Ipoh Things to Do

nothing much to do --- i visit my in-laws in Ipoh. My father is retiree

after those years i developed a routine already, which i would like to share with you. mid morning - by 10 o clock can go jaya jusco already.. I mean if you are not stuck in foh san or numerous white coffee or curry mee restaurants. Be prepared to jostle for parking by afternoon time. Locals pack the mall for its air cond just like in KL.

On the way back or as you drive around and pass old town/old area/deserted housing estete. One particular taman that never fail to pick my curiosity is the one on the right side coming from Jusco just before turning right to Ipoh Garden. All rows and rows of old houses, deserted, all windows and doors shut, not a soul in sight not even household pets. Looking at shoes, vehicles parked you know they are inside.. but why so hard to spot any living soul ? Eerie man... good spot for paranormal hunting tourism or even can promote as UFO movie location.. roswell and all residents abducted by alien.

Afternoon -- if fancy a dip in cool mountain stream go to the secluded Ulu Chepor. Turn left just after the gas station in Chemor, head another 5 km or so and you see a small 'gerbang' (sorry i dont know english word for this) on the right -- tourism bla bla entrance to the picnic spot... be prepared to pay a small entrance fee... never mind lah...they are locals and they keep the place clean and save you from suffocating in thrash..

If jungle stream cant satisfy you and you still hunking for salt water.. sand, sea etc2.. you can try Teluk Batik or on my last visit more like Teluk Plastik.. Be prepared to drown yourself in plastic and uncollected thrash on public holidays..

hope my

The Lost World of Tambum is a themed water park... but there are more to the water slides, river adventure and tube rides... It has many things going for the whole family for a day's outing... There is also a tiger valley, temple and castle ruins to explore, monkey valley and more... There is also a hot spring to soak yourself after a tiring day at the park..

The park is opened daily except Tuesdays from 11am to 6pm and from 10am to 6pm on weekends, school holidays and public holidays... Entrance fee is RM21.90 (adults) and RM16.90 (children below 12 years)...

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The Sam Poh Tong is the largest of the cave temples nested within the high limestone caves and cavities near Gunung Rapat. In its vicinity is the Nam Thean Tong, Ling Sen Tong and the Kwan Yin Tong... On the other side of the hill, not accessible thru this side of the hill is Kek Lok Tong... It is about just south of Ipoh, on the trunk road to Kuala Lumpur... The temple is an impressive work of art and faith, with beautiful craved statues of Buddha in various forms in a backdrop of unusual formations of stalactites and stalagmites.

The cave was discovered in the 1820s by a monk who then made the cave his home and meditated there for 20 years until his death. There is a small pond full of turtles (symbol of longevity) among the ornamental rock garden. Visitors can feed the turtles with stalks of vegetables and pray for good furtune at the wishing well. There is also a vegetarian restauant within the temple compound for devotees and visitors who want to take vegetarian food...

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Perak Tong is located near Gunung Tasik about 6 km north of Ipoh on the main trunk road to Chemor and Kuala Kangsar... The Perak Tong temple within one of the caves leads to caverns and grottoes with statues and paintings of the Buddha set in some corners of the caves... Built in 1926 by Buddhists priests from China, the temple houses over 40 Buddha statues with the centrepiece being a 12.8-metre high sitting Buddha - the tallest and largest of its kind in Malaysia...

Beyond the main alter, a passage leads into the cave's interior, and after a steep climb of 385 steps, it opens onto a ledge, which gives a fantastic view of the countryside... Visitors will also find themselves fascinated by mystical mural paintings on the walls of the caves as one go up tp the top of the hill...

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Sam Poh Cave Temple located within the huge limestone caves of Gunung Rapat. The Sam Poh Cave Temple is a famous cave temple with various statues of Buddha sitting among natural stalactites and stalagmites. There is also a vegetarian restaurant, a wishing well and a tortoise (symbol of logetivity) pond on site.

Not far from Tuanku Abdul Rachman school, Taman Cempaka market is a market compund at Desa Cempaka with its green hill background, I can't say that it was a small market at village(desa) level, but it was a complete market where one could meet any everythings of their basic necessities. On the other hand, there are also stalls for internet which service up to 02.00 in the morning

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When you are around the area of Tambun in search of Ngan Yin groundnuts, local pomelos or just here to visit the Lost World of Tambun, be sure to look out for this unusual & unique monolithic rock formation. The locals refer to it as Pencil Rock and I guess no one knows much about it or how it came to be, but it will provide you with a good photo opportunity.

It seems that the housing developers in the area were clearing the land and suddenly this formation which had previously been hidden by the jungle was right there in front of their eyes.

The story spread and became a kind of mythical attraction for the locals. Those who bought houses around here are in for a treat, because the structure is lit up at night.


Update: This monolithic structure (check it out- I can use big words and may even know their meanings too! LOL) can also be seen from within the Lost World of Tambun, near the Tube Cave (they use a real limestone cave to house the rubber tubes-which is quite a cool idea!) and Tiger's enclosure. I've also recently added a new picture to show you the great looking feline cats at Tambun.

This is the old railway station. Hotel Stesen is located here as well.

It is dubbed as 'Taj Mahal of Ipoh' by the locals and it was built in the early 1900s.

During my visit it was under restoration.