In view of the global economic crisis, we are heeding the advice of the government to cut on unnecessary spending like leisure travelling. But, what is the fun of life if it is all work and no play? Thus, we decided to travel locally instead and headed for Kampar.
For those of you who have not heard of this place, I assure you that it does exist! At least I've been there and I'm now back safely.
Check Wikipedia and you'll find heaps of information regarding this place. Put simply, this is a small town located somewhere in Perak, which boasts a laid-back and bustle-free lifestyle. I noticed that the people living here are really friendly and they are a very tight-knit community. All of them are known to each other and a stroll at the morning market will see many of them wishing 'Good Mornings' to one another. But, there is one thing lacked about this town.
There is no cinema and no shopping malls. The nearest cinema one can find there is at Ipoh, which is about 20 minutes ride by car while the only 'mall' available to the residents is Tesco. But, I wouldn't even consider that as a mall!
Apparently, a click on Wikipedia will show that there are five hotels in this small town. However, a chat with one of the locals there revealed that there is only one hotel here, which is the Grand Kampar Hotel.
It does give some resemblance to the Eastern & Oriental (E& O) Hotel we have here in Penang.
One thing I find unique about this hotel is that the building was surrounded by shophouses which were all different in terms of the architecture, shape and design.The above picture portrays a shophouse from the Dutch community.
Next to it was another row of shophouses from the English community. This area was particularly quiet during the day and it only comes to life when the sun sets.
Never mind about the fact that it is the sole hotel here, as it definitely provide value-for-money service to the travellers. A suite only costs RM200 a night and the room is HUGE.Okay, enough descriptions about the town.
I shall now touch on the activities that we have done during our three days-two nights stay in Kampar.
Frankly, all we did there was to eat and play. This town which was once famous for its abundant tin reserves has plenty of food to offer, but not to my liking. Notably, the trademark food of this town is freshwater prawns (which are 3 times bigger than the tiger prawns). Of course, other food can also be found in this town, but I don't think they are a lot special anyway. In fact, I find Penang's food better in terms of quality and taste. However, the servings of the food in Kampar is clearly more generous and they are easy on our pockets too.
So apart from all the munching, we also had various fun-filled activities to burn off the calories.
Day One:
We did water rafting at the Kampar River, which was located somewhere near the Gua Tempurung. A guide was appointed to show us the way there and it took us almost 20 minutes from the cave.
Upon completing the challenge, we were each given a certificate. Paddle or Die? Hmmm, certainly doesn't sound pretty convincing that we are going to be well taken care of.
Although seemingly the river is graded as level 3, I don't find it very challenging at all. The rapids were minor and though we were told that the whole challenge takes approximately 90 minutes, we had wasted almost 30 minutes waiting for either the photographer or the other rafts.
It was a tiring adventure as we had to row the raft using the paddles given to us. Even my mum was dragged to play along and despite almost falling into the water several times, she still managed to make it till the end. Sorry, no pics for this event....
Day Two:
Supposedly, we had nodded in agreement to go hiking at one of the recreation parks, Taman Ros. But, we were so tired from all the rowing that we overslept and missed the healthy activity. However, not all is lost. We proceeded to a hot water spring somewhere in Perak right after our heavy breakfast at the Kampar market. What have I got to say about this place? Hmm...spectacular..
Ironically, the river beds are boiling hot while the water is icy cold. Of course, not the whole stretch of the river bed is hot, rather, only certain parts of it. And when I say hot, it means business. It means that it is really hot! I tried soaking my feet into the river and in just a split of a second, out my feet went. Hehehe....anyway, it is an experience not to be missed. Besides, hot water spring is said to provide medicinal value by curing arthritis and many other sicknesses. For now, my mood instability (if only you consider that as an illness) has been successfully cured by the miraculous river bed.
Don't worry that you'll get bored there as I will now show you some of the activities that you can indulge in, while waiting for your friends/family to discover the fun of the hot spring.
If the weather is not too hot, you can always take a family photo. Just be careful not to get over excited and fall into the river.
You can also take the children for a stroll on the bridge if they are too tired of playing in the water.
That's not all. You can choose to either sit or rest on the tree branches too. As a safety precaution, just double check the branch to make sure that it is strong enough to accommodate your weight.
You can also walk to the middle of the river to take some fantastic shots if you want to. Still, remember to pack extra clothes into your bag.
If you don't like the mentioned activities, here is one more for you. Bring a mat, food and drinks for your own version of picnic. Not to forget, a food cover to protect your food from the flies.
Fret not if you forget to bring your food. You can always steal some of the eggs that have been left there to boil by the visitors. Hehehe...
I chanced upon this cute little girl playing in the river. Can't help it but to snap a shot. Isn't she chubby?
Even her sister is chubby like her. She somehow reminds me of myself when I was 7 years old. I was that size many many years ago...That's it for day two.
Day Three: This day spells greatness. I get to visit a pomelo orchard in Ipoh!!! There were so many pomeloes that were still hanging at the trees, waiting to be plucked in a few days time. I reckoned that they use chicken poo as the organic fertilizer for the trees as the smell of the shits were so robust that I wondered if I was visiting a chicken barn instead. That was a total turnoff but all was forgiven when I saw the pomeloes..
There were plenty...countless...lots of it!!!
I wasn't lying! Look!!! 
They were big and I bet they were juicy as well. Time to pass on some knowledge about pomeloes. You can touch, harass or kiss them, but you are FORBIDDEN to knock on them. Or else, they will drop from the trees but remain unripe. So, take note!
This is a twin pomelo. They clearly do not wish to be separated and they are still clinging onto the branches.
But, we were too cheeky. We had them plucked just for the sake of a photoshoot. Our bad...
And seriously, it felt great to be surrounded by pomeloes all over your head. At least if they do fall, they won't hurt so much like how durians do.
If I have the time, I'll be willing to sit and wait for them to fall. But, time is envious of me. No choice but to take my pick at the collection of those that are already ripe and waiting to be taken home. 
Seriously, I didn't even know that this place existed. It has drawn visitors from as far as Hong Kong and as seen in the picture above, the BIG guy is a food expert whom can be seen on food-related TV programmes.That's all about my holiday. I am looking forward for more places to visit in the future and hopefully, the next trip will be out of Malaysia.
But right now, Cuti-cuti Malaysia first lah.
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