Once in town, we checked into the modern Flemington Hotel, with premier rooms overlooking the beautiful Taiping Lake Gardens. We then headed straight up to the roof, where we sipped drinks at the skybar and enjoyed a dip in the pool before heading down to wander the lake gardens at sunset. Sangat cantik (very pretty)!
Our kids had fun exploring and climbing rocks, and later we discovered a slide that entertained them for a long time. When we started to became mosquito food, we left quickly to makan!
The next day, we visited the Taiping Equine Park, where Mark and Abigail rode and fed a lovely brown horse. (Rachel was not feeling brave enough to participate.) Next, we rented bikes from our hotel and rode around the gardens while Rachel played on playgrounds. It was fun to get this opportunity since my kids have missed riding bikes, but we were all pretty hot and sweaty by the end!
We grabbed lunch and headed to the base of Bukit Larut (also called Maxwell Hill) where we had made reservations for a Land Rover to take us up the very steep and windy road to the first hill station in peninsular Malaysia. Indeed, I had to hold on tight as our driver swung around tight curves with ease, honking every so often to warn hikers of our presence. It was scary watching them run out of the way just in time; thankfully, we didn't hit anyone! At our stop there was a little cafe which was closed and a small playground, but my kids entertained themselves climbing on rocks and playing hide-and-seek among the flowers while mom and dad enjoyed the cool breezes! Rachel had her first leech encounter (a tiny one on her arm), but brave momma pulled it off and all was well again.
There were 14 people crammed in on the way down; wish I had a picture! We then headed back to our hotel for some downtime before dinner and the Night Safari. We rode a shuttle tram slowly around the dimly lit zoo, but we couldn't understand most of the things our guide was saying since he was speaking Malay. Nevertheless, we enjoyed seeing nocturnal animals active at night.
On our way back to Penang, we stopped and spent the day at the Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. We had a great time, but sadly, we didn't carry our camera. We first took a short boatride to Orangutan Island, the world's first rehabilitation and preservation facility for these "people (orang) of the jungle (hutan)". It was fun to watch them roam free on the island while we were the ones in a caged tunnel! Our favorite part was seeing the cute baby orangutans playing in the nursery. They were climbing up the walls and one took off his diaper, not too different from human babies!
Next we visited the ecopark and my kids were delighted to feed squirrel monkeys and bunnies up close. We also rode the Skycycle, which was an elevated track within the treetops that you sat in and pedaled using arm power.
We spent most of the afternoon at the waterpark, much to the delight of all. We were all quite ready to get wet! Finally, we completed our adventure with one last stop, dinner at Auto City on the mainland. A large selection of restaurants are clustered around various car dealerships, and it is known for being a hip night spot for locals (like us!!) We enjoyed our dinner at SoHo, and despite having my pink drink spilled all over me, we had a good time!
Our trip to Taiping was fun and easy and required little planning. I can now check the "city of peace" off my list of places to explore in beautiful Malaysia. Now where will we go next?
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