Ipoh: The Town That Has It All

Looking for a day or two of rest between Penang and Kuala Lumpur during your peninsular travels.  Look no further than the city of Ipoh in the great state of Perak. 

Perak Tong Temple Complex.

Turtle ponds...

For those who reside in glass houses:

Urban and industrial sprawl tucked into a mystical landscape.

The pregnant gal made it to the top.

Residential Subdivisions (Feels Just Like Home) by the Overweight Suburbanites.

Organic pomelos.

Downtown Ipoh.

Psychedelic Christmas.

The revered Lou Wong's. The best boiled chicken and beansprouts we've ever encountered.

Possibly the Best Layover Ever, Part 2: Narita-san Shinshoji Temple

Just a twenty minute walk from Keisei Narita Station is the Shinshoji Temple complex.  One of the most popular temples in Japan, it was first built in 940 by adherents of the Chizan School of Shinjon Buddhism and is dedicated to Fudomyo-o, the great God of Fire.

Pilgrims and visitors crowded near the main temple grounds, but there was a scarcity of foreign visitors despite the proximity to Narita Airport.

The approach to the main temple has a smoking cauldron where visitors breathed deeply of the fumes.

The Three-Storied Pagoda. Constructed in 1712 and proudly standing 25 m tall.

Good-luck charms for an array of maladies and trying life situations (protecting against danger, luck in a new business venture, rheumatism, etc.)

The Narita-san Park spreads out over 165,000 square meters and is a Murakamian landscape of tranquility and solitude.

Quintessential setting for reflection, thoughtful chatter, and reptile-spotting.

Can you find the turtles?