Ipoh | Malaysia

I Continue From Here: Batu Caves | Petronas Twin Towers | Kuala Lumpur

Small town vibes

30 and 31 August 2026

I made it a point to visit Hock Kee Kopitiam before leaving Kuala Lumpur and have breakfast there. Michael and I checked out of the hostel and took the monorail to KL Sentral (From where we had our train to ipoh). The ticketing kiosks accept credit cards and are really convenient to use.

The train to Ipoh took us around two hours. It was a comfortable journey in an extremely cold AC compartment. Outside, the temperature was humid, but inside the compartment it was freezing.

Perhaps the best part of travel is the moment you board a train or a bus and leave one place behind for another. There is something strangely beautiful about being in transit—watching the familiar recede through the window while, somewhere ahead, something unknown waits to reveal itself.

It is not always the destination that draws us forward, but the promise of discovery—the quiet thrill of not knowing what lies at the other end. There is a certain freedom in simply being on the way, suspended between where you have been and where you are yet to arrive.

As Malaysia prepared to celebrate its Independence Day, I left the bustle of the capital behind and boarded a train for Ipoh—a smaller, quieter town, and my next little chapter in this journey.

In Ipoh, we left our bags at the hostel reception and stepped out for lunch, as we had arrived early. We found a nice Mexican restaurant where I had a good burrito. We then walked around the town and explored the old town.

We visited the Upside Down Museum, where we turned into kids again, trying some crazy, kiddish photo props.

I also had the best kaya puff on the way, prepared by a Chinese lady. I asked her if she had bottled kaya, but she said that she only makes it fresh every day and does not store it. What a pity.

We also tried the famous Ipoh white coffee in one of th emany cafes in old town. The coffee beans are roasted with palm oil margarine, and the resulting coffee is served with condensed milk. It was good.

I took my online classes sitting in the third-floor common area. The hostel was really cute. I like how some hostels are thoughtfully designed, each carrying a character of its own. They seem to strike a beautiful balance between the spirit of travel and the warmth of home. The cosy atmosphere, the cheerful welcome at reception, the easy camaraderie among travellers, and the little activities that bring everyone together—all of these make hostel life so enjoyable. Somehow, they make the experience of travelling alone feel a little less solitary and a lot more joyful.

At night, we took a long walk to the night market, which wasn’t particularly interesting. Because of the national holiday the next day, the whole place was closed and very few shops were open throughout the city. We headed back towards the old Ipoh area and had dinner at a nice restaurant serving Arabic food.

On our way, we passed by a secret alley where there was a café with outdoor seating and a movie being screened on a projector. It was an interesting place, and a lot of young locals had gathered there, drinking and eating. I wanted to sit there for a while, but there was no space. So we walked back to the hostel and called it a day.

The next day, I woke up early and got ready. We were served free breakfast as it was Hari Merdeka—Malaysian Independence Day. In the adjacent streets, a huge crowd had gathered to watch the parade. I watched it for some time—a display of various armed and police forces and departments representing the state. It was not particularly impressive, so Michael and I walked a few blocks to avoid the traffic, caught a Grab taxi and headed to Perak Cave Temple.

The temple was impressive, with its beautiful idols set against the backdrop of the actual caves. A Chinese couple had first come across this place and developed a temple here in the mid-1990s.

We walked up through the cave to the summit of the karst. As we began climbing the flight of steps leading to the summit, a Chinese man was sitting there asking for donations. Though it was not compulsory to give anything, his tone and appearance suggested that we should be paying him to proceed. Religion, as I have said before, is corrupt—irrespective of which one it is—in one way or another.

The steep climb to the summit was good exercise for me. On the way, I met a few Nepali men and women who were busy making reels. The view from the summit was nothing spectacular. I could see an array of factories, with their ugly chimneys sticking out into the sky. Beyond them, however, were beautiful limestone karsts.

From here, we took another Grab taxi to Gunung Lang recreation park. There were no travellers or tourists to be seen here; it was just locals. Rightly so, because there wasn’t much to see. But it is in exactly such places that one gets to experience local life.

Families had gathered on this holiday to enjoy a moment together in this recreational area. We had to take a ferry to the island where the park was situated. At the ticket counter, my card would not work because it was an international card. The man at the counter asked me to give him the money in cash, and he booked the ticket for me using his card.

We took a boat to the island and walked around for a bit. The park itself was nothing much to write about—the plants were dry, though some had bloomed. Michael, however, was very happy because he found a lot of monkeys there.

I observed the locals as they walked around the dry park, enjoying what little was left of it and taking pictures, perhaps for their social media accounts.

Back in town, we found a restaurant serving Arabic food. I enjoyed a beetroot mutabal. During the walk back, I stopped at a local shop that sold the traditional Malaysian delicacy cendol. It is made with coconut milk, green rice jelly, beans and other ingredients.

Back at the hostel, I relaxed and found some time to finish a few sketches for my travel journal. A good journey gives you enough time to explore the places you visit and enough time to sit back and reflect on the experiences you gather along the way. Today was one such day. I found some time to sketch and update my travel journal, capturing a few of the moments before they slipped away. If only I had a little more time to fill in the colours.

In the common area, I met an older couple who struck up a conversation with me. We spoke at lot. The man was Malaysian and the woman was Mexican. They had visited Kuala Lumpur for some work and always made it a point to stop in Ipoh because they loved the place.

They also spoke about some Indian friends of theirs and their visits to India. The man used to teach civil engineering at a university and had once visited the Vellore Institute of Technology at the request of an Indian colleague.

They went on speaking at length, moving from one topic to another. They told me about her upcoming birthday celebration at a fancy resort nearby, and she seemed very happy about it. In them, I saw an eagerness to engage with younger people—they simply wanted to speak and connect with others.

I wonder if old age does that to some people. I have observed some old people retreat into a shell and disengage from social gatherings, while others look for connection and engagement. I wonder what I will turn out to be. I am pretty sure it would be the latter or perhaps a good mix of both. 

In the evening, we walked to Hock Kee Kopitiam in a mall in town. I had my favourite kaya toast and tea there before returning to the hostel for my classes.

To Be Continued…