Perak

While Ipoh is the administrative capital of Perak, KUALA KANGSAR, 50km northwest, is its royal town, home to the sultans of Perak since the fifteenth century and later the seat of Perak’s first Resident, Hugh Low. Built at a grandiose sweep of Sungai Perak, it’s a small, workaday town, with a colonial monument in the Malay College on Jalan Tun Razak, its elegant columns and porticoes visible as you approach the centre from the train station. Founded in 1905 as an “Eton of the East”, it was a training ground for the sons of Malay nobility, with its discipline and traditions more English than in England, even if the schoolboys were required to wear formal Malay dress, as they still do today.

Set against the backdrop of the mist-laden Bintang Hills, TAIPING – like so many places in Perak – owes its existence to the discovery of tin in the first decades of the nineteenth century. The name is Chinese; it could mean either “Great Plain” or “Great Peace”, though the latter is unlikely given the numerous violent clan wars here between rival Cantonese and Hakka factions during the 1860s. Despite this, mining wealth helped fund many Malaysian firsts at a time when Kuala Lumpur was barely on the map: the first English-language school in 1878; the first hospital in 1880, established by the Chinese; the first rail line in 1882, built to facilitate tin exports; and the first museum in 1883. As Perak state’s capital until 1937, and with the nearby hill station of Bukit Larut (formerly Maxwell Hill) serving as a retreat for its administrators, Taiping was at the forefront of the colonial development of the Federated Malay States.

Nowadays, bypassed by the North–South Expressway and replaced in administrative importance by Ipoh, Taiping is declining gracefully, its streets lined with tattered architectural mementoes of its glory days. Even so, it’s a pleasant place to spend a few hours at leisure, exploring the small, walkable centre and green Lake Gardens, though you’ll need a full day to ascend Bukit Larut or take in the nearby mangrove reserve.

Up in the hills 13km northeast of Taiping, BUKIT LARUT – known in colonial times as Maxwell Hill – is Malaysia’s smallest and oldest hill station. The climate is wonderfully cool, and on a clear day there are spectacular views down to the west coast. This is the wettest place in Malaysia, however, so the top is often atmospherically shrouded in cloud. A scattering of elderly bungalows offer accommodation, but for many visitors the stiff walk up here through the forests, with the chance to do some birdwatching, is the main draw; you’ll need a full day for this, even if you manage to catch the limited Land Rover service up to the top and then walk back to town.

The Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve is Peninsular Malaysia’s largest surviving spread of mangrove forest, most of which has been extensively cleared for development, or in more manageable quantities for charcoal production (still practised nearby). However, since the 2004 tsunami off Sumatra killed over 200,000 people across Southeast Asia, there’s been a lot of interest in preserving mangroves; the trees’ mesh of aerial support roots form a natural breakwater, absorbing some of the force of tsunamis and thus protecting coastlines from inundation. They’re also rich breeding grounds for small marine creatures from jellyfish to fiddler crabs, mudskippers and archer fish (and, sadly for visitors, sandflies and mosquitoes), meaning plenty of food for larger animals – including rare marine otters and river dolphins.

Over a century old, Matang Mangrove Reserve is reckoned to be a model of environmental protection. Extensive boardwalks lead above the black mud through a forest of tall, thin trunks and mangrove ferns; keep eyes peeled for monkeys, wild pigs and swimming snakes. You can also stay here in basic, self-catering cabins – contact the reserve for details.