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IF you plan a trip to Batu Gajah, make sure you don’t miss out on its
heritage trail. There
is a lot more to this charming town, which started as a small Malay village in mukim Sungai Terap. There's a lot more to
Batu Gajah than Kellie's Castle.
Its colourful
history has left in its wake a trail of well-preserved architectural and
historical markers, which until now have been spared the gadarene rush of
Lonely Planet-toting tourists.
The upshot:
Batu Gajah has plenty of nooks and crannies which can be particularly rewarding
for the mature traveller who craves more than superficial eye candy: a sense of
its past, a taste of the local lifestyle, and that increasingly rare animal –
the offbeat discovery.
Any visit of
BG should include a driving tour of its heritage trail at the Jalan Changkat
colonial core, which can be easily covered in a day. A long strip of well-paved
road winds through a leafy enclave that exudes the gentrified vibe of the
colonial days. Must-sees are God’s Little Acre, Kinta Gaol and the High Court
House, recently converted into a museum, and the Hospital District Batu Gajah.
A hospital as
a tourist attraction?” This is no ordinary hospital: it’s the last remaining heritage
hospital in Perak, if not Malaysia. This hospital has appeared on celluloid
numerous times, including in Apa Dosa Ku, the
local teleseries about Perak’s wartime heroine, Sybil Karthigesu, and German
movie Love And Death On Java.
A word of
warning – you might be politely but firmly ushered out by the nurses. But even
a whirlwind glimpse would leave you with a deep impression of its Tudor-style
wooden buildings, elegantly set within a leafy compound of undulating manicured
hills and giant raintrees.
A note on
food. Make sure you swing by Restoran Masuri (Jalan Pusing Opens 10.30am-6pm),
which shares a brick building on the main road next to Sri Subramaniyar Temple,
the town’s oldest Hindu temple. Makcik’s rendition of mee
rebus – noodles
bathed in a sweetish-savoury potato gravy, piled with loads of crunchy prawn
crackers, hard-boiled egg, mung beans and potato slices – alone is worth the
drive to Batu Gajah.
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