We arrived in Ipoh after our really fun trip to Penang, and we were dropped off at one of the tallest buildings in the small city. It was a two-building apartment complex, as this would be our first apartment rental, and not a hotel, since we started this trip way back in February. Hotels are nice as they make the bed, empty the trash, provide free toiletries (one thing we have liked in Asia is that they provide free toothbrushes, and often, slippers). Breakfast at the hotel is usually good (sometimes great even) and that makes sure we get up in time to enjoy it.
Ipoh was the first place we actually had a kitchen and Jessica was able to cook a bit; we had a laundry machine so did not have to rely on finding a place to do it, or pay the exorbitant hotel laundry prices. We had a small table to eat meals and even a couch. It was nice to lounge and relax after a day of exploring, other than the hotel bed, and to be able to spread out was wonderful. We had a week here, and used it as a time to rest, regain some sense of normalcy, in having a place that was our own (even for such a short time).
Ipoh also did not have so many tourist activities, as it has only become more popular in the last decade or so, with international tourists. Of course, you know we found things to do and places to see; it was still rainy season here so we bought our own umbrella and took it with us on our excursions, though used it to shade ourselves from the sun just as often as the rain.
The same Mr. Man Aor who had driven us around Penang for a day drove us to Ipoh; he took us to a big discount grocery store and we loaded up on food and supplies. Thus, our first couple days we did not do much; we walked around the neighborhood, went to the mall to buy some needed items and the local convenience store for some extra cooking supplies. Ipoh was more run down than George Town, and not in the historic, charming way.
We later learned that Ipoh and the surrounding area was a big producer of tin and the price and desire for tin dropped dramatically in the 1980s, which ended Ipoh’s heyday. Our apartment was in a nice building with good security and was used by many for short and long term rentals, and also had a very nice pool. Here is our room view, and views of the surrounding area; we liked seeing the mountains in the background.
At night we went to the roof where to get full city views.
Our first full day out we did the heritage walk, which begins at the Ipoh Train Station and continues through the Old Town. The Ipoh Train Station was built in 1917 and was quite impressive; much more so from the outside than the inside.
We continued on the path, past the shining white Ipoh Town Hall, to the Birch Memorial Clock Tower, built in 1909, and past the Sultan Idris Shah II Mosque.
On the other side of the clocktower we started the art walk part of the trail, with street art and craft stores down a narrow alley.
It started downpouring (as you might imagine by clouds in the above pictures) so we ducked into BookXcess Kong Heng, which is a bookstore with an old bank vault in the basement that houses even more books. We had fun exploring and saw an exhibit on influential Malaysian fillmmaker Yasmin Ahmad.
Continuing on, we went toward the most famous street in Ipoh, Concubine Lane. If you have seen a video on Ipoh (and we watched a lot before we visited) everyone goes down Concubine Lane. It is named as such because it is where Tin tycoons kept their mistresses (not a phrase I thought I would ever type) over 100 years ago. Now, it is packed with vendors selling tourist tchotchkes.
Of course, on this day we did not bring our umbrella and it started raining, and had to buy a keychain, to hide under that vendor’s awning. Once the rain stopped (for a bit) we walked around the surrounding neighborhood, with cool buildings but many in need of repairs.
We took further refuge in OldTown Coffee and learned about Ipoh’s famous coffee and coffeehouse culture, as well as sample its famous white coffee (which uses coffee beans roasted with margarine and adds condensed milk). They had a small museum and I really liked the miniature coffeehouse diorama.
The rain began again, so we took a taxi back to the apartment and ordered in dinner. More to come from Ipoh!
