A Year in Exile: Ipoh

We had planned to go to Ipoh on the bus but KT and Beyong offered to drive us, they also bought us lunch and took us to the Tourist office before leaving us. Ipoh looks as if it has a fair bit to offer and we took in the railway station, the Taj Mahal of Ipoh, and Little India before the skies opened and we went back to the hotel. Finding somewhere to eat was not so successful, there are Chinese nearby but Brian has taken against Chinese and after walking up and down and turning down everywhere we se we are set to take a taxi to a different area when we are told there is an Indian just over the road. A bit rough and ready but £2.50 later we have eaten a decent meal and decide to try the bar opposite the hotel for a drink. As soon as we entered we realise our mistake – it is a very loud Karaoke bar with very few people who all crowd round to introduce themselves. We are a novelty on two counts – 1 we are westerners and 2 Brian has his wife with him! All the other women are young, pretty and dressed up to the nines. After abortive efforts to get us to sing we are finally left alone to finish our drinks and scuttle off giggling!

The hockey is in an impressive stadium, Sultan Azlan Shah, named after the sultan of Perak who attends every day despite being in his 80s. GB are fairly unimpressive despite being pre-tournament favourites but it is good fun and once more we are a minority – there are 5 other GB supporters and no other westerners – and therefore ushered into the area for players, coaches and the media which luckily also has some heavy duty fans going non-stop. The pitch is blue with pink surrounds as the Olympic pitches will be and the games are entertaining so a worthwhile detour for us.

The owner of the hotel, Velu, has also taken it upon himself to make sure we are OK and has shown us around the old town, the nightlife (an amazing area with literally 100s of bars and nightclubs all right next to each other) and a visit to a Buddhist temple. Everyone at the hotel is really helpful, breakfast is just around the corner and a Chinese place to eat at night 5 minutes away.