Iron Hill at Gunung Rapat, Perak

Iron Hill is an area of Gunung Rapat that presumably was mined for iron. A trail leads up the hill through 3 wangs. First time I visited in Feb 2010 access to the trail was behind the Poh Yeh Ngam temple (aka Porok Giam in 2015). The path led past a series of shrines built against the cliff, Wat Putabatwanapuparam, Deep Jungle Mountain Buddhist Feet, aka Tokong Siam.

The start of the trail -

On my next visit in Aug 2015 I discovered that the trail has now been incorporated into part of the
Qing Xin Ling complex and there is an entry fee - the above photo is the back lake at Qing Xin Ling.

The first part through a small gorge is lined with displays of old shops and artifacts

 In the first wang are some dinosaurs! -

From here concrete steps lead on up the hill but there is no further developments. You come to the second level as indicated by the red writing

The flora is interesting. There are lots of monophyllaea

 this one I call the jelly plant as the stem is very soft, I don't know its real name -

After climbing up and up you reach this point with a view

Unfortunately the heavens opened and we were unable to go on up to the triangulation point, instead we made a hasty but careful descent as the trail was really slippery.
Old cables left by the miners

We sheltered below one of the old huts used by the miners and watched the rain

Back to the tourist part -

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Qing Xin Ling village, Gunung Rapat

Qing Xin Ling Leisure and Cultural Village

Qing Xin Ling Leisure and Cultural Village is a newish attraction at Gunung Rapat, near Ipoh, in Perak, Malaysia. The complex consists of a lake surrounded by limestone hills and has been developed into a tourist attraction. It has been described as a mini Guilin although this isn't a very apt description.

There is a path right around the lake. When I visited in Aug 2015 the lake was a dirty green colour and there was quite a bit of rubbish on the water. The front section has chalets built by the water and there are hawker stalls. The chalets are all built in different designs but are a bit gaudy.

There were a couple of goats and they had obviously been drugged so people could touch them, which was really sad to see

The next section, the walk around the back lake was very enjoyable, as there are several types of plants and some interesting rock formations, ducks and geese (and rubbish). 

Murals have been painted on the rocks, depicting tin mining and rubber tapping, pomelos, etc

There is a small museum in a rock shelter, with old photos of Ipoh area, artifacts and rock samples

 Looking down on the complex-

At the car park there are some strange statues

There is a RM4 entry to the place. There are bikes for hire to go around the area.

In the next valley is a trail up to Iron Hill. This used to be free access but now the start of the trail has been taken over by the Qing Xin Ling complex, so you can only get there by paying the entry fee. See next blog on Iron Hill.