TAIPING TOWN, PERAK (MALAYSIA)

View from New Champagne Hotel
A good budget hotel with friendly staff. Pocket-friendly too.

Apart from transport cost, the next thing that can make a big hole in your pocket is accommodation. If you are the next Warren Buffet, you may skip this part.

The nice thing about Taiping Town is the pleasant, well-maintained and inexpensive budget hotels.

When I arrived in Taiping it was already 9pm. My plan was to stay at New Champagne Hotel. I knew roughly the location but I asked around anyway.

I was surprised nobody knew where the hotel was! Not a single person.

I spotted Hollywood Hotel. Nice name but hotel only in name as it looked more like a homestay for foreign workers.

"How much a night?" I asked the Indian youth at Reception.

"RM$70," he said.

He must have thought I had just come from the planet Mars. RM$70!

Finally, I found Hotel New Champagne which was just around the corner from this cheat.

"Why nobody in Taiping knows where your hotel is?" I asked the hotel receptionist.

The Indian lady said, "You must say 'Old Cathay Hotel' or 'Soon Lee Restaurant'."

The room cost me RM$68.

Cozy room with a 14-inch TV, air-conditioned and free drinking water outside.

And the beautiful Taiping Lake Gardens is just within spitting distance.

If you have more Malaysian ringgit to throw than me, then Panorama Hotel at RM$92 is a steal. Its coffee house is the perfect place to relax after all that hard travelling.

If New Champagne Hotel is full try the similar Furama Hotel nearby.

Taiping Lake Gardens, Malaysia Part 2

On arriving at Taiping Lake Gardens, unless you suffer a sudden loss of your visual sense, you'll certainly be amazed by a row of huge trees with spreading branches.

Their branches dip into the lake, and they seem to be drinking from it!

Those who grew up in Taiping Town never fail to mention how much Taiping Lake Gardens played in their formative years.

In the early mornings and evenings, the gardens come alive with joggers, strollers and families having a spot of fun.

It may not match the Singapore Botanical Gardens in diversity of plants but it's more scenic.

Taiping Lake Gardens, Malaysia

Three reasons why you should visit Taiping. The top reason is its beautiful and peaceful Lake Gardens with the mountain range as its backdrop. There's no where else in the whole of Malaysia which can equal or surpass the Lake Gardens.

Thirty years ago I stepped foot here, and it's still remarkably well-maintained.

Century year old trees won't fail to attract your attention as well.

That's why Taiping has been consistently voted (by me!) as the best town in Malaysia.