Teluk Intan (Diamond Bay)

At first I was not impressed with Teluk Intan. It didn't seem to have much to ad to what I had seen before in Perak. The reason was that I had not spend a night in town. In 2011 I finally did what I should have done earlier: stay a night and explore!

The pride and joy of the city: the Leaning Tower.

I had been before in Teluk Intan to see the Leaning Tower, the pride and joy of the city of 120.000 people. It's the 3rd largest city in Perak and it here that the Sultans of Perak held court before they moved to Kuala Kangsar.

The cities name was in the old days Teluk Mak Intan after a female Mandailing trader. In the British colonial times the town's renamed to Teluk Anson, and you will find plenty of names remembering that (I stayed for example in the Anson Hotel).

Few people take the time to explore the streets along the river outside
the town center but there's much to explore here too.

It was only in 1982 that the official name of the city became Teluk Intan, meaning Diamond Bay.

Teluk Intan seems more of the same especially if you compare it to Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar or Taiping. That was also my first, second and even third impression. I was wrong, there is a lot to explore.

The main attractions in town are the Leaning Tower which was build in 1885 by Leong Choon Cheong. Due to an underground stream the tower started leaning only 4 years after construction. It was originally used as a water tower and has still a clock, that rings every 15 minutes. The tower stands on a square, quite visible from many directions. During festivals, like Ramadan, there's a market around the tower.

There is the Raja Muda palace (The regent's palace), now in complete ruins and according to locals haunted.

The city has a sizable Christian community with opposite
of the church a large school complex and graveyard.

The city has many Chinese Shop houses and some government buildings worth to explore. Some are in deplorable state, others have been restored in an awful way but some have found back the grandeur of the past days.

The Hock Soon Keong (Hock Soon Temple) is dedicated to the Mother Ancestor goddess Mazu. The present temple was build in 1883, but the remains of the original temple are much older.

Famous food in town includes chee cheong fun, a noodles dish that has prawns wrapped inside which I had for breakfast and was excellent. Apparently the Malay mee rebus is also a local delicacy, but when I visited, I couldn't find it (maybe it was because of the Ramadan and the Malay stalls are closed during daytime). Other good choices I saw were curry mee and laksa.

In the vicinity: Pasir Salak

Pasir Salak is not far away from Teluk Intan. There is no public transport available to this historic and well maintained site which is very important in the modern Malaysian history.

Here is more about Pasir Salak and why you should visit it

Getting there and stay

Teluk Intan is located in the south of Perak. It is easy connected to Klang/Kuala Lumpur by the trunk road south and north to Sitiawan/Lumut with road #5. Klang is 145 km away, Sitiawan 62km, Lumut 72km.

Hotel Kok Min, no longer serving guests.

Coming from Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh by the motorway, take the junction Bidor and follow direction to Teluk Intan, about 50 km away.

If you come from Ipoh, you can also take the road to Kampar (road 70) and follow from there directions to Langkap and Teluk Intan, 90km.

The city is connected by bus to many main other cities as Kuala Lumpur, Klang, Malacca, Ipoh and also to Lumut (Pangkor).

There are several hotels around the town but only a few inside the town center. Close to The Store supermarket you will find the Anson Hotel, which is the best of the hotels. I found several other hotels in a radius of about 2-3 km from the town center.

All in all, Teluk Intan is certainly worth a visit.

• Find some hotels in Teluk Intan with Hotelscombined
• Find the best prices in town with Tripadvisor
• More hotels in Teluk Intan

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More about Pasir Salak

More about possible daytrips from Pangkor

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