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Taiping: A Home From Home - Part 2

Nick Bourne explores the lakes of Taiping, and is reminded of Llandrindod Wells.

By Nick Bourne

6 Feb 2012, 09:00

On the second day of my stay in Taiping, we went to the Lake Gardens of Taiping.  This is one of the hallmarks of the town;  the outstanding collection of lakes in the centre of Taiping or as friends wittily called it the Taiping Pool.   These lakes were all man made and are a result of the excavated tin mining which Taiping was originally famous for.   Originally a blight on the Taiping lanscape, these lakes in time became an atractive fature of the town after the extensive rainfall had worked its magic on it for many years and has now been reclaimed by nature.   It teems with exotic flora, wildlife and fish    Angsana trees grow next to the lakes forming a natural canopy and giving relief to the otherwise sweltering tropical heat.  Here the people of the town jog in the early morning chill, promenade at weekends  or visit in the cool of the evening, children and families take pedalos on the lake, eat at the lakeside and watch herons overhead, spirited monkeys attack litterbins to scrounge an easy meal and iguanas as big as a man's armspan but as timid as the water voles, cross the lake by stealth.     Hopeful anglers sit by favourite spots at the lakes trying to tempt arrowhead fishes, ubiquitous carps and the popular tilapia fish to take their baits and schoolchildren wade in the lakes with nets to catch shrimps and little fishes.   Resplendent woodpeckers and graceful herons (which then roost at the neighbouring Taiping Zoo at night) swoop and dive into the water edge emerging with meals of unwary fishes. 

Of particular note is the newly opened Sentosa resort.  It is the only complete resort in Taiping which has grown up as the tourist industry expands with the fame of Taiping as a holiday idyll spreading far and wide.  Sentosa competes with the proliferation of new hotels that is being developed in some beautiful parts of the lake gardens to take advantage of the surrounding tranquillity.   However, the Sentosa resort has an advantage over all other hotels - it has managed to monopolise a particularly exceptional location – its grounds boasts a couple of man made lakes, one cleverly disguised as a natural lake with water hyacinths, lotuses, reeds and wild flowers, and the other used as a fish farm to breed the particularly collectable arowana fish.   A full size arowana fish about three feet long can command thousands of ringgit ,its worth decided upon whether its silver, red or gold.    A net had been cleverly strung across the lake to prevent the rather excitable fish from leaping out of the lake.  Jumps of near legendary heights of over 12 feet into the air have  been recorded, its wet scales glistening in the sun when it leaps  to catch a hapless flying insect is a spectacular sight.  Even in this serene atmosphere, commercial shrewdness obtrudes – one suspects the net also acts as a disincentive to uninvited anglers helping themselves freely to the expensive fish.  The resort comprises  chalet like buildings set aside from each other to provide privacy and are all constructed from hewn  timber and natural wood rafters to blend harmoniously into the pastoral atmosphere.   Trees bearing local fruits such as durians and rambutans (a delicious sweet fruit with a hairy skin) were laden with fruit when we went there and the manager told us that the fruits are always given to guests of the resort – embedding the hospitality that Malaysia is famous for. Abutting the sumptuous grounds is a natural brook with desirable spots for bathing, fishing, barbecues and picnics.      

The town is in the shadow of Maxwell Hill as it was in colonial times and you hear the old name used as often as the new Malay name Bukit Larut.  Atop the hill it is cooler.   Here there are tourist bungalows and the summer house of the Royal family of Perak. There is also thankfully the opportunity for a snack at a very quaint canteen three quarters of the way up the Hill which is almost 1,000 metres high.  Scaling the hill by foot is very thirsty and hungry work as we discovered.

I have ascended the hill with friends.  It is quite a challenging haul and most people elect to go up by Landrovers which as my local friend tells me, are only for the brave and then only on an empty stomach.  The roads are quite narrow at various turns and the back of the Landrover sometimes overhang the cliffs in its 25 minute cliff hanger ride.   There is space on the tracks for only one vehicle and accidents are ingeniously avoided by precise timings of the vehicles going upor down at any one time.   My first attempt to walk to the top was thwarted by a tropical storm of such ferocity that all my clothes were wet despite my umbrella and within 3 minutes of the tropical storm descending unceremoniously on us after the warning peal of a deafening clap of thunder and a bolt of  lightning that lit up the sky for miles.    The thick curtain of water that descended without ceremony, made visibility nil at a distance of 3 feet -  I can think of no counterpart in Britain.    Although once the storm was over, I dried pretty instantly, in the tropic heat, the same was not true of my watch, my blackberry and my phone. They all needed a fair amount of tlc and the expenditure of a few ringgits too at some of the excellent local shops, for normal service to be resumed.  In Malaysia still wonderfully, the first instinct is to repair rather than to replace.

I was determined to and managed it to the top on my second outing.   The weather forecast was checked and rechecked and my watch and blackberry left behind while my phone was wrapped in enough layers of waterproof to have kept it intact for several centuries in  Davy Jones’ Locker!   Walking up one encounters on some stretches of the trail more monkeys, than humans and several different species too (monkeys, not humans) but it is an exhilarating experience with superb  views over the countryside below when it was not shrouded  in patches of mist which lent an air of mystery  to the place.  Exotic flora and fauna proliferate here in the perfect life sustaining medium of humidity, fecundity, ideal temperature and copious water sources fed by the  virtually incessant rain.    I also encountered several species of colourful insect life, a one foot long millipede as thick as the breadth of three fingers and a couple of colourful and dangerously looking large snakes which sidled away on human approach. 

My guide forewarned me that one should never be tempted to leave the established paths and be tempted to take shortcuts.There have been reports that people have got lost in the undergrowth for days which would be an extremely unpleasant experience, if one lives to tell the tale!  Nor was it safe to ascend or descend near twilight as it gets very dark with no man made lighting on the treks of the hill.  I was kept entertained by the various local tales and superstitions.  One was of the pontianak, apparently female ghosts or demons all dressed in white who float rather than walk  and who would emerge at twilight hovering piteously at the precipices, pretending to be in need of aid so as to entice young men to fall to their death.  Why this was so was an unexplained mystery - there was some vague and unsatisfactory explanation that the pontianaks were women who in life had met their sad end at the hands of men and were now exacting revenge or the equally unsatisfactory explanation that the pontianaks needed to feed on the life essence of the victims when the victims were in the throes of death.   Not a nice thought of course but in the twilight and fast descending gloom in Taiping, one’s imagination can go on an overdrive!

On a more uplifting subject, also hidden high in the verdant hills surrounding Taiping is a Buddhist sanctuary of rare serenity and holiness where people come on retreat to meditate and to work in the Buddhist community.    Meditating here is by invitation only from the abbot, once monastic credentials are established.  The reason given was that being close to a burial ground, evil influences could possess a mind that would be left open when meditating.   We arrived by Landrover though we were then able to spend some time walking and exploring the area of the retreat which was transformed into beautiful tranquil gardens (with pagodas and acer trees ablaze with their customary red and copper hues) as only monks could achieve.    

One cannot write about Taiping without writing about the vegetarian restaurant called  Zen Garden Cafe which is located in an almost hidden spot on the way to Kamunting town.  The food is all home-cooked, exclusively vegetarian but wonderfully delicious with their mouth watering soup of the day, their specials, the chef’s takes on various vegetarian dishes which the chef-owner and his wife assures me are all of their own concoction and recipes handed down for generations.  The owner, a bank manager turned chef tells me that he turned to being a restaurateur originally to indulge in his passion for cooking.  Using a dash of imagination, garnished by creativity and a sprinkling of magic, culinary delights are created. The owner, a bank manager turned chef tells me that he turned to being a restaurateur to indulge in his passion for cooking.  Going there and finding this gem of a restaurant, even though slightly out of our way, was well worth it.

Back in the town in the evening, all is teeming. The food stalls in the market are bursting with noise and with throngs of customers proliferating like mushrooms sprouting up after a heavy rainfall.   A talking point around the town is the new superstore, Tesco’s inevitably, that has set up on the outskirts of the town and the threat that this constitutes to the independent shops of the town and to the established social centre.  I have seen no better example of the global village than this.  Not only a threat from a global giant but precisely the same concerns as anywhere in the UK.   I could have been in Llandrindod Wells!

Night markets with their colourful wares are all over the place, exploding  like  splashes of bright colours on an artist's palette and the festive ambience in the evening gives life to the shops and fashion bazaars like a butterfly bursting out of its chrysalis.   I was struck by how reasonable the prices of branded shirts and T-shirts were and was feverishly putting several into my shopping basket until I came upon a beautiful black T shirt proudly emblazoned in stark white letters Calvin Klien!  

Here then is the real Malaysia away from the urban sprawl  that is KL or the tourist must visit spots of Penang, Melaka and Tioman.  Here there is always time for one more tea and another hour of chat in this pleasant utopia while life ticks on busily in other places, here sanity reigns.