Ipoh

After breakfast we departed for a visit to an Orang Asli Semiar sub-group settlement via Tesco's to buy provisions like rice to give to the villages - here we were met by Harry a man who works for an NGO who work to improve the life of these people. The Tesco store is the 2nd largest of 57 stores in Malaysia of 7000 square feet with over 200000 lines.
The village was located around 40 mins from Ipoh in Jantung Baru, in the rainforest area. Home to around 475 people, we were welcomed by the village chief who talked to us about the history of the Orang Asli people and the difficulties that they face today where they feel that they have no voice in the country when it comes to government decisions - although they have homes built for them they were not consulted on the planning esp regards to the shophouse which is not located where they wanted it, the school is too far away for many children who have no form of transport etc. We had a look around their village.
Then we drove to a nearby mall for lunch - for most it was KFC.

From there we drove to look in a geological museum with quite informative exhibits and details of mining in the region and the rest of Malaysia.

Our next stop was to a Buddhist temple Kek Look Tong built inside a limestone cave. Very airy with lots of statues and Buddha's.
Our final visit was to see the main buildings located in the old town which are a legacy of British Rule. The railway station, City Hall, Club and Padang, St.Michael's schook and Birch Memorial Clock tower.

We walked back to the hotel and stumbled across the Mural Art Trail where many walls had been painted with murals.
Dinner was at local cafe called Cakchibow.Read more