Ipoh

Stopped over for a night on the way back from Melaka. On the outskirts of town, dramatic karst outcroppings, some harboring cave temples.  We made our way to one of them, called Kek Lok Tong. It took some doing to find it with only scanty directions (your faithful author has since posted directions on Trip Advisor) but was soooo worth the effort.

T outside the cave temple

Kek Lok Tong is a stunning place, both physically and spiritually.

at the back of the cave, which opens onto a garden

At a pond in front, visitors are discouraged from releasing animals in an effort to make merit

meritous koi?

Ipoh is a small city in central Malaysia, about 3 hours' drive to KL.  An area of downtown still has a colonial flavor.  There seemed to be zero tourists here, unlike Melaka.  It's got character but feels a bit gritty. To be fair, we only saw the downtown area and the outskirts, and nothing in between where most of the people probably live.

Ipoh has yummy street food, but of course.