Above is a picture of the leaning tower of Teluk Intan. After spending 3 nights there it's time to make a move. As it is, before that I've stayed 2 nights in Ipoh and a night in Kuala Kangsar. That sums up to 6 nights in Perak so far.
Remember in my previous articles, I mentioned that I've stayed 4 nights in Pahang followed by 5 in Kelantan and 6 in Kedah? Thus following the sequence of numbers, logic dictates (mine that is!) I must spend 7 nights in Perak and I've already done 6... So it's another night to go in the state where my dad was born but not in Teluk Intan. It has to be elsewhere as I've already spent 3 nights there, 2 in Ipoh and 1 in Kuala Kangsar...
See the logic behind the sequence? Thus the question is where next in Perak? What is for sure it has to be somewhere on the way to the state of Selangor as it is time to return to Kuala Lumpur after 3 weeks being on the road. It's time to start settling down...
Now there's two major routes to get to Selangor from Teluk Intan... One heading south-west through Hutan Melintang before entering the state through Kuala Selangor, the capital of Selangor 18th up to the end of 19th Century AD... Another which is a more regular route goes south-east to Bidor before entering Selangor via the town of Tanjung Malim. I chose the second one as it is the more straight-forward route back to Kuala Lumpur...
From Batak Rabit where I spent the night at a relative's place, I arrived in the town of Teluk Intan at about 12.20 or so , just in time to catch the 12.30 bus to Bidor. Problem is the day, 27th July 2007 was a Friday... As a good Muslim I should be joining the weekly congregational prayer at the closest big mosque which should start at 1.30...
Now, if I go for the prayers, I would not only have to miss the 12.30 bus but also the 1.30pm service too... The next one would be at 2.30pm, meaning I have to spent 2 more hours in Teluk Intan should I decide to go for the Friday prayers here. So how?
After deliberating for some time, I decided to gamble. Bidor is about 40km (or was it 60km?) from Teluk Intan... If I take the 12.30 bus, I might be able to catch the Friday prayers in Bidor!
Too bad, I missed the prayers there by just about 10 minutes or so... As I walked towards the main mosque of Bidor (seen in the picture above) some 300 metres from the bus station, others were leaving the mosque after completing their Friday prayers.
Luckily, as a long-distance traveller, I'm not obliged to do the prayers although I try to make it everytime possible. Instead I substituted it for the regular Zuhur (afternoon prayers) which I combined with Asar (late afternoon) as allowed under Islamic rules for those travelling more than a distance of 90km or so.
From Bidor I went to Sungkai. Now, I could either take a bus straight to Tanjung Malim which is just beside the state border of Selangor or stop in-between at a place called Trolak. A fan of my "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book series have many times voiced his wish to meet me in person. The guy in his early 20s happens to be related to my big family tree in Teluk Intan, at least that's what he claimed having seen some postings regarding my family roots made in an Internet forum... So I thought why not, all in the name of trying to mend ties between relatives (or possible relatives?) especially those I've never met my whole life...
So there I was making my way to the Felda (a government body coordinating settlers opening up new areas for plantations) area of Trolak... I've called the guy in question and he picked me up to his house where I had a long chat with his father about my big family in Teluk Intan.
Of particular note was the spiritual subject that was brought up in our conversation. His father could somehow surmise my connections with the Perak royalty especially the spiritual guidance I've been receiving through the blessings of certain ancestors who are said to be of saintly status.
Later at night I was asked, do I want to spend the night, my 7th and last night (remember? I had to follow a certain progression after spending 4 nights in Pahang, 5 in Kelantan and 6 in Kedah) at their house or go to Tanjung Malim. Somehow earlier, my heart got the message that I must go to Tanjung Malim... The father said he also got the same message through spiritual means but only after Isyak, the late night prayer. And so the family, the guy, his father and mother send me to the town at the Perak-Selangor border some 30 km away...
Above is a picture of parts of Tanjung Malim taken after spending the night at the town's main mosque. A pictorial story of the mosque will be done later in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART)
Actually I would like to write longer explaining what happened but the computer I'm using right now at an Internet Cafe in Brickfields gives me a lot of headache... Somehow without me realising it, portions of text including pictures are defined and then wiped out and this happened many many times. So sorry, now I have to be really brief.
Above is monument that marks one is about to leave Perak...
This is a river in Tanjung Malim which marks the border between the states of Perak (on the left) and Selangor... Oh, the name is Bernam river...
I stopped by an erected the "Berpetualang ke Aceh" book promotion poster made a month before using a picture of the same scenery!
There. I'm officially in Selangor...
Stopped a while at the Sheikh Ismail mosque... You can read about the mosque in Masjid Sheikh Ismail di Ulu Bernama (The mosque of...
After walking some time, I got a bus to Kuala Kubu Baru. There... Enough headache for the day. Cheers! :]
note: From Brickfields, I broke my Ramadhan fasting with a packet drink at the KL Sentral station before conducting the Maghrib (early night) prayers at the surau (small praying hall) there. Then I took the Komuter train to Kajang... Feels like spending the night alone at a family house. I had a hefty meal at Kentucky's and then a glass of sirap bandung (syrup with milk) and a foodstall nearby. Next, after feeling much better that is, I went to an Internet Cafe and made these note...
I also added a bit on the writings above but come to the part where I mentioned about the problem I had with the computer at the Internet Cafe in Brickfields, I just couldn't add more. So I hope whatever is already written is enough to maintain the continuity of story-telling regarding the long travelling made over 2 months ago. Cheers! :]
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