So the ride from Penang (well, actually, Butterworth, on the mainland) went smoothly and surprisingly quickly. Changed buses at Gopeng, but I had to ask several people before I found the right place to catch the bus. Anyway, so far so good.. arrived at the Ipoh City Terminal.
Fortunately, the Ipoh Christian Cemetery is an easy ten-minute walk from the bus station. This was one of my intended destinations, and it made an easy stop.
Back at the bus station, I found the bus to Batu Gajah. The driver was playing music that sounded like Bollywood's Greatest Hits. It was comfortable, air conditioned. Finally, at Batu Gajah, the bus pulled over, and the conductor said, "Here we are," and left me at the side of the road with no idea where I was. I couldn't find the location on the map I had printed out. (Turns out the big highway intersection where I was dropped off at is so new that Google Maps doesn't have it mapped yet!)
I crossed the street, and randomly approached a Chinese-run lumberyard. The woman there was exceedingly friendly and helpful, and arranged to have one of her truck drivers drive me, free of charge, to my destination: God's Little Acre.
Turns out that God's Little Acre this is one of the loveliest little cemeteries I'd ever visited. The trees there overwhelmed the place with color and scents: white, pink and deep-red plumeria (frangipani), bougainvillea, hibiscus, euphorbias, stately palms and cypress. Even a papaya tree with ripe fruit I was tempted to take and make a meal out of.
Red plumeria
Bougainvillea
Now the sky was threatening... I could see massive cumulus clouds by the mountains and hear thunder roaring in the distance. Time to go.
I know... I could try taking the train back. I walked past the old prison (still in use... a guard in the tower watched as I walked by), past a historic hospital, by some splendid parks, into the city, and to the spot where the train station was listed on my map.
But it was closed!
Asking around, I learned that there was a new one, several kilometers down the road. I decided to cab it. The cabbie whisked me there, all the way past the Chinese lumberyard, and to the station. Once there, I learned that the next train wouldn't come for an hour and a half, and the trip would take 4 hours! I could get there much faster by retracing my steps: bus, bus then bus. So that's what I did. I walked back to the Chinese lumberyard (to save me about 20 minutes, I climbed an embankment up to the highway overpass instead of following the road around), and chatted with the people there, thanking them once again. They showed me where to wait for the bus to Ipoh, and told which bus to take. (Very gracious, helpful people!)
Soon the bus came, and just in time too, because the skies opened up with heavy rains and thunder. On the way back, we passed the old train station, and I noticed there was a bus stop just opposite it, where I could have waited if only I had known... So, back to Ipoh, then Gopeng, and then Butterworth... with very little waiting between buses. Pretty much arrived at the station, and hopped on. The bus got me back to Penang an hour and a half earlier than the train would have.
Now I'm cooling down in my guesthouse bedroom... I filled a towel with ice and an using it like a cold compress. Works like a charm!
