Overnight Trip To Kuala Lipis (aka Little KL)

I was mulling the places to visit in early August and August usually being a busy month at work, decided I should make a short trip at month-end. I searched for places with historical buildings and I also contemplated visiting Pahang. Finally, I decided on Kuala Lipis. Being the former capital of Pahang from June 1898 when it took over the administrative reins from Pekan (1889-1898) until 27 August 1955 when Kuantan became the new capital, I reckoned it must have its fair share of historical buildings and I wasn’t wrong. Kuala Lipis is also served by buses from Kuala Lumpur (at Jalan Pekeliling, how convenient!).

I booked a hotel in the new town but when I tried buying the bus ticket online, it showed the buses were already full except for those departing late in the day. Well, it being the Merdeka weekend and all. I then went to Pekeliling bus station and managed to buy return tickets there. Alhamdulillah!

So on Saturday, 29 August 2020, I made my way to Pekeliling bus station. It was an overcast morning and was starting to drizzle when I arrived at the bus station. The bus left on time; however, we were soon caught up in a crawl along Karak. The bus stopped to drop off and pick passengers at Raub before continuing on. We reached Kuala Lipis bus station at 15:15 and I walked to my hotel from the bus station. It was a hot bright sunny afternoon in Kuala Lipis and I rested in my room before venturing out at 17:15.

It was still hot and bright and I made my way across the bridge into the old town. The first place I came upon was the Information Square. The Kuala Lipis Zero KM marker (not the only one in Malaysia) and the Post Office, one of the earliest post offices in the country, are nearby. I then continued on main street to the railway station and even entered it. After the railway station, I walked on along main street, admiring the old buildings lining the street, to the former state mosque which was built in 1888 by a trader from Yemen. I also stopped to take a photo each of Gurdwara Sahib and Thean Hou Temple before crossing over the railway track.

 

I then walked up to Pahang Club, passing the Hospital and the nurses’ hostel (built in 1926 and still in use). The Pahang Club, built by the British in 1907 for Sir Hugh Clifford who was then Ulu Pahang’s Superintendent. When Sir Hugh Clifford moved out to Resident House in 1922, the club house became the official home of Inspector of Police until 1926. The house was vacated in 1926 and became the club for British and High Ranking personnels. The house is presently in a sorry state though.

It had suddenly turned dark with strong winds by this time and had I been alone, I would have been spooked. I walked on to Dataran Lipis and continued until I reached the Clifford School (formerly the Anglo-Chinese School), built in 1913 and named after Sir Hugh Clifford, the second British Resident to Pahang. Many of the state’s leaders and royalty were educated there and even now, it is among the premier schools in Malaysia. During the Japanese occupation in 1940 when Kuala Lipis became the centre of administration for Japanese in Pahang, the school was converted to Japanese army camp and became the military headquarters and Kempeitai Head Quaters. The classrooms became a place or torture and execution.

The day had turned really dark and rain seemed imminent that I reluctantly turned and hurried back to my hotel. I went to have dinner first at a restaurant close to my hotel before returning to my room to rest.

On Sunday, I woke up early for prayers and went for a morning walk back to the old town. This time, I headed up Resident Hill for the Residency Building. I asked a local for directions but she wasn’t sure (seriously?!) and decided to just follow my instinct. The building was built in year 1922 at the highest hilltop in Kuala Lipis for English Residents. The first Resident to reside in this building was, yes, you guessed it, Hugh Clifford himself, the then Superintendent of Ulu Pahang. All Residents thereafter stayed in this building until WW II broke. From 1958 to 1965, this building served as a hostel for male students of the Clifford School before it was closed on 31 December 1965. It was left empty until 1983 before being converted into a Government Rest House. You can see the Lipis District Administration Building from this hill and that was where I headed for next.

I climbed up the steps leading up to the Lipis District Administration Building but unfortunately, the building was fenced and it was closed (I was half expecting an easy access like the City Hall in KL and the Pahang Club and Residency Building in Lipis). I decided to climb and clung to the hillside to take some pictures and was about to leave when I saw a hole in the fence, large enough for anyone to sneak in. I contemplated and finally decided to take the risk and climb in – all for some photos! I was sorely tempted to walk around but I couldn’t face the prospect of being arrested for trespassing so I didn’t venture much before sneaking out of the hole again. I walked down the steps back to the main road and was pausing midway through to take a sip of water when I heard rustling on my left. I walked a few steps before risking a glance and was shocked when I saw a black snake slithering across. Whoa. Unfortunately, my reflexes were too slow to take a photo of it. Oh well...

I walked back to the palace and the mosque and was surprised to find a couple of graves next to Centrepoint.

 

 

I walked to the main street to Medan Tangga to find breakfast and was disappointed to find that apart from a mamak restaurant and a Malay restaurant selling rice, the other stalls were non-halal. Finally, I turned back and returned to my hotel. Before going up to my room, I decided to check if the Restoran Gulai Kampung Kuala Lipis behind my hotel was opened and I was in luck! Alhamdulillah. I bought some fried rice and noodles and returned to my room to shower and get ready.

I left at 11:15 and checked out. After collecting my RM20 deposit, I walked to the bus station for my 11:30 bus back to Kuala Lumpur. The bus left on time and after collecting passengers at Benta and Raub, we continued on our journey. The journey was smooth this time and we reached an overcast KL at 14:15.

 

So that was my short but satisfactory Merdeka weekend.