Ipoh
A City Built On Tin Money And Ringed By Limestone Karst Full Of Cave Temples, Which Emptied When The Tin Collapsed And Has Been Rediscovered For Its Coffee And Its Food · Ipoh, Perak
IPOH WAS BUILT ON TIN AND FOR A WHILE IT WAS ONE OF THE RICHEST CITIES IN MALAYA. The KINTA VALLEY produced an extraordinary share of the world's tin, the money built shophouses and mansions and a RAILWAY STATION SO ORNATE IT IS NICKNAMED THE TAJ MAHAL OF IPOH - AND THEN THE TIN PRICE COLLAPSED IN THE 1980s and the city emptied out and went quiet for thirty years. IT HAS BEEN REDISCOVERED, and what people come for now is food, coffee and rock. THE VALLEY IS RINGED BY LIMESTONE KARST RIDDLED WITH CAVE TEMPLES - SAM POH TONG, PERAK TONG, KEK LOK TONG - Buddhist shrines built inside the caverns, with painted walls and stairs climbing into the dark. IPOH WHITE COFFEE IS ROASTED WITH MARGARINE and is from here. So are the bean sprouts, which are famously fat and are credited to the limestone water. Arrive by train, because the station is the building everyone photographs, and eat early - the famous shops sell out by the afternoon and several close one fixed day a week.
Ipoh, Perak, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
IPOH IS ON THE ELECTRIFIED MAIN RAIL LINE and is roughly TWO AND A HALF HOURS FROM KUALA LUMPUR BY TRAIN, which is by far the best way to arrive - the station is the building everyone photographs. THE OLD TOWN IS COMPACT AND WALKABLE. THE CAVE TEMPLES are on the edges of the city, are FREE OR NEAR-FREE, keep daytime hours and need a car or taxi to reach; several have long stair climbs inside. CONCUBINE LANE and the heritage streets are open always. KELLIE'S CASTLE is about half an hour out and charges admission. THE FAMOUS KOPITIAMS AND CHICKEN RICE SHOPS KEEP THEIR OWN HOURS AND SELL OUT - the best ones are morning and early afternoon only, and several close one day a week. It is hot; walk the old town early.