The Ipoh city in Malaysia may only be another stopover for tourists visiting Cameron Highlands or the island of Penang, but it holds its own beauty. It has its distinctive look for being a simple and quiet town that will surely give every visitor a time to relax and meditate.
In the middle of the 1900s, Ipoh was known as the world's largest producer of tin. It was even called the "town that tin built," until its price collapsed in the 1980s. The misfortunate made the city fell, and its booming economy vanished.
Ipoh became a "pleasant place to retire," per New York Times, with its limestone karst mountains surrounding and water that claimed to make food taste better. But although it is an unknown town outside Southeast Asia, it is making a comeback to be one of Malaysia's hippest destinations.
Ipoh's economy started to improve when the water theme park Lost World of Tambun opened in 2004. The Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic also helped the city to rise again by bringing his "imprimatur," which he also did in Penang's Georgetown, on the city by turning the old buildings into something new by adding different murals in 2014. The greatest improvement of all is the boom of hip cafes across the metropolis, thanks to its homegrown talents.
According to the South China Morning Post, Ipoh is known as a "foodie capital." It boasts different kind of meals from white coffee that is made of beans roasted with palm oil to nasa ganja or nasi kandar which is rice served with curried meats and vegetables, and the king of fruit crop called pomelo. It almost has everything, and it is always in season all-year-round.
There are also good places you can visit in Ipoh like Kellie's Folly. This place is rank as one of Asia's "distinguished architectural oddities" as it is built with imported Indian brick and marble by the imported Indian craftsmen. It is also known as Kellie's Castle.
From Ipoh, you can also come to Cameron Highlands, only two hours drive to the west of the town. You can enjoy hiking or even imbibe the "rarefied air" of its 1,600-meter highland. The best time to visit this place is every Monday to Friday. So if you want to be in a place where you want to unwind and contemplate about life, this is the best spot for you.
