the path Les travels: Tamil Society Trip

11-13 July 2013

Group Photo!

My school’s Tamil society goes on an annual weekend-long time. This year, they went to Ipoh, the capital of the Perak state, and the Cameron Highlands, and they invited me! We left school Thursday evening around 7:30pm and drove to I-city World just south of Kuala Lumpur, stopping in Melaka for dinner. I-City World is a theme park with a few roller coasters and activities, centered around ice. For someone who never sees snow, it’s very exciting. However, since we arrived around midnight, we couldn't go inside as it was already closed. Often it is open until 2am, but I think it closes early during Ramadan. There was still plenty for the students to see outside of the actual park. There are animal figurines and plenty of light displays to enjoy. That is if you like taking photos. So many colorful trees, flamingoes, sunflowers, penguins and snowmen, etc. After spending about an hour here, we got back on the road to continue our journey north.

I-City World

With Chandara, one of my fellow English teachers

That night, we started playing a game similar to Secret Santa called Bobo Jojo that would last all weekend. I lucked out and got one of the students I know though she is not actually in one of my classes. I received various food items, a Malaysia magnet, a bracelet, and a strawberry keychain.

Early morning, after another rest stop and a stop for breakfast, we arrived at Gua Tempurung, the natural cave system where we were to go caving. Of the four tour packages they offer, we took the Grand Tour, the longest and most intense. I think we were in the cave for nearly four hours! Down several set of stairs into the largest cave opening where the guide pointed out the different shapes in the rocks. It was really beautiful in the cave. We went up several hundred stairs to an overlook before descending down just as many stairs to the river. Not only did we get our feet wet, but many students and teachers for that matter, got their everything wet. We had to crawl through the shallow river under rock hangings on our hands and knees (oh so painful on the knees). The students had a great time. We had to slide down a cliff and drop through a hole in the rock face instead of taking the stairs back out of the cave. Naturally, at the end of our caving adventure the students had a massive water fight. I ended up getting soaked as well.

Gua Tempurung

Stalactites in the cave

Weeeeee!

The hole that we all dropped through

After showers at the cave site facilities, we drove to the Little India of Ipoh for lunch. Shops along the road mostly had the same items - Punjabi suits and other Indian clothes, incense, garlands, Indian spices and Hindi figurines. A cute area with lovely music from the shops filling the streets.

Little India in Ipoh

As there was still plenty of daylight, rather than going straight to the hotel, we drove out a distance to a recreational center at the base of the Cameron Highland hills. There were some climbing playgrounds with which the students and I and one of the teachers, Kanda, had fun. Games were also enjoyed in the open grassy field.

The recreation center's playground

We stayed the night in Ipoh. In the evening we went to the temple for Friday prayers. It's apparently the main temple in Ipoh where Thaipusam piercings takes place. Dinner on the hotel’s rooftop was followed by a talent show by the students.

Waiting to walk to the Temple

The Hindu Temple entrance

In the morning, we went to Cameron Highlands which is well-known for its crops, primarily its tea and strawberries. Of course we visited one of each. We took a tour of the tea plantation, learning about the five stages of tea production. The Strawberry Farm we visited is actually owned by one of the teacher’s relatives, so we were treated to platters of fresh strawberries with crème and honey. Many students also bought ice cream sundaes topped with fresh strawberries. Before the day was finished, we also stopped at a bee hive and shopping center, and a vegetable market.