A short getaway discovering local gems in Ipoh

During our SeniorsAloud Community walks, our leader suggested going on a three-day, two-night excursion to Ipoh, Perak and my wife and I were thrilled to join the trip.

Our group travelled on the Electric Train Service (ETS) from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh. It was our first time travelling by ETS, and the journey took about two hours and 15 minutes.

When we arrived at the station in Ipoh, we met with our local guide who took us straight for lunch at an eatery called Choong Kee “Pokok Besar” at Pasir Pinji for some fried yong tau fu. After satisfying our hunger, we thanked our tour guide for recommending the place as the yong tau foo was so tasty and very affordable.

After our delicious lunch, we visited GoChin Pomelo Agro Farm in Tambun, which has been around for over 20 years. Entrance to the farm is free. Our group was so excited seeing so many pomelos hanging on the trees. Interestingly, the trees grow to around 5m-15m tall, with big, round pomelos hanging low on the branches.

We were told by the employee that the pomelos from this area are especially juicy and sweet, perhaps due to the rich limestone soil and the underground water used to water the trees.

Before leaving the place, we bought some freshly picked pomelos from a stall to share among ourselves. They were indeed juicy and sweet.

As our group was feeling tired and lethargic from the hot weather, we decided to check into our hotel early to rest for a bit. Our driver suggested that we visit the Ipoh “Tong Sui Kai” (Ipoh dessert street), which is a 15- minute walk from our hotel, in the evening.

The street features vibrant roadside stalls that are illuminated with bright signs, selling a wide range of sweet treats. We were dazzled by the choice of desserts like ais kacang with ice cream, colourful jellies, “snow” desserts, tau fu fa and bubur cha cha, as well as snacks like popiah, rojak buah, sotong kangkung, Nyonya kuih and more.

The street opens from 5pm to midnight, and is always busy with both locals and tourists. It’s not surprising, though, as both food and drinks were delicious.

The next day, we continued our adventure and visited some temples located around the limestone cave areas. The Qing Xin Ling Leisure and Cultural Village is nestled amid sky-high natural limestone cliffs covered in a lush forest. It has a picturesque pond surrounded by rows of kampung-style houses.

The writer (fourth from left) and his friends at one of the temples they visited in Ipoh.

Interestingly, each house had displays of traditional items and other decorations that would give you a clue of their racial background. It was really nice to see and reminiscent of a bygone era.

The entrance fee to the cultural village is RM12 per person. For those who prefer to cycle instead of walking around the park, there are bicycles available for rent.

Some of our members joyfully compared the breathtaking view of this place to Kunming, China, where they had previously visited.

Tasik Cermin or Mirror Lake is located near Gunung Rapat and is one of the few official geoparks in Malaysia. It features two lakes: For the first one, you would need to walk through a 90m-long tunnel to locate it, while the other lake is only accessible via a small boat.

We decided to check out one lake as we didn’t feel like getting on a boat to see the other one.

As we walked through the tunnel towards the lake, we marvelled at the spectacular limestones. It is said that the Hakka Chinese miners were the ones who excavated the tunnel here to mine iron.

When we emerged from the tunnel, we were captivated by the sight of an incredible lake with mirrored reflection surrounded by exquisite limestone cliffs and landscapes. Truly a hidden gem of Ipoh!

On our ETS ride back to KL, my wife and I were joyfully chatting over our short but enjoyable trip. What we first envisioned to be a “boring” excursion turned out to be an enchanting one, filled with delicious food and beautiful sceneries.