Travelfish newsletter Issue 357 : Malaysia’s Ipoh
Hi everyone,
This week we’re all about Ipoh in Malaysia. Roughly half way between KL and Penang it is a great spot to break up your travels for a night—or three.
No shortage of old building and street art. Photo: Stuart McDonald
From last week, a belated plug to an interview I did with Asia Art Tours. Please to give it a listen as we discuss everything from off the path travel to architecture through to a bit of politics and how travel in the region has changed. You can listen to the full podcast here. And thank you Asia Art Tours for having me.
If you’re Thailand-bound for the first time, you may enjoy another newsletter we have called “Welcome to Thailand”. It starts with a series of seven daily emails, each covering an introductory aspect of Thailand. Then it switches to a weekly (Tuesday) instalment, each recommending a destination or attraction in Thailand that you may not have heard of. The newsletter is very much aimed at people new to Thailand, so if that is you, you can sign up here. All subscribers also get a complimentary PDF itinerary for Southern Thailand.
Good travels,
Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew
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Destination
Malaysia: Ipoh
A little over halfway between Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Ipoh is an ideal spot to break your journey. Give it a night, or two if you have the time, and you won’t regret it.
You’ll often read Ipoh described as “the new Georgetown” but we’d beg to differ on this. There are similarities, particular with regard to the heritage buildings and the plentiful food. Yet Ipoh stands on its own two feet just fine. Here’s why.
For starters, it attracts but a fraction of the foreign tourists that Penang gets. Sure it gets busy on weekends, but the reduced crowds make for a far more pleasant stay. You can wander the backstreets, except perhaps for Concubine Lane, without the mob scene. Want to take a photo of a heritage building? No need to wait in a queue of Instagrammers.
The heritage area is more compact than Georgetown’s, but that isn’t to say it is any less interesting. There are plenty of murals by the same artist who is all over the walls in Georgetown ... if his work appeals. Ipoh also lacks quite the hectic traffic of Georgetown—another plus.
Restoration work is a bit hodge-podge, but there are some standouts. Don’t miss the Hakka Miner’s Club (which doubles as a museum) and the marvellous train station. But many of the relics are still relicy—yet to transform into boutiques as in Georgetown. Refreshing.
All this walking will make you hungry, and in Ipoh you’re in good hands. Start with some Ipoh white coffee, move on to a plate of Hokkien chicken and rice, grab an egg tart for afterwards. As the sun sets, cool your heels with a frosty drink in one of the city’s many bars.
Outside town, there’s a grab bag of sights to explore. Highlights include cave temples, a quite good viewpoint and even a castle—yes a castle. These are all best visited on a tour—either organised through your hotel, or just roll your own.
Ipoh lacks am enormous array of hotels, but there are still plenty of solid options to choose from. Across most budgets. We enjoyed our time at the Brownstone Hostel, but there are fancier digs as well.
So how to get here? It couldn’t be easier. Ipoh lies on the main Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth train line. It is also well connected by bus to regional centres across the peninsula. These include the Cameron Highlands, which is where we headed next. We’ll be writing about there next week.
So, we’d say give it at least a night, and if you’re a Travelfish member, don’t forget to grab the PDF guide!
You can read more about Ipoh here.
Good travels
Stuart
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Ten things worth reading
The plunder of Cambodia’s forests
“From 2001 to 2018, Cambodia lost 2.17 million hectares of tree cover, equivalent to a 25% decrease, according to data analysis by Global Forest Watch.”
The dogs saw ghosts
“As village chief, Van Chhuon suddenly had the power over life and death thrust into his hands. Defying the Khmer Rouge for two brutal years, Van Chhuon ensured his villagers hid extra rice in the small amount of gruel they were allowed, and stashed any excess food outside their home.”
Mandalay gets high-tech makeover
“But some of the attempts to push through change have met with resistance, not only from corners of the creaky bureaucracy, but from activists concerned that smart technology, deployed without regulating legislation, could allow authorities to more closely surveil them.”
Inside the ‘cult’ city of Laos
He told his disciples that when he was a boy he had been exploring a cave when he met a hermit who gave him secrets to the universe, which he now applied in his religion.
Time for a serious chat about Yangon's colonial heritage
“There’s been a lot of rhetoric in recent years about the importance of preserving the colonial architecture in downtown Yangon, which many other cities in Southeast Asia have lost. There is less real debate about how to pay for it and how to balance it with other priorities in a fast-growing city where many remain poor, indebted and without secure housing.”
Red flags as Indonesia eyes relocating its capital city to Borneo
“Such a transformation, the authors say, is “worrisome” because the region hosts one of the world’s largest tracts of native tropical forest, spanning an area a quarter the size of Alaska.”
Hiking Mount Kerinci
“The peak of Kerinci is called Indrapura. When the weather is sunny, you can enjoy a magnificent view of the volcano crater under the blue sky surrounded by far reaching country side. On days with super clear sky, one can see the Indian ocean and the Bukit Barisan mountain range. On rare days the clouds are below the peak and one is looking at a white ocean. You feel the sensation standing above the clouds.”
There are places you cannot go
“A friendship born out of the ruins of a nation, a dangerous journey home, and a 40-year search for the truth.”
Saving the secrets of the jars of Laos
“This is a global acknowledgement of the cultural and historic significance of this remarkable collection of sites, but we actually know very little about the people who created them, or even when they were placed.”
A drug-resistant strain of malaria is making the disease ‘almost untreatable’ in southeast Asia
“There is precedent for this. In the 1960s, a strain of malaria that developed in southeast Asia became resistant to the then-commonly-used drug chloroquine and eventually spread to sub-Saharan Africa. The lack of alternative medications led to the amount of malaria-related deaths doubling in the 1980s.”
Something to read
When the Future Comes Too Soon
“Covering a period in a setting rarely covered in English-language literature, When the Future Comes Too Soon, by author Selina Siak Chin Yoke (born in Singapore when it was part of Malaysia), is a welcome fictional tale of Mei Foong and her family during the Japanese occupation of Malaya—today’s Malaysia.”
Travel shot
At Ipoh Hainan Chicken Rice. Photo: Stuart McDonald
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
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