Ipoh & the Tin Mines

Well... we are now out of Kuala Lumpur! Thank goodness, because the traffic was crazy... We are now headed to a place called Ipoh... which Sebastian says most people call Eee-poo but can also be called Eee-poe... As long as you don't pronounce it I-poo!! Hah-hah... hmmm...

We stopped at a place called Kellie's Castle, also known as Kellie's Folly. It is unfinished and was built by a Scottish guy back in the early 1900s. There were some construction delays along with the Spanish Flu and well... he died before it could be finished.

And now we are in Ipoh... hmmm... what did I say about traffic??

Sebastian showed me this plaque outside the big old railway station in Ipoh... it is called The Four Way Test (of the things we think, say or do): Is it the Truth? Is it Fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Cool!

That's the rail station - it also houses the Majestic Hotel and a restaurant...

I wonder if we are staying here?

Sebastian says "no" unless we are beary super rich... which I don't think we are... Oh well.

Did you know that the old Malaya was a British colony back in the day? The British came here to do tin mining...

And you can still check out the old tin mines... just not this part...

This was part of the big old machinery that dug up the rock that contained the tin ore which is called cassiterite and has the chemical formula SnO2... (for those who want to know!)

Little bears have to be beary careful around mining machinery because sometimes they can get hung up on chains! That is why you don't see Sebastian in trouble like this... he knows to be careful here!

Wow... there is a lot of big equipment here...Now it's pretty much all mothballed because the tin industry pretty much collapsed.

But they keep the equipment in good shape...

And it's fun for little bears to explore...

These are some tin ore bags... Did you know that pewter is made up mostly of tin with a tiny bit of either copper, antimony or bismuth? In the past they used lead with the tin and that wasn't beary good because in the Middle Ages (Jerry & Ben can go ask their Papa about that...) lots of people used pewter goblets and plates for eating and drinking and got lead poisoning!

After all that dirty mining stuff, we thought we'd look at some pretty tropical flowers!

And then it was back into the backpack...

Now we're looking for our guesthouse... hmmm... where's Mama when you need her??