Ipoh..

Sat 6th Sept

I took my time getting going. I checked out around the 09:30. I didn’t have to be at the Gate until 11:30 so I had plenty of time just to wander around. It took me ages to find the Air Asia office where I wanted to make general enquiries about flying to Kuching next month. As it happens the office was right next to my train departure gate ..!!

The train left on time at 12:00. Lots and lots of palm trees and some banana trees along the way. Lots of greenery and trees but not very exciting countryside. There was a slow down along the way and we arrived 30 mins late at 14:30.

Out of the station, the road I wanted was virtually straight ahead. The sun was incredibly hot. I walked over a bridge and made enquiries at Abby Hotel. The guy offered me a room for 113RM but I thought I could do better. I walked for an hour and a half and was given prices of 148 , 130 and over 200.
I walked back to Abby and accepted the room for 113RM…£20. The room was brilliant…big, a/c, double bed, view over the river, kettle. I definitely landed on my feet.
I settled in then walked over the bridge to the pub that I’d passed earlier in the day…only about 5 minutes. The pub name was Tin Corner 39.

I was excited and happy and got a bit carried away with the drinks order. I went for the Guinness deal at 6 x half pints which saved me nearly two pounds, but when I worked it out I was paying £8 per pint compared to the £4.50 in KL. I got a card with 6 x pics on it and every time I had a glass they crossed a pic off. Oh well, I was enjoying myself, and I had a long chat with a couple of travelling Brits.

The rain came down heavily with a strong wind and I moved upstairs in the pub. I finished off my 3 pints then used my umbrella to get back to the hotel; the rain wasn’t so heavy at this point. I hadn’t eaten all day and I still didn’t fancy any food, so I made a coffee in my room and finished off the leftover half packet of chevda from KL.

Great room. Everything worked…apart from the TV. The wifi seemed pretty good.  I phoned Alan. I decided to not visit the Cameron highlands, and Mark affirmed that decision when he said they were overrated. I’d done tea and rainforests in Amani Nature Reserve, and I didn’t think one could beat that.

Sun 7th Sept

I had a good night’s sleep; the room is really great. 1st mission was to go to the train station to check on times and costs to Taiping.  All the time I’m taking pics. There seemed to be lots of tourists around; they took more photos than I did !!

I walked along the river and around, but it was mainly ‘industrial’ surroundings. I returned to Abby; washed my cheque shirt. I went up to the 5th floor roof which was nothing like the pictures, but at least there  was much warmth and a bit of sun to enable my shirt to start the drying process. And I took photos of the river etc.

Hunger was kicking in and I headed to where I had my tea in the morning.  Unfortunately they were closed. I managed to get a noodle dish from somewhere before they closed at 15:30. I ordered noodles…with a fishy sauce  + little dumplings.  The noodles were really delicious. So, another first…fried noodles. It included a sort of crackers, egg…it was yummy and only cost about £2.

It was time for a drink and I found the Sinhalese bar that I’d seen on the map. I thought the price was high initially, but then realised that 20RM or about £4.50 for a 650ml of Tiger beer was actually good value…so I drank 2 bottles.
I had nice a conversation with owners. The owner’s father opened the bar in 1931 and he originally came from Sri Lanka…hence the name.
I went to Tin Corner for 2 little expensive Japanese beers before heading back to Abby. But on the way I bought 3 pieces of marble cake to have with a cup of coffee. The cake was very soft and tasty.
After a FB post it was time to catch up on news and messages and then sleep.

Mon 8th Sept

The room certainly doesn’t disappoint. I drank a coffee and went out at 08:15. The reason for the early start was that I had decided to walk the 7kms to the Perak Cave. Once I had got through the initial streets, the route there was pretty straight. The tricky bit was navigating the flyovers and avoiding the traffic on what was a main road.

A guy on a little motorbike kindly stopped to ask where I was going and was I okay. I thought there might be an offer of a lift, but no such luck. Maybe I need a helmet as a passenger…not sure of the law.
It took me an hour and a half to reach Perak,  and fortunately there was some cloud cover. There were just a few steps up to the cave.

The Perak cave walls feature a variety of detailed and colorful murals depicting Buddhist deities, Chinese mythological figures, and historical scenes, transforming the limestone.
The walls are adorned with bright, intricate paintings that tell stories from Buddhist scriptures and Chinese mythology. It is a huge cave with little side ‘areas’ for different deities.
The walls were very smooth, too smooth to be natural,  as though they were plastered over in the initial construction to enable all the paintings/murals to take place. Well, the temple was only built in 1926 by Buddhist priests from China.

And then the climb… Apparently 450 staircases/steps, but I didn’t count them.!! Again, the climbing part was absolutely fine on my lungs; it just got scary when my vertigo kicked in. There were a couple of steep routes to the top, and with there being hardly anyone else areound, I could focus on holding the railing/wall and looking down at the steps.
There were a couple of little temples at the top, and a view of Ipoh which wasn’t very interesting.
Well, another mission accomplished. I gingerly went down the steep steps, through the cave and to the pond at the front. My right knee was hurting so it was time to catch a bus. The guys at the garage pointed me in the tight direction and kindly offered me some drinking water.

The bus stop was over 1km away and I still had a 20 minute walk. A bus ( my first bus ride ) came about 15 minutes later and for 2.40RM I got back to Ipoh. I was confused with where I got dropped off, but after 10 mins walking I realised I was by the train station and a straight walk to Abby.

I washed socks and undies and while they dried on the rooftop, I rested my knees.
I showered and was pleased to get to the restaurant by 14:30…thinking that was plenty early enough…only to find they’d sold out of food..!!
Lots of restaurants of course, and I had a fried noodles and shrimp dish for 8.60 (£1.50). Two ladies opposite me ordered chicken satay but hardly touched the satay sauce so I asked if I could taste it…to which they agreed. It was nice, but much sweeter than I expected. It would be much nicer with an accompaniment.

I then walked up a very touristy side street and over to the Sinhalese bar around the corner. I chatted with Elfred the owner and then with a bunch of other customers. During that time I drank 3 bottles of Tiger (650ml) and shared another one. At £3.50 they are excellent value…compared to the £7 for a small bottle of fancy beer at Tin Corner.
The end of a successful day, and I went straight back to my room to check messages and relax.