Kuala Lipis - The Malaysia Town With a British Colonial Heritage
By Joha Rahman
What sort of holiday you are looking for? Do you enjoy the outdoor adventure of trekking in the heart of Malaysian tropical jungle, meeting the friendly local peoples and a visit to the British heritages buildings in a quiet tropical town, away from the hassle of big city? If you are, then Kuala Lipis has these to offer.
Kuala Lipis is situated at the center of peninsular Malaysia, about 200 km from Kuala Lumpur. It is surrounded by lush green hills and dense tropical jungles. It is gaining popularity as a tourist destination for the local as well as the overseas visitors. As the state capital between 1800 to the middle on 1900, it has a number of historical buildings left by the Colonial British. These buildings are in good condition and are still in use today. The town is accessible by road. The journey by public bus will take about three hours. The service is regular with around six frequencies per day.
The followings are some of the tour activities:
1. Discovery Walk: As it is a small town, the attractions are within easy reach. You can start the walking tour from the railway station. It was the biggest in the east coast, managing the whole railway operation from Kota Baru in Kelantan to Gemas in Negeri Sembilan. During the heyday of railway, it was the main mode of transport, bring travelers from Kelantan to Kuala Lumpur via Kuala Lipis.
About five minutes walk from the station is the former State's mosque. It was built in 1888, by a trader from Yemen. It has touch of Indonesian architecture with the local taste. The mosque is no longer used as the congregational praying place. Next the railway station is the post office, built by the British. It is designed in symmetry despite being more than 150 years old, still in good condition. Just outside the post office, you can see a milestone with '0' miles engraved on it. The simple milestone had raised a lot of questions, as it is not normal to have 0 mile marked on the mileage stone.
There are about 14 buildings, listed as historic buildings by Malaysian Ministry of Heritage and Culture. The other famous building is The Pahang Club. It is a bit far, about 20 minutes walk. From the Railway station, take the right turn; pass the post office and the railway line towards the hospital. Pahang Club was the residence house for Hugh Clifford before the permanent and better resident's house was built. Pahang Club was the club for the rich and powerful British before I was opened to the local.
2. Visiting the Park and Jungle Trekking. Visitors who enjoy the beauty of nature, Kuala Lipis has an abundance to offer. The surrounding reserved forest, undisturbed by human since the time of eternity is natural habitats for a variety of wild life and exotic plants. The waterfalls and rapids, lime stones caves and green mountains will provide enough trekking activities for the adventurous visitors.
The tropical forest is about 1 million years, and had not been exploited before. Among the well know park is the Kenong Jungle Park, with virgin and undisturbed jungle of 130 million years. The visitors will have the chance to see the formation of more than 20 lime caves which were used as the based by the groups of nationalists fighting against the occupation of the British? At a distant of 32 km from Kuala Lipis, the park is easily accessed via railway, and boat ride from Kuala Lipis. It is estimated that there are 1,200 species of plants which is about 13 % of the Malaysian number of plants.
A short distance from Kuala Lipis is the National Park (Taman Negara). It is recommended that a visitor should spend at least a night at the park. The night trekking will give the visitors the chance to see the nocturnal animals roaming and feeding in its natural environment. Beside this the park offers activities outdoors such as repelling, climbing trees using ropes, and canopy walk on the top of the trees t about 20 meters from the ground.
Kuala Lipis is situated at the center of peninsular Malaysia, about 200 km from Kuala Lumpur. It is surrounded by lush green hills and dense tropical jungles. It is gaining popularity as a tourist destination for the local as well as the overseas visitors. As the state capital between 1800 to the middle on 1900, it has a number of historical buildings left by the Colonial British. These buildings are in good condition and are still in use today. The town is accessible by road. The journey by public bus will take about three hours. The service is regular with around six frequencies per day.
The followings are some of the tour activities:
1. Discovery Walk: As it is a small town, the attractions are within easy reach. You can start the walking tour from the railway station. It was the biggest in the east coast, managing the whole railway operation from Kota Baru in Kelantan to Gemas in Negeri Sembilan. During the heyday of railway, it was the main mode of transport, bring travelers from Kelantan to Kuala Lumpur via Kuala Lipis.
About five minutes walk from the station is the former State's mosque. It was built in 1888, by a trader from Yemen. It has touch of Indonesian architecture with the local taste. The mosque is no longer used as the congregational praying place. Next the railway station is the post office, built by the British. It is designed in symmetry despite being more than 150 years old, still in good condition. Just outside the post office, you can see a milestone with '0' miles engraved on it. The simple milestone had raised a lot of questions, as it is not normal to have 0 mile marked on the mileage stone.
There are about 14 buildings, listed as historic buildings by Malaysian Ministry of Heritage and Culture. The other famous building is The Pahang Club. It is a bit far, about 20 minutes walk. From the Railway station, take the right turn; pass the post office and the railway line towards the hospital. Pahang Club was the residence house for Hugh Clifford before the permanent and better resident's house was built. Pahang Club was the club for the rich and powerful British before I was opened to the local.
2. Visiting the Park and Jungle Trekking. Visitors who enjoy the beauty of nature, Kuala Lipis has an abundance to offer. The surrounding reserved forest, undisturbed by human since the time of eternity is natural habitats for a variety of wild life and exotic plants. The waterfalls and rapids, lime stones caves and green mountains will provide enough trekking activities for the adventurous visitors.
The tropical forest is about 1 million years, and had not been exploited before. Among the well know park is the Kenong Jungle Park, with virgin and undisturbed jungle of 130 million years. The visitors will have the chance to see the formation of more than 20 lime caves which were used as the based by the groups of nationalists fighting against the occupation of the British? At a distant of 32 km from Kuala Lipis, the park is easily accessed via railway, and boat ride from Kuala Lipis. It is estimated that there are 1,200 species of plants which is about 13 % of the Malaysian number of plants.
A short distance from Kuala Lipis is the National Park (Taman Negara). It is recommended that a visitor should spend at least a night at the park. The night trekking will give the visitors the chance to see the nocturnal animals roaming and feeding in its natural environment. Beside this the park offers activities outdoors such as repelling, climbing trees using ropes, and canopy walk on the top of the trees t about 20 meters from the ground.
The author is Malaysian who had spent more than 37 years working in an International Airline, the last 10 years was in the field of Training and Development. He was responsible for the company's training needs analysis and the related training solutions. Currently, he maintains a travel blog to promote Kuala Lipis as tourist destination. For further information, please visit: http://kuala-lipis-pahang.blogspot.com.
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