Rest House at rest

Not so long ago there used to be two rest houses in Taiping.  But due to some unfortunate circumstances, both these rest houses are at rest today.  One is located at Station Road in town and it seems to be under renovation for a long time.  The public has still not got any idea what its final shape will be like.  Then there was another rest house located at the lake gardens.  The management of this one changed hands a number of times and so did its name - from New Rest House to Casuarina Inn or something like that.  Now just look at how it is like today :

It seems that the pillars were that of the house of  the first assistant British resident in Perak, and that his house was burnt down, leaving only the pillars. That house was also known as The Residency. I think I have also heard of another account which stated that the house was totally destroyed by termites! Only the pillars were spared.  That's about the past, now to the present. Just look at the neglected state of the Rest House and its compound.  The rest house is at behind the pillars. Of course, it's at rest now. Nobody was around when this picture was taken.  Perhaps the place might come to live at night - I don't know.

    

 A closer look at the pillars.  They are beautiful and have been used as lamp support in the past.  Just imagine those days when they were clean and painted white - beautiful.  But now, look at the lawn too - no one seems to care.  Again, there's a gossip going around that this place will be turned into the lower station for the cable car going up Bukit Larut.  How far this is true, I don't know.  But I hope they don't destroy or remove the pillars.

   

 Just how could such a beautiful place, if properly managed, not attract people to stay is beyond my understanding.  It has both modern and ancient designs, and it has Bukit Larut as its natural backdrop.  What happened? I wonder.

 

    One last picture of the rest house with the grand pillars in the foreground.

Up Same Road

From the old foot bridge, the road leads to another interesting structure - an abandoned swimming pool!!  This is the place where the old New Club swimming pool was located.  According to the locals, it seemed that the lease for that place expired and the Taiping Town Council did not want it to be renewed.  Perhaps there was a plan by the council to manage the pool by themselves.  So like some plans, somehow things did not work out the way it should and the whole place was abandoned.  It is a shame, really.  This was a very unique swimming pool because the water for the pool comes directly from the waterfalls on the hills.  It's fresh, clean and natural and the place has a beautiful natural surrounding too.  It was also said another reason why the swimming pools could not be opened to the public by the town council was that pumps and water control system were falling apart and was beyond repair. So it was left to die a natural death.

    Steps with railings were carefully constructed across the slope of the hill to go around the pools. All these have disappeared and today there is no sign of the railings or the changing room.

 The steps leading up to the abandoned swimming pool.

 Fresh water from a small waterfall flows into one of the collecting pools to filter out sediment and debris before the water is allowed to flow into the swimming pools.

Another source of water from another waterfall.  

 This is the pool for the children because it's shallower than the main pool.

The abandoned main pool.  It has been neglected for years and is now a favourite haunt for truants and other undesirable characters.    

Roads Seldom Taken

A lot has been written by bloggers about Taiping, a town in Northern Malaysia, so what I am contributing here will hopefully not be repetitions of what others have said - like the 101 'firsts' in the country.  As I walk around some of the less beaten paths, I come across structures which have been neglected, damaged or destroyed for reasons unknown.  Perhaps readers of this blog could provide some insights into what's posted here so that the residents of this town may have a better understanding of its past.   Take for instance this picture of and old bridge.  It is a beautiful bridges built ages ago.  I don't know why it was built,  who built it or where does the footpath across the bridge lead to.   It has been neglected for years until recently a group of international young people came and cleaned it up.  They did a good job, removing all the moss, creepers and bushes that had grown all  over the bridge.  It is located along the road that leads to the Waterworks or the reservoir.

   This is the old bridge, It is a foot-bridge built across a stream.

The young people have done a good job clearing it up so we can walk across it.  formerly, it's covered with undergrowth and creepers.

     This is another view of the bridge with a stream flowing beneath it.

                  The questions  :  Who built it? Where does the footpath lead to?  Why was it built? 

            As mentioned earlier, a stream flows beneath the bridge and this spot is very popular with weekend  

           picnickers.

 A part of the stream just before the bridge, here one can see young children playing in the water during weekends.

 The area around the bridge is a forest reserve. and one must take time to look at the beautiful tall trees.

 

 This tree must be at least a hundred years old, let's hope no one comes up with the idea of widening the road and bringing it down!

Further up the road from the bridge is a Hindu temple. there is also another Hindu shrine just by the bridge. A few months later, I browse through some books at the MPH Bookstore in Ipoh and came across a book which mentioned that this bridge was built by the British for workers to walk up to the reservoir and to do repairs on the large pipes which down the slope of the hill.  Now at least we have some information on why the bridge was built.