Day 137 Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur Tues 8 Nov

Another day, another journey - this time to the capital of Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur on the express train from the wonderful Ipoh railway station. Mr Velu kindly delivers us safely to the station and we find our way to the platform and wait. The train is delayed by half an hour or so - but it doesnt seem to spoil our people watching as we enjoy a large cup of coffee from the station cafe. The information board shows the number of minutes overdue our train is - but doesnt give an estimate of when it will come! We arrive in Kuala Lumpur mid afternoon and locate our accommodation for the next few days but only after the taxi driver has driven us round in circles trying to find it! We have concluded over the last few months that British cabbies are certainly better than any other we have encountered!  On the advice of Mr Velu we are staying in the Bukit Bintang area which is very central and once we are settled we walk to Times Square for an ice cream and something for supper. Sadly mid meal Tiegan is hit by the same bug which David has suffered with and we make a hasty return to the apartment and a very long night.

Day 136 Cameron Highlands to Ipoh Mon 7 Nov

We leave the Highlands today - we have all had enough of the almost non stop rain and the cold which we have become unaccustomed to in the last two and a half months. We board the bus to Ipoh - the fourth largest city in Malaysia and the sixth most populous urban centre. It is also where we are able to join the west coast railway which will take us on to Kuala Lumpur.

We are welcomed by the heat of the day as we get off the bus in Ipoh and locate our hotel- The Shangg - owned by a lovely Indian gentleman named Velu who kindly offers to drive us around the main city centre sites and into the centre so we dont have to get a taxi. The name Ipoh is derived from a local tree, Pohon Epu or now more commonly known as Pokok Ipoh. The sap of this plant is poisonous and was used by indigenous Malays to coat the tips of the darts of their blowpipes for hunting.
Ipoh developed into one of Malaysia's main cities around the turn of the 19th century due to the booming tin mining industry and several notable buildings from the British Colonial era such as the  town hall, St Michaels institution and the railway station (known locally as the Taj Mahal) remain.