Kuala Lipis, a cute town!

Peace be upon you friends and readers. The last time I made any postings in my blogspots was on Monday last week in Raub, the 141th posting in CATATAN SI MERAH SILU, 66th in BERPETUALANG KE ACEH and 33th in SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . The next day in Kuala Lipis, I did some corrections and additions in my writings but no new posting.

As explained in my last posting at CATATAN SI MERAH SILU in the article Ketinggalan dua buah bas... I have an obsession with numbers. And so, after making a number of postings which adds up to numbers which had a certain meaning for this self, I pledged not to make any new postings until a suitable date arrives.

Today enters 1st of Rejab, the Islamic month said to be the month of God. So comes the time to break the ice. For information, I'm currently in Baling Kedah... Yesterday, I managed to visit some areas associated with the legendary figure Raja Bersiong (the king with fangs!), after spending 5 nights in Kelantan including at the Brunei mosque in Danau Tok Uban and the mosque of Tok Kenali in Kubang Kerian.

Here, I will start telling stories again. Let us start with pictorial stories on Kuala Lipis ya, the last town where I made some additions in the blogspot (but no new posting, just some additions in the article Ketinggalan dua buah bas...) This is it...

Oh! For information, Kuala Lipis is said to be the first capital of 'modern' Pahang. What is meant by modern here is that it was the capital after Pahang went under English (or British) rule, starting in the 1880s, a period which also saw Bendahara (something like Prime Minister) Wan Ahmad raised to become Sultan (like a king) with the colonialist's support.

Kuala Lipis is situated some 60km from Raub. It was named after the estuary (kuala) of the Lipis river not far away, the estuary which met Sungai Jelai, one of the main rivers in Pahang.

For me, Kuala Lipis has it's own attractions especially the existence of old pre-World War Two buildings which are rather 'cute'. Hmm... Let's continue with pictures ya...

This is the first picture taken immediately upon arriving at Kuala Lipis. A Mercedes with plate number WGW 3300 parked in-line with the minaret of the old mosque of Kuala Lipis seemed to hold a certain meaning for me.

Look carefully. The parking lot is of the same height and level as the bus station where I embarked from Raub. In turn, the old mosque built in 1888 is situated some 15 feet under while behind the mosque, there lies the river of Jelai with its normal water level at 20 feet more underneath.

According to the locals, Kuala Lipis once suffered from severe flood which reached the bus station. What is weird, the old mosque was not touched by the flood although it is situated at lower ground!

The main mosque of Kuala Lipis seen from the train station...

Kuala Lipis train station. At first, I planned to take the 2.30 or 3.15pm bus to Kelantan. After that, there won't be any service until 3 in the morning! But I was so engrossed making corrections and additions to the blogspot at an Internet Cafe until I missed both trains!

This is the food and beverage area in front of the road towards the train station... It felt so alive, so I stopped a while for coffee.

Soon enough, I feel like taking pictures. As soon as this one is taken, an Indian gentlemen in the picture (the one looking away) asked that the picture not be entered in the newspapers! What! Does he think I'm a reporter? Hah! :]

This is the bus station of Kuala Lipis. Had the time to hang the promotional poster for the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book series under the station's sign-board...

I stopped by at some stalls for tea... There appeared an Indian man pushing so much goods. Felt like recording it...

Hawkers selling durian in front of the bus station

The old Indian man showed up again, pulling a different set of goods!

This is a picture of the bridge crossing Sungai Jelai taken from inside the 6pm bus to Gua Musang, Kelantan. After missing the afternoon trains, I must choose whether to wait till the wee hours for the next train, sleep at Kuala Lipis or find another means to get to Kelantan. Felt unpatient to go to Kelantan... It happens there's still enough time to get the only bus to Gua Musang... So there I went for the day! Bye! :]