Vacation Ideas in Malaysia With Kids - Our Perak Short Getaway

Holiday with kids - Perak's Lost World Of Tambun

It was the June school holidays and we thought we would bring the kids for a short getaway but we didn't want to drive too far away from KL, so Perak was our chosen destination. The last time we visited Perak was nearly 4 years ago, we had visited Lost World of Tambun then and even though it was smaller than Sunway Lagoon, the admission was cheaper and the crowd was significantly less (if you go on a weekday) the kids don't really like to play in the water theme park but the petting zoo was good for an hour and a half and enough to entertain the kids. 

Lost World Of Tambun, Perak - Tiger Enclosure

Lost World Of Tambun; Perak

We also planned to go to Tempurung Cave and Chenderiang Waterfall (Lata Kijang) to expose the kids to more nature and Kellie's Castle was just for fun to look at old ruins though there's nothing much to see :) So a 2 night stay at Perak would suffice for us.

Funny thing was, we overshot the Ipoh exit and couldn't get out until Kapar! The drive up was slow from KL to somewhere before the tunnel cos of an accident and when we missed the exit we saw another accident on the other side of the road, we couldn't handle another traffic jam while waiting for the lane to be cleared so instead of making the U-turn at Kapar we headed to the Taiping Zoo first. We thought it was near but haha it turned out to be quite a drive too. I didn't bring my camera cos we went to Taiping Zoo I think last year and I wasn't really impressed but then I regretted it cos I think the zoo has improved quite a bit since our last visit! I especially like the giraffe and zebras enclosure, its big and the animals are free to roam mimicking its natural environment. 

 

Feeding the birds at Lost World Of Tambun Perak

Lost World of Tambun Perak

Back at Tambun Perak, we chose Best Western The Haven, Ipoh as our accommodation since its the only accommodation that satisfied my criteria of a swimming pool and a bath tub. Its not really a hotel, more like a serviced suite and the food during breakfast wasn't great but the kids were happy. 

Lost World of Tambun had expanded its Petting Zoo since our last visit and the kids enjoyed it tremendously though you can't feed the animals except in the bird aviary. The tiger enclosure is basically a small area with a lone tiger roaming around.  

The petting zoo at Lost World of Tambun

Lost World of Tambun

We didn't try the hot spring nor take a dip in the water even though  I had packed swimming attire and towels for the kids cos my first born wanted to go back to the hotel to rest. Food at Lost World of Tambun is mediocre but at least you won''t go hungry.

The second day we went to Tempurung Cave but since we had kids with us we could only take the easiest trail, we went in the cave without the guide and my no 1 didn't want to go far cos he was scared of climbing the high steps, my no 2 was game though, so he continued with daddy while mommy detoured with the no 1. 

Perak attractions : Kellie's Castle

Afterwards we went to Kellie's Castle and roamed the ruins, imagining how it must be like 80 over years ago. How excited the owner must have been overseeing the construction of his castle, how the kids must have played with their secret passageway between their bedrooms, going up the curved stairways.. and how sad it must have been to go overseas to collect what would have been the first lift in Malaysia only to contract an illness and pass away before he could return! Oh how heartbroken the wife and kids must have been! All the while I was also thinking, my grandad would have just been born around that time (he was from Perak but a different part) this castle is almost as old as my grandad and my mind wanders how my grandad and great grandparents life was back then...

Perak's attraction : Kellie's Castle

Kellie's Castle @ Perak

The third day, we checked out of The Haven and headed to Chenderiang Waterfall (Lata Kijang) on our drive back to KL. If you use googlemaps you will not get to Lata Kijang, it will just keep prompting you to take the expressway but there is no direct exit from the expressway! So to get to Lata Kijang, you have to exit Tapah, then follow the directions to Lata Kijang. Its only about 17km away from Tapah poll, after the first right turn at the traffic light, keep a lookout for the sign to Chenderiang and take a right there (there is a Chicken Rice/ Nasi Ayam stall just before the right turn from Tapah Poll, take the A119 route) unfortunately we missed the sign and overshot to Temoh so we had to u-turn and take the A118 then the A119 to Lata Kijang. Use Waze it will get you there not Google Maps!    

Lata Kijang @ Chenderiang

Lata Kijang was beautiful, the water very clean and we didn't need to climb to high. Sadly, there was a shooting of a drama that day, so we couldn't go to the higher pool but the lower pool was already nice enough Again, avoid weekends! We spotted a stick insect, some small fishes and also lots and lots of butterflies :) Beautiful! Kids played in the water for 1 1/2 hours and then off we drove back to KL. It was a great relaxing short getaway for the family :)

Chenderiang Waterfall near Tapah @ Lata Kijang