I could not leave the Malaysian peninsula without trying the Malaysian train system – so, a two-hour train ride  got me from KL to Ipoh … my final stop in Malaysia and  the last one before making it back to Germany.

Ipoh is a former tin mining town and has a strong Chinese heritage (with many Chinese immigrants involved in  the mining actitivities 100+ years back). The result today is a downtown area full of heritage buildings and tons of Chinese restaurants. Ipoh probably is the place in Malaysia, where pork is most easily available.

Downtown turned out more compact than expected – basically a matter of an hour. A quick Grab ride got me to the limestone formations around Gunung Rapat, about 6km South-East of downtown. My first stop was at the Sam Poh Tong cave temple – a Buddhist temple literally set up in a cave in the limestone, including a path (or tunnel) through the mountain to a sort of clearing or hidden valley with a turtle pond and another secret temple.

My next stop was a few hundred meters down the road: another cave temple – this time Taoist – Nam Thean Tong Temple. Similar in sense, though (obviously) different deities here.  It was back to Buddhism at the next stop – Ling Sen Tone Temple – yet another cave temple (albeit not as deep as the previous two).

Another quick Grab ride got me over to the  Tasik Cermin – the mirror lakes. The first one is accessible by foot through a tunnel (supposedly a left-over from mining activities). At the end of the tunnel one reaches the banks of a small lake (fully surrounded by limestone) with the option for a boat ride on the lake. Well – no option for me, as the pier was closed for renovation work. As such, it was on to number 2 – where the tunnel is actually already flooded and the rubber boat trip already starts on the outside – first for the short trip (~100m) through the tunnel, followed by 10~15 minutes on the actual lake (again – fully surrounded by limestone) and then back through the tunnel – a worthwhile trip.

I spent further time in the evening to explore downtown, try some local cuisine and finally find a locally produced brew (and I am not talking about coffee).