The reoccurring theme in this entry is "Ipoh people are really friendly." Ipoh, or Ipod as Ella calls it, has a lot to do, maybe even more then Penang. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. I had to get to Ipoh first. And man, Malaysian buses are comfy. Super reclining chairs, really padded and soft... Thailand, jeez, get your shit together! I woke up early to catch the 3ish hour bus ride, and slept like a baby the whole trip. I'm actually surprised the driver shouting "Ipoh!" woke me up.

Since I didn't have breakfast, I was famished. Luckily Ipoh bus station is actually really nice, with a lot of restaurants. I found an Indian buffet one, picked out some biryani, and became a yes man.

"Do you want chicken? An egg? Curry? Cabbage? Drink?" Each followed by "Yes please." This resulted in a mountain of food, but wasn't too bad at around $5. Stuffed, I got my bearings at the super helpful people at the information counter and set out to town, and then to Perak Cave.

At the local bus station, they were nothing but awesome and personally took me to the bus I needed. The driver said "Hey man, just sit down, I'll let you know when to get off." Maaan, Ipoh people are cool! Unfortunately, I saw this temple fly by the window. I thought, "Was that me?" I checked the GPS, yup. That was it. I started to approach the driver, and when he saw me, he got an "Ah shit!" look in his eye. He stopped the bus, and apologized profusely. No worries, it was only a few minute walk. A few minutes to this massive temple carved into a mountain. It's really impressive, and a great view from the top.

Looking to get back into town, a family from Hong Kong was trying to figure out a way into town. He had a card for a cab company, but no SIM. So we gave them a call on my phone, and the whole family plus me crammed into this tiny cab. They were super nice, and the uncle made terrible jokes the whole way. Ya know, as uncles do. We chatted on the way back and they refused to let me pay. Everyone in this godamn city is so friendly, and they don't even live here.

Back at the station again, people waiting for their buses said hello to me. Just, because. Anyway I set out to see more caves. These were slightly less impressive, but quite colorful! Ipoh really has a knack for building Chinese temples into mountains. Back to town again to pick up my railway tickets to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, I was starving. Ipoh's is apparently quite the sleepy town though, because even at 6:30 everything is pretty closed. I finally found a restaurant that was open, packed with locals. Good sign. The menu was all in Chinese, and the guy seemed to reach waaaaay back into his brain to ask in English what I wanted. In Chinese I told him no worries, I've got this! He seemed relieved, so we chatted as well. I told him I was from America. He asked if I brought my gun to Malaysia.

Nah, man. My bad. Left it at home.

On the way back, I passed the beautiful courthouse of Perak (the state I'm in) and took a good look and photo on my way past. The security guard came out of his booth, and I was thinking "Oh shit, can I not take photos?" Nope, he just wanted to say hello, and to have a nice day. Laos, I'm sorry. You are now the 2nd friendliest country in the world. Malaysia has overtaken you.

The next day I headed out to see Gua Tempurung cave, one of the top x largest caves in Asia. I heard it was a 2km hike from the road, and at the bus station the guy said I'd be pretty lonely there. On the way I was thinking "Man, maybe I didn't plan enough. I should have a head lamp, rope, more food and water... ah well, if its too hard I'll leave." So I got off the bus and started walking. It is 2km from the highway, but there is a road there. I hitchhiked up to the entrance thanks to more friendly people, and realized my biggest danger at this cave was overeating at the various food stalls. The entire cave was seen on a lit, elevated platform with guides and groups of school kids. I mean, I guess I wanted it to be a little more difficult than that. The pictures didn't turn out so well, cause it was still pretty dark.

Anyway, I hitchhiked back to the road and caught the bus to another cave/temple. Very off the beaten path, I walked the 3km with no cars in sight. It was impressive, probably even more so than the touristy cave. On the way back I got a lift from a Japanese couple who live in KL, and just came up for the weekend. Jeez, Ipoh makes everyone friendly! Back at the bus stop, it happened to be near a red light. So when traffic piled up, people rolled down the window to talk. I probably had the same conversation 5 times waiting for the bus. But that was pretty much it for day 2 in Ipoh! The buses, caves, and treks were a few hours each, so it was back to a mall for dinner and bed. The entire time I've been here, I have yet to see another westerner - even at the hostel. I cannot understand why. Ipoh has so much to do, more than Penang - I could probably spend another day here. Plus it should go without saying the people are great. I've had so many legitimate hellos and how are yous from strangers, it's really nice. This town inspired me, and I'm going to try and do that more. Ipoh, you're awesome.