The difficult land route to the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain

Now comes the main purpose of our recent trip to Perak, to visit the tomb of Perak's 15th ruler, Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain which lies at a very secluded area...

After the visit to the tomb of Keramat Kuala Bidor (look at My latest visit to the tomb of Keramat Kuala Bidor) we went further northwards where we got locals to show us how to get to the tomb of Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain.

For the record I have tried to get to the tomb by boat in April. While I then managed to get to its vicinity I just couldn't find the actual site because of the bushes and thick growth.

This time I've learned that the affected area has been cleared and thus made a new attempt using land route.


Mind you we were not using a four-wheel-drive vehicle but just our trusty Kenari, a simple car more suited for in-town driving.



But here we have to 'pretend' that we have something that could match a 4WD...




We have to do that as far as we could for the sake our one-year-old baby who was brought along with me and the wife. Just imagine driving a small 1.1 litre town car through this area and trying to snap pictures too...





Soon we reached a point where the car just can't come in anymore. That's when the two motorcycles brought in by the locals came in handy...





I took one while the locals continued on another. OK. Obviously I can't take pictures while riding with my wife and baby, what more through such growth and bumpy path. Next, came a point where we have to leave the bikes and started walking...

Thank God, the news I got about the area around the tomb having been cleared is indeed true. Through the bushes I could see the tomb building at a distance and sighed a strong relief. At least I know I don't have to go through the bad experience of April where I couldn't even pinpoint the exact location of the tomb. Look at the old article Looking for the tombs of Sultan Shahabuddin and Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain....

Nevertheless there's still a distance to cover before mission was accomplished...

For one I was still worried about how the bushes, foliage and drains could block our path.

At this juncture I have taken the baby from my wife...

While we still have to pass through drains and such it was not as difficult as before as the whole area was much cleaner...

The tomb at last. I shall talk more about it in a new article for my bi-lingual blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART).