EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Eighty kilometres north of Tapah in the Kinta Valley, IPOH grew rich on the tin trade and is now the third biggest city in Malaysia. The muddy Sungei Kinta cuts the centre of Ipoh neatly in two; most of the hotels are situated east of the river, whilst the old town is on the opposite side between Jalan Sultan Idris Shah and Jalan Sultan Iskander. Some of Ipoh's old colonial street names have been changed in favour of something more Islamic, though the signs haven't always caught up; hence, Jalan CM Yusuf instead of Jalan Chamberlain, Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri for Jalan Clare and Jalan Bandar Timar for Jalan Leech.

Many Ipoh buildings show the influence of colonial and Straits Chinese architecture, the most impressive of which is the white stucco Hong Kong Bank north of the Birch Memorial Clocktower on Jalan Dato' Maharaja Lela. Turning right from the bank into Jalan Sultan Yusuf, you're on the outskirts of Chinatown , many of whose pastel-coloured nineteenth-century shop-houses are now looking rather tatty. The Perak Museum (daily 9am-5pm; free) is housed in an elegant former tin miner's mansion, 400m north of the padang on Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, and displays photos of Ipoh's glory days during the tin boom.

The most prominent reminder of Ipoh's economic heyday, the train station was built in 1917, a typical example of the British conception of "East meets West", with its Moorish turrets and domes and a 200-metre-long verandah. It's on Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, west of the old town, with the GPO practically next door. The local bus station is just south of the train station, at the junction with Jalan Tun Abdul Razak. Opposite you'll find the taxi stand. Express buses operate from behind the ticket booths across the road. Local buses to Lumut (the departure point for Pulau Pangkor ) leave from a separate forecourt, beside a row of shops, a little further along Jalan Tun Abdul Razak; get a ticket from Perak Roadways under the bill hoardings. The Sultan Azlan Shah airport is 5km from the city (tel 05/312 2459). The best tourist office is in the State Economic Planning Unit close to the train station on Jalan Tun Sambanthan (Mon-Thurs 8am-1pm & 2pm-4.30pm; closed Fri and first & third Sat of every month; tel 05/241 2959). The main banks are on Jalan Sultan Idris Shah and Jalan Yang Kalsom, and there is Internet access at Triple Net, 41 Jl CM Yusuff (tel 05/254 4725).

The best budget accommodation with private bathroom is the Embassy, Jalan CM Yusuf (tel 05/254 9496; $5-10); all rooms are clean and have hot water. The cheaper West Pool Hotel, 74 Clare St (tel 05/254 5042; under $5), is also clean and has communal hot-water showers. The best mid-range choice is the Central, 20-26 Jl Ali Pitchay (tel 05/242 4777; $15-20), where all the rooms have TV, balcony and bathrooms that you'd usually only see at twice the price. A close second is the Ritz Garden, CM Yusuf (tel 05/254 7777; $15-20). For a taste of the old colonial style, check into the Majestic (tel 05/255 5605; $25-40), on the third floor of the train station, off Jalan Panglima. You'll get a roomy en-suite opening onto a huge tiled veranda where you'll be served afternoon tea on wicker chairs (RM120).

Many of Ipoh's restaurants close in the evenings, but there are excellent hawker stalls at the southern end of Jalan Greenhill, east of the Shanghai Hotel. Nearly a hundred stalls stay open well into the night, serving just about anything you care to name. Jalan CM Yusuf has the Grand Cathay restaurant which is very popular with Chinese locals, and the Rahman, an extremely friendly Indian restaurant. Around Jalan Bandar Timar in the old town are several Chinese restaurants, the oldest and best-known of which is the Kedai Kopi Kong Heng (lunchtime only) where you wander round the bustling stalls and pick your dish.