Day 60

Trip Start Sep 21, 2011
1
60
228
Trip End Sep 21, 2012


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Where I stayed
Ecotel
(Ipoh hotels)
What I did
Some caves, then the inside of the hotel room for a twilight fest

Flag of Malaysia  , Perak,
Saturday, November 19, 2011

Went to the Cave Temples today. Had a bit of an 'incident' whilst getting there. Walked to the shopping mall (in the rain) in hopes of picking up a taxi there to get to the bus station for the caves. As we arrived, a taxi pulled up to let someone out, so I was about to hop in. All straightforward so far, yes? Suddenly the taxi was surrounded by a 'mob' of other taxi drivers, banging on the car and shouting at the poor (woman) driver. Apparently this was their 'patch' and she shouldn't be picking people up. Even though it was me who had opened the door and asked her to take us to the bus station. In the end the poor taxi driver drove off, and I was FUMING! Bloody bullies, I can get in any bloody taxi I want, that's the point of 'em ain't it?! I think Cian would probably tell the story a different way, but I imagine he's too scared to now.

Anyway, after I'd calmed down......................
Perak Tong cave temple
Perak Tong cave temple
. went to the cave temples. These are amazing places. Ipoh is built around lots of limestone cliffs and there are these temples that have been built inside the limestone caves. They're huge and have lots of different compartments. Ooh its like a cave in 'ere! There are also lots of steps leading to separate little temples and altars, and like fools we decided to climb them. Cue another Ricky Hatton moment, the sweat coming off me was unbelievable. In order to avoid dehydration, opted for an ice-cream from the stand outside the temple. I had mango - delicious. Cian had... sweetcorn. WTF?

I was seriously knackered after this, so opted to go back to the shopping mall (avoiding the taxi rank) for a spot of lunch and light relief shopping. Had fun going round some of the weird shops, including the 'Christmas shop', selling all things yuletide. I've stopped wondering why, nothing surprises me in this country anymore. Like in the chemists, they're all bonkers for 'skin lightening' creams. Er, haven't any of you ladies heard 'Beautiful' by Christina Aguilera? Stop trying to be lighter! And if anyone over in Blighty is struggling to find work, then get yourselves over here - job adverts galore in the mall. 

The weather did it's usual 3-hour chuckdown, only today's was seriously violent. I've never heard thunder or seen lightning like it. There was a moment when I was running along the car park to my hotel when I seriously thought I was gonna get struck by lightning and end up as a barbecued chicken drumstick. Luckily there was no need to venture out again, as there was a Twilight/football fest on TV in the hotel room. Heaven! Cian in particular was overjoyed, they're two of his favourite things. Also ordered a pizza - what a debacle that was. I dont think anyone had gone into a Pizza Hut before in Ipoh and asked for a pizza to be delivered to their hotel later that day. Ordering it in the shop was bad enough, getting it to turn up was even worse. Pizza Hut and the hotel were on speed dial. At one point they rang and said 'that pizza you ordered earlier, do you still want it or shall we just give you a refund?' Er, you need to read '100 golden rules of business, number 1: make sure you get some business.' Yes, I still want the bloody pizza! Still, all was made well by four hours of Edward. Followed by four hours of Premier League football. Best Saturday in ever.
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