Swinging By: April 2016

Saturday, April 9, 2016

A Visit to Ipoh

Ipoh is one of the oldest towns in Peninsular Malaysia. It started off as a tin mining settlement and grew into a town. This is a small town which has not lost its charm and it's quite laid back compared to the bustling capital city of Kuala Lumpur. It's a good place to retire.

My sister and I went to visit our cousin sister who lives there. We went by the electric train and the journey took two and a half hours.

We passed through rural landscapes that brought back nostalgic memories of days when there were no super highways. The modern super highways now bypass the small towns which the train still stops at.

We finally reached Ipoh and our cousin sister picked us up. We would be spending the weekend with her.

The Ipoh Railway Station
Ipoh is famous for its limestone caves some of which are homes to Chinese temples. These caves are very cool inside and often open out to amazing vistas. The Kek Look Tong is one of them. The jogging path around the lake is well-used by locals in the mornings. The fresh air that blows into the cave is very refreshing.

We visited the Qing Xin Ling Leisure & Cultural Village which was just a short distance from the town. The hot weather was not conducive so we spent just a couple of hours there. The lake is the main feature.

There is a figure of the God of Wealth just before the tree which is hung with pieces of red paper. People write their wishes on them and these are then hung on the tree.