Bridge the Travel Gap

KL food tour and a visit to Ipoh

After a pleseant few days in Malacca we returned to Kuala Lumpur for a further four days at the Invito Hotel. The highlight of our four days was a food culinary tour which took us to Little India and Chinatown. We then headed up to Ipoh where we were told has the best food in Malaysia and one of the gateways to the Cameron Highlands.

Kuala Lumpur

My wife Debbie found on tripadvisor the Food Tour of Malaysia. We booked the tour and met on the day at 11am Charles our knowledgeable and friendly guide. We first headed for Little India where we enjoyed a great Indian meal and ice lemon tea. Then we had some lovely dessert snacks at a nearby hawkers stand. After that we had a lovely cool shaved ice with I have no idea what was in it, but it was tasty. We then had to sit out a downpour at a nearby Indian cafe where I tried banana roti, yummy. Once the downpour stopped we used the monorail to get to Chinatown.

Here we saw a traditional wet market with fish and a range of meats. We finished at a Chinese restaurant trying out several yummy noodle dishes. It was a great day with Charles and one of our highlights in Kuala Lumpur. For US$35 each the food tour was well worth it. Great guide and I learnt a log about different dishes. The remaining few days in KL we spent exploring the city and enjoying the wide range of foods available.

Ipoh

Getting to Ipol was easy. I purchased the day before two tickets on the Gold Express for 70 ringgets. The train took two and a half hours and was comfortable with even a movie to watch. On arrival we took a taxi to the Regalodge for our next three nights.

It was a great few days in Ipoh where we visited a Buddhist cave and ate our way through the town. Dim sum, Northern Indian and traditional Malay food. The Pakeeza restaurant near our hotel also had some lovely food. We had a tasty meal of several dishes including a great butter chicken, dhal palak or yellow lentils and spinach, aloo gobi masala and two thirst quenching mango lassi’s. I enjoyed the dhal the most it was scrummy. Our banquet came to the a total of 73 ringgets or £14 or US$20. Service was good and the decor ok. The other highlight was the Dim sum restaurant. We had breakfast at Foo San. They bring around little trolleys with some of the dim sum. You also line up to get them as well. The dim sum was delicious. Enjoyed the atmosphere of this huge and very busy restaurant.

If you ever go to Ipoh make sure you  visit the KeK Lok Tong Cave Temple and Zen Gardens. They are about 8 km our of town and beautifully set in some lovely gardens. The caves have some wonderful statues and are also a place to escape the heat of the day. We also enjoyed seeing the turtle pond. See if you can spot the giant turtle in the photo.

What did our week cost?

This week we travelled to Ipoh before heading on to the Cameron Highlands.

Kuala Lumpur accommodation cost £180 or US$265 for four nights at the Invito Hotel
Ipoh hotel accommodation £80 or US$119 for three nights at the Regalodge
Spending for the week for food, transport, attractions £389 or US$577 or 2087 ringget

Total Spend for one week: £659 or US$978 which works out at US$ 140 per day for two people. It was great to sample the food delights of Kl and Ipoh. Next stop the Cameron Highlands where we plan to drink tea and do some hiking.