Taiping the Laid-back and Underrated City
27 - 29 Jul 2023
Travelling oversea is not only our option. We could spend more time travelling locally to discover more of another city. Even in the same country, is there any difference? Being the city person and didn’t explore much of outskirt, visiting Taiping is a good opportunity to discover other places.
Taiping has been in my mind sometime ago due to my friend from Taiping shared beautiful pictures of their Lake Garden. Thus, I decided to visit Taiping impromptu. I always plan out (very detailed plan) everywhere I go thus. But for this trip I only book a hotel and the rest is history.
It is a very laid-back city. In Kuala Lumpur, any place mention opening at a specific time, they will start at least 30 minutes prior to prepare to do business. In Taiping, the local are very relax and laid-back. It is not they take their sweet time; they work as usual. In lay back, they man their shop more relax manner. Perhaps it is due to there is no crazy crowd and face pace in KL compared to local.
Even though it is a smaller town than Ipoh, I would recommend to visit here. It is not too touristy and with the slower pace, we really able to relax.
Some of places that recommended to visit:
Lake Gardens
Maxwell Hill (Bukit Larut)
Taiping Zoo & Night Safari Taiping
Kuala Sepetang (30 mins from Taiping)
Taiping Lake Gardens
The first public garden established during the British ruling. It is a beautiful lake garden and well-maintained. Everywhere is scenic. I easily spent 3 hours slowly walking and enjoying the view which it seems not enough (perhaps it is getting hotter, I didn’t cover the whole area). This lake gardens can take another day or two to visit for different activities.
There are a lot of locals walk and jog during morning or evening. It like a large park that local and tourist visit. Not only that there are a lot of activities available beside strolling:
Cycling: you can rent bicycle there
Boat paddling
Raintree Walk
Animals photography/observation: there are birds, monkeys
Mirror lakes: due to well-maintained the lakes are reflecting mirror images
Photography: there are many spots for your grams (Chinese Pagoda, Red Bridge, Zig Zag Bridge, Clock Tower)
Taiping Zoo & Night Safari
I visited Night Safari which was a good experience. We are not allowed to walk inside the zoo during night. We ride buggy to go around the zoo for about 45 minutes. Most of the animals are not cage (except birds and some small animals) which the concept of this zoo is to be as closed possible of natural habitats for the animals. They are enclosed in walls and inside is surrounded with large pond. Even tigers and lions are not cage.
It is pretty dark inside but there are special lighting which is similar to natural moonlight illuminates the area so we can get better sightings of the animals. The driver cum guide brings a torch light to shine upon the animals (if can’t find the animals, they try to minimize disturbance to animals). The driver will drive us around to show us night animals. Tip: sit the front row of the buggy for better experience.
Charcoal Factory @ Kuala Sepetang
My first stop in Kuala Sepetang is the charcoal factory which is famous for photography. There is tour available. However, if we don’t opt for the tour, we are free to wonder around the area. The tour will be quite educational. Beside taking photography, charcoals are being sold for decorative.
Kuala Sepetang
It is a small fishing village. Due to its proximity to the sea, this town is famous for its seafood. There are few restaurants which are situated on the upper floor of shop and overlooking the river. Beside enjoying the food, I enjoy the sea breeze and observing the locals drive boats around the fishing village.
Beside eating, there are boat tour available whether day or night. However due to it is weekday, it is hard to get boat tour due to lack of sufficient people. Most boat tour company offers tour with minimum 6 people (RM25/person). If less than 6 people, they will charge a hefty fee.
I took the day boat rides bring around to fishing village after lunch. The places that covers are the main fishing village, nearby fishing villages, mangrove areas for eagle feeding
There are others boat tour such as night boat ride to view fireflies or to view sunset.