Day 100: North to Ipoh

Time to leave our little cubby-hole in central KL. Our plan was to head north to the city of Ipoh (not really on the tourist trail but still a large city in its own right), explore the city for a day or two and then proceed into the Cameron Highlands. After checking the timetable we decided to aim for the 12pm train, so after a hotel breakfast we jumped in an Uber around 11am.

Arrived at the Station by 11:15, waited a bit at the ticket counter only to discover that the 12pm train was sold out! And the next train wasn't leaving until 2:45pm. Given that the journey takes about 2 1/2 hours, it wouldn't mean getting there until very late in the day. Disappointed but accepting, we trudged off into the cavernous adjacent shopping mall.

We'd been bickering a little so decided to kill the next couple of hours separately - we have very different ideas about how to approach a shopping mall! Shandos set off to do some shopping, while I wandered around slowly. Had some sushi for lunch, got myself a haircut and tried unsuccessfully to find some plus-size clothes. I hate having to use that phrase, but unfortunately shirts just don't fit me over here! And it's not a belly thing either (although that doesn't help); my shoulders and arms just don't fit properly in.

We reconvened at 2pm and walked back to the station where a fairly large crowd had gathered. Finally allowed onto the platform at 2:40pm and the train set off promptly at 2:45. Very nice scenery along the way, as the track proceeded north along the mountainous central spine of Malaysia. Several craggy peaks and sheer limestone cliffs to see which was quite nice.

Finally arrived at Ipoh Station just after 5pm. It's a huge grand colonial edifice with turrets, arches and white-washed walls. We were keen to check it out but with heavy bags and a very warm evening we decided against it. Easy trip to the hotel - we could see it sticking up in the skyline from the station! It was still 10 minutes walk away, made worse by having to cross several busy-ish roads. And for whatever reason, here they don't have many cross intersections with lights, it's all one-way streets where you can only make 90-degree turns, so there's not much to break up the traffic flow and you can often be waiting a while.

But we made it! Our room is on the 12th (top) floor, and has a great view north and west across the city. Mountains in the background and a few buildings, as well as overlooking the creek adjacent. After settling in and freshening up we went out to find some dinner, but everything seemed to be closed! Although the Old Town in Ipoh is mostly Chinese, it was a Friday night and Malaysians tend to spend the night in (Islamic holy day and all that).

Managed to find a highly-regarded Chinese place that did one of the local specialities - bean sprout chicken. It's very similar to Hainan chicken rice, but instead of just steamed chicken it's topped with a sweet-ish soy sauce, and served with bowls of chicken broth and noodles, and of course a bowl of bean sprouts. Very tasty, and very cheap too.

Since there was very little happening in town, we headed back for the hotel where we watched a movie on demand - Zoolander 2. Very stupid but still funny. Too many repeat jokes from the first movie and too many celebrity cameos spoiled it a bit I thought.Read more