A week-end holiday

Its school holiday again and like most loving fathers,a holiday trip with the children seemed inevitable. As time was not on my side,I chose to visit Ipoh and the surrounding towns.

Saturday 31st May 08 : We arrived Ipoh at about 2.00pm and after having checked into the hotel,we set out to explore Ipoh by roaming the surrounding areas.Well, there is not much of changes since my last trip almost ten years ago.
We visited the caves temples which Ipoh is famous for although most look alike.

It was indeed very surprising to see Ipoh 'eerily' quiet by 7.00pm.And it was a Saturday!
Almost all the shops were closed as if the people are already very contended with life.
At the pasar malam which we visited,there were only a handful of people.It was a boring walk as most of the stalls were selling basically the same stuff ie. cloths,bags,shoes,spectacles and belts.

Come on Ipoh, 'you' have already achieved city status, please have some life to show that you have 'grown-up'.

Sunday 1st June 08 : We checked out at 7.00am and was surprised that there is a pasar pagi in front of the hotel which is a stark contrast to the pasar malam.
The traders here sell practically anything.There are plenty of antiques like clocks,irons,fans, very old books,magazines,records,wheelchairs and even urine pots!This is certainly an interesting place to visit,especially antique collectors.No wonder this place is known as Memory Lane.
The government should let this place operates at night and in a more systematic manner like the Jonker Walk in Melaka which is always packed with visitors.

We headed for Taiping to visit Bukit Larut(formerly known as Maxwell Hill) and to our disappointment,tickets for the jeepney ride up the hill were sold out although we reached there at 12.00pm.Anyway,we took in the beautiful sights of the Taiping Lake.It is big, serene and well kept.

On the way back to KL from Taiping,I used the trunk road to explore other towns and kampungs instead of the boring drive of the Plus Highway.
Along the trunk road,I detoured to visit Kellie's Castle which was built in 1909-1910 by a Scottish entrepreneur named William Kellie Smith and is rumored to be haunted till today.

Before reaching the town of Kampar,I saw a sign pointing to Gua Tempurung.With some time left to spare,I detoured again.
Well, well, this was a gem of the whole trip.

The cave is simply magnificent and astoundingly captivating the moment you walked in.
We joined a group of about 30 visitors with a guide who lectured us on the cave's history and showed us the pictorial formations(caused by stalagmites and stalactites and also the bats' droppings) on the wall with his torch light. There is Mona Liza, Osama,Buddha,elephants,snakes and many more interesting formations.
I was surprised to see that there were not many foreign tourists.

Having thoroughly enjoyed this adventurous visit, we left for Kampar to try the curry chicken bread for dinner before we left for home.

Conclusion: There are many more places of interest to visit which a two-day trip is definitely not enough. I see great potentials in Perak's tourism industry and as such, I hope the Perak government already has a comprehensive and aggressive plan to boost this industry.