My next local destination ever since I’m grounded and not able to travel abroad was Batu Gajah. I had decided to travel last Saturday and wanted to leave early in the morning but it wasn’t available online ten days before departure date. So I made my way to KL Sentral ticket office and was told by the lady at the ticket counter that I could only buy platinum ticket 24 hours before departure. I tweeted about it and someone reached out and told me that she managed to buy a ticket in September but instead of Ipoh which was her final destination, she had to buy ticket to Kuala Kangsar. I checked and she was right. I wasn’t prepared to fork out an additional RM10 though so I waited until Friday morning to buy the ticket. There were still tickets for the first morning train; however, there were only a couple of seats designated for the disabled on the 12:50 or 14:40 trains back to KL and the earliest train I could catch was the 15:42 train which would arrive at KL Sentral at 18:08 barring any delays. Err, that’s too late for me and even if I took the next train out to Batu Gajah, I’d be spending too long there. So I searched for alternatives and decided to take the Perak Transit T36 bus to Seri Iskandar and from there, Arwana bus to KL Sentral. Which was great because I didn’t fancy travelling back from TBS or Hentian Duta.
On Saturday morning, I left micasa at 06:25 (a bit later than planned) and made my way to KL Sentral. I arrived just as passengers were starting to scan their tickets. The train left on time (two lady passengers boarded just as the whistle was being blown) but we were delayed twice and as a result, we only reached Batu Gajah at 09:38, ten minutes later than scheduled. I didn’t have long to explore so I walked quickly out of the station.
Well, I had to retrace my steps twice and asked for directions. I walked through Kampung Pisang and turned left and then turned right onto the bridge over Kinta River and up the street until I finally made it to the Main Road. I came upon Pine Hotel and was shocked because it didn’t look at all appealing from the exterior. I detoured to the river but couldn’t see the elephant stone which gave the town its name (the river current was very swift then) so I walked on until I reached Laman Komuniti which is near where the road forked to Main Road and Jalan Pejabat Pos.
I walked on - and Main Road became Jalan Pusing - to the old train station which now houses restaurants. Across from the station are two old wooden bungalows on stilts where the railway station master and his assistant lived. After that, I turned back and walked up to The Clock Tower. I walked up to Changkat Public Park and turned right into Jalan Changkat. The road inclines gently until it plateaus and on this flat area above the town centre below is where the British built their settlement – all the familiar institutions needed namely the club, bungalows, court, offices, hospital, gaol, church and cemetery. The Kinta Gymkhana Club was formed in 1890 and became Kinta Golf Club after WWI.
I walked past the District Officer’s House which was built in the 1890s for the most senior government official in the district. Vertically-challenged me was only able to glimpse part of the house though. Sob.
I continued on to the Government Offices & Court House which are one of the best surviving colonial-era buildings in Malaysia. Three attractive buildings linked by covered walkways make up the complex. The gaol is nearby. I walked on past the Nurses’ Residence and European Hospital to the Roman Catholic St Joseph’s Church at the end of a cul-de-sac. Then I turned back and walked to the childhood home of HRH Sultan Azlan Shah. He spent ten years there.
I took Jalan Aman back which soon became Jalan Kinta as it runs along the Kinta Golf Club. I could see some golfers there. I passed the dilapidated former Red Crescent building and then came upon the still beautiful Government Rest House.
From the map, it looked like I could catch bus T36 at the Kinta Golf Club. An elderly Indian man asked me if I needed help so I told him I was waiting for the bus. He said the bus didn’t stop there (and indeed there was no bus stop to be seen). He told me to go back to the town centre and offered me a ride on his motorbike so I thanked him and hopped on helmetless and all. It would be no trouble for me to walk down to the town centre anyway but I didn’t want to risk missing the bus. He dropped me off by the roadside at Jalan Dewangsa across the road from a block of shops. He asked me for some money and I gave him RM1 as I needed loose change for the bus fare. There were two other people waiting so I knew the bus hadn’t gone and no, there was no bus stop or bus stand there either.
The bus came ten minutes later and my fare was RM3.20. I only had RM3 and the driver waved me in. The two other passengers went down and I was the sole passenger in the bus. It started raining halfway into our journey.
The driver dropped me off near Billion Shopping Centre and I had to walk out to the main road to Seri Iskandar. Good thing there was a wide pedestrian (?) lane along the main road. It took about 15 minutes to get there. I went to get and pay for my printed ticket (don’t know why they can’t just accept online tickets?!) then went to perform prayers at the prayer room at Petronas.
The 13:45 Arwana bus arrived at almost 14:00 and we left just after 14:00. We stopped en route to use the facilities and reached KL Sentral at 16:55. Alhamdulillah.
