An afternoon in Ipoh

This morning I got the 9am bus from the Cameron Highlands to Ipoh (pronounced like 'hippo' without the 'h', not like ipod). It arrived around 11 at the AmanJaya terminal,  which is quite far out of town. I got a local bus, number 116, to Medan Kidd bus station which was only a five minute walk from the hostel. The bus was absolutely rammed. There was no room for luggage so I had my rucksack in front of the seat and my hand luggage on my lap. My legs were at a really uncomfortable angle on a vain attempt to give the old lady next to me enough room. I don't think she appreciated how uncomfortable it was.

I arrived around 12:45 at the hostel and was able to check in straight away which was nice. It's called 'Bed and Bike Backpacker Studio', and it is like a studio. The living room is separated from the dorm room by a curtain, as is the private room. It's alright though, if you ignore the spots that look suspiciously like blood drops all over the floor near my bed.

I went for a wander, through the little India neighbourhood towards the Chinese neighbourhood. I stumbled upon some of the street art I'd heard Ipoh had so much of. There were some very artistic, detailed paintings but the large majority were in need of some serious maintenance. I haven't included all the pictures as it would be ridiculous but if you want to see more drop me a line. 

I chose a Chinese restaurant at random and ordered lemon chicken and rice. It was really nice. Then I headed to the Japanese Gardens. These gardens were quite small and came about as a result of a twinning type relationship between Ipoh and Fukuoka. Apparently the gardens are meant to make you feel Japanese. They were nice but I didn't feel that effect.

The edge of the gardens was next to the riverfront and a supposed river walk. The path seemed to be shut off but I went over a bridge and walked on the other side back down to the main road. I headed towards the tourist info and expected it to be shut as it's a Sunday. It was about 4pm by this time. The opening times indicate it should have been open but it wasn't which was annoying. Thankfully the information I had gone to get could be found on a plaque on the other side of the road.

I was looking for information on the street art and the art walk. Opposite the tourist info was piece number 1 and a map of all the others. Only 7 pieces were marked on the map which was confusing, as all the stuff I had seen earlier wasn't on there. I followed the trail anyway and found (some with difficulty) the 7 pieces of work. Again I've not included all the photos but feel free to message me should you want to see them all. The 8th piece was down a street that had rows of umbrellas hanging above it which was pretty cool. I took some photos and headed back to the hostel.

I made it back to the hostel around 5:30 and got a shower, chilling on my bed for a while before going to a cute little cafe for a light snack as I was still stuffed from earlier. Then I came back to the hostel and chilled on my bed. It's been a short but sweet visit to Ipoh.