many of the workers come from Indonesia or Bangladesh. We see the cabins that are provided for them, but apparently, they are on their own for meals. Although I have no idea where they go shopping for food in this isolated area.

We are told that many of the tea bushes are a hundred years of age, some two hundred years. Only the tender new growth is clipped off of the bushes. Much of the harvesting is done by machine but much is also trimmed by hand. It's amazing how the tea leaves hop into the plastic box attached to the clippers - simple and effective. Clippers work in teams often as its quite heavy work getting the full bags of tea leaves (25 to 30 kg) from the plants to the road.

Barracks for the Tea Picking Crews

We were strictly forbidden to take any photos inside the tea factory. There were a few items on display in the tea shop.

To enter the Mossy Forest we had to pay a small fee to enter the park, in addition to the tour fee.

Mossy Forest at Mount Brinchang is a cool and misty 2,032 meters above sea level. Moss, ferns, lichen, orchids and rhododendrons love living here as do many insects, snakes, frogs, birds and others. We are allowed to walk only on the boardwalk so as not to disturb the forest floor. The stairs are covered in 'chicken wire' to help prevent slipping on the ever-wet wood.

It was very other-worldly to be in this forest. The day we were there the mist never lifted. They say that on a clear day you can see the tea plantations below.

Giant fiddleheads on giant ferns

The wild orchids grow vine-like. You could look up and see them near the tops of the tallest trees

The mysterious pitcher plant. From the smallest variety to the largest

Wild rhododendrons. From high on the walkway, we could look down on blooming trees

Mossy forest and the Tea Plantation were the highlights of our trip to the Cameron Highlands. It made pulling out our down jackets worthwhile.

The photos below are taken in a BIG park in the centre of little Tanah Rata where we stayed. The irony of the photo on the left is that vegetables are grown in the Cameron Highlands. Driving through nearby Brinchang there are street-side vegetable sellers everywhere, but we could find NONE in Tanah Rata. There were 1 or 2 fruit sellers only. We found many dishes heavy on the carbs with vegetables being a scarcity. It was challenging for us.