Excursion to royal town of Kuala Kangsar
Trip Start
Nov 12, 2011
1
86
114
Trip End
Apr 01, 2012
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Kuala Kangsar, former capital of Perak before being driven out of Ipoh, is a quiet town of 40,000 inhabitants, rather ugly in the center where you can see:
the clock tower, a central green square where there are around several colleges of English stamp, a wooden pavilion from which the sultan could watch the parade without being seen and the first rubber tree planted by the British.
Over the river which is surrounded by beautiful green parks with the usual wonderful Malaysian trees, the area is home to three royal palaces or Istane of which the largest and most majestic with white towers topped with yellow spherical domes and surrounded by an immense park on a hill, Istana Iskandariah of 1933, is the residence of the Sultan of Perak and the other two were in different eras and now house museums, the most original, Istana Kanangan of 1931 is small but pretty, with traditional wooden architecture painted yellow and laced edges.
The other, Istana Hulu is a beautiful Victorian style building dated 1903 which now houses the museum Azian Galeri Sultan Shah, the current Sultan of Perak who, according to the principle of rotation of the different federal states, was sultan of the Nation from 1984 to 1994 and which contains in very elegant rooms objets donated by various monarchs to the royal family, sumptuous costumes and pictures of the same, trophies won at golf tournaments, a collection of Malaysian daggers and rooms that recreate some real magnificence.
Outside an amazing garden with rich fountain.
Not far the beautiful mosque Ubudiah dated 1917, white with yellow domes and towers surrounded by palm trees, flowers and an Islamic cemetery
