Taiping (translated as "Town of Everlasting Peace" in Mandarin), was once known as Larut and performed the role of the state capital of Perak in the 19th century. Peace was not always available in this town; bitter feuds often broke out between immigrants (who worked in the nearby tin mines) from rival Chinese secret societies resulting in injury and killings on all sides. Although the state capital was shifted in Ipoh in 1935, this little town still boasts the "40 Firsts of Malaysia" including the first railway, first museum, first zoo, first newspaper and first post office! The modern town is renowned for its beautiful Taman Tasik Taiping (or the Lake Gardens), built in 1880 on a site of an abandoned tin mine.

We started the next day with a hearty breakfast of roti canai and teh tarik kurang manis (or less sugar) style, before taking a walk around the lake and we saw many residents jogging (not many towns in Malaysia boasts such healthy culture). I suppose everybody were truly refreshed by the abundance of fresh air and lush vegetation. After the quick visit, we checked out from the hotel and left Taiping for the north joining the North-South Highway as soon as we could. We had a schedule to follow after all.

Our next destination was the tiny state of Perlis. Situated at the north-west corner of Peninsular Malaysia, it is the smallest state of the country. Historically, Perlis was part of the Kedah state. However, when Kedah was annexed by the Siamese in 1821 (the exiled sultan was only restored to his throne after he accepted the conditions laid down by the Siamese), Siam separated Perlis into a separate principality directly vassal to Bangkok and appointed Syed Hussain Jamalulail as the first Raja of Perlis. Since then, his descendants had been ruling the state as rajas (not sultans).

After almost 4 hours on the highway (cutting across Perak, Penang and Kedah), we finally reach Arau, the (sleepy) royal capital of Perlis and had lunch. Spent an entire afternoon watching (or maybe I actually dozed off) my travelling mates having fun doing outdoor rock climbing at Bukit Keteri. Headed to Kangar (state capital of Perlis) and checked into Hotel Ban Cheong (RM80/S$34.78 per night). It probably took us not more than 30mins (by foot) to realise that there is really nothing much here to attract visitors (almost all shops closes by 8pm). But then again, it is this peace, simplicity and bucolic charm that are often so lacking in other parts of Malaysia.