He was about 40-45 years old, they believe. And he was given a proper burial, complete with stone tools, and meant offerings from five different animals as well as shellfish from the river; the shells covered the floor. When they found him 11,000 years later, he was remarkably well-preserved, and still in his original foetal position.

The “Perak Man” is the peninsula’s oldest skeleton. He was discovered in a cave in the Lenggong vicinity near Grik by prominent archaeologist Dr Zuraina Majid, who had also uncovered the country’s oldest stone tools nearby, potentially dating back 100,000 years. The “Perak Man” is thought to be an ancestor of the Negrito Orang Asli people, a small hunter-gatherer tribe regarded as the oldest inhabitants in the peninsula.

The Lenggong stone tools in Kota Tampan were also discovered intact. Anvils, stone hammers and tools in various stages of being made - complete with flakes and chips - suggest that the site was a tool factory. It was abandoned all those years ago when a volcanic eruption spewed clouds of ash that buried everything - the same eruption that created Lake Toba in Sumatra. Stone tool factories have also been excavated in Tingkayu, Saban and Kubang Pasu, Kedah.

Taiping was also the terminus for the country’s first railway line, - now disused - which ended in Kuala Sepetang ( Port Weld ) on the coast. The road there passes the old fort of Kota Ngah Ibrahim, named after the Malay territorial chief of Larut who grew rich through the tin trade, but was unable to control the turbulent Chinese factions producing the wealth.

Kota Ngah Ibrahim

The road also leads to the Matang Mangrove Forest ( Hutan Baleau Matang ), which has a park with boardwalk going through a sustainably-managed mangrove forest, which has been harvested for charcoal for nearly 100 years. The traditional charcoal kilns make an interesting visit as do the fishing villages.

Matang Mangrove Forest’s Tips :

Location : Larut Matang District, Perak, Malaysia.
Transportation : To get there, exit the North-South Expressway at Exit 146 Changkat Jering for members coming from Kuala Lumpur, and Exit 148 Kamunting/Taiping for members coming from Penang. Take the road towards Kuala Sepetang (Port Weld). Ask for directions if necessary. The Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve is about 2 km from the pekan of Kuala Sepetang.

A portion of the mangrove swamp further north near Bagan Serai is the Kuala Bird Gula Sanctuary. Hundreds of birds, including rare species, feed and nest here. Between August and December, thousands of migrant birds make this their pit-stop en route south to Australia. The sanctuary is also home to otters, monkeys and the ridge-back dolphin. For information and bookings, contact the Wildlife department.

Kuala Bird Gula Sanctuary

The former Perak’s capital, Taiping which located at the south of Grik has the heaviest rainfall in the peninsula. One of its loveliest names : “everlasting peace” in Chinese derives from the ending of the bloody struggles between rival Chinese mining factions in Larut after the Treaty of Pangkor was signed.

The town’s atmosphere is epitomised by the pretty Lake Gardens (Taman Tasik), whose serene lakes and old raintrees were established at an abandoned tin mine on the edge of the town in the 1890s, long before the word ecology was in use. In the grounds is a nine-hole gold course and the rustic 50-hectare (120-acre) Taiping Zoo. A road leads to Bukit larut (Maxwell Hill), Malaysia’s oldest hill station.

Lake Gardens (Taman Tasik)

Taiping Zoo’s Tips :
Location : Jalan Taman Tasik, Taman Tasik Taiping, 34000 Taiping, Perak
Tel : (605) 808 6577
Fax : (605) 806 6025
Opening Hours : Open daily ( 8.30am-6pm )

The entrance to the gardens is marked by a number of architectural gems including the colonial town hall and the government offices. The Perak Museum (Muzium Perak), housed in a venerable Victorian building, is the oldest in the country. Its collection include some excellent natural history and ethnology displays. The Ling Nam Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Perak, and within it there is a model of a boat dedicated to the Chinese emperor who built the first canal in China.

Perak Museum’s Tips :
Opening Hours : Open daily ( 9.30am-5pm )
Admission Fee : Free

Sungai Perak is the second-largest river in the peninsula and its flow is controlled by Malaysia’s largest dam, 150km (95miles) upstream from Kuala Kangsar on the Temenggor River tributary. This region is still widely covered by thick mountainous jungle, and forms the northernmost part of the wildlife corridor stretching through Taman Negara and Endau-Rompin. It has one of the best remaining populations of large mammals in the country, including endangered species such as the tiger, Sumatran rhino and Malayan bear.

East-West Highway cutting through the area to Kota Bahru and this is the only public area where you can see a road sign warning of elephants crossing. The road bypasses the picturesque Empangan Temenggor (Temenggor Dam), where there is a resort and floating chalets for fishermen.

The jungles of Temenggor south of the highway are slowly opening up to nature enthusiasts due to the attention brought to it by the Malaysian Nature Society. North of Temenggor across the highway is the lush, mountainous Belum, earmarked to be gazetted as a state park. Access to Belum is still restricted, but tour agencies market Temenggor as Belum, after the MNS scientific expeditions.

Temenggor is full of numerous beautiful towering waterfalls. Among the area’s popular sites are the seven-step thundering Kerteh Waterfall, where the lucky could catch sight of the giant Rafflesia bloom, and the eight-step Kelaweh Waterfall, with a lovely campsite at its spray-misted base.

Animals are difficult to spot, but there are plenty of fresh hoof-prints and droppings on the ground and claw-marks on trees. Trails are flanked by tall hill dipterocarp trees, medicinal plants and shrubs underfoot, and of course, the thorny rattan that grabs at sleeves and flesh. The leech-phobic would do well to stay away. The dryer months are traditionally in the first half of the year, but “dry” is a relative term here.

Tour guides arrange entry permits but the District Office might sometimes require a meeting with foreigners. All groups are guided by the Orang Asli, who comprise the peaceable and friendly Temiar and Jahai peoples, and a tour usually includes a night at their thatched hut villages and a little bersewang (traditional dance) performance.

The jump-off point to Temenggor is Grik, one and a half hour’s drive from Kuala Kangsar on a scenic and winding road. Serenely shrouded in mist in the early morning, the town has basic accommodation, including a government resthouse, and lots of eateries, though serving local food only. During the communist warfare years, Grik was the compulsory check-in point for the daytime-use only East-West Highway.

Perak’s royal capital, Kuala Kangsar, is a lovely garden town about 35km (20miles) north of Ipoh across the Perak River. Within walking distance of the town’s attractions is the quiet Government Rest House on Jalan Istana, which overlooks the river. It also has a charming little musem.

Masjid Ubudiah (Ubudiah Mosque) is a huge golden dome of the century which located at Bukit Chandan. Its striking and symmetrical domes and minarets make it one of the most photographed Muslim buildings in the country ; if it is reminiscent of Kuala Lumpur’s Moorish architecture, it is because it had the same architectural.

Masjid Ubudiah (Ubudiah Mosque)

Beyong the mosque, the road circles the Sultan of Perak’s palace, the modern Istana Iskandariah, with its rather watered-down Moorish architectural elements. Next to it is the smaller but more dignified and charming Istana Kenangan (open daily 9.30am-5pm). Its name translates as the Palace of Memories built. The original construction was in accordance with Malay tradition, without a single nail or architectural plans. Subsequent preservation attempts have not remained faithful to this requirement, however, but the building is still a beautiful example of Perak architecture. It is now a royal museum and contains an interesting collection of mementos and photographs of the Perak royal family. All displays are in Bahasa Malaysia, however, although a guide is sometimes available to bring tourists around.

Kuala Kangsar is also home to one of the pioneer batch of rubber trees that arrived here in the 1870s as seeds from Brazil and eventually took over the country. One of these trees is found near the agricultural office in town. Though some plantation owners have switched to oil palm because of higher revenues, others are cashing in on rubberwood, an important new commodity for Malaysia’s booming furniture industry.

Close by is the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). Founded in 1904 as a residential school for the sons of the Malay aristocracy, it is now the seedbed for a good cross-section of Malaysia’s political establishment.

On the outskirts of Kuala Kangsar, about 20km (30 miles) along the Ipoh-Enggor road, is the pottery district of Sayong, also once the home of sultans. Turn off at the bridge and turn left again to get to Kampung Kepala Bendang, the original potter’s village, and you will be greeted by scores of vases, ashtrays and ornaments drying in the sun all along this dirt road. The most famous of the traditional designs in the black labu, gourd-shaped water pitchers with broad bases and tall narrow spouts that keep cold water really cold.