I could not leave the Malaysian peninsula without trying the Malaysian train system – so, a two-hour train ride  got me from KLto 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 with heritage buildings, 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).