Batu Gajah, Perak
Apart from the old town, there is another tourist
attraction that's about an hour's drive away. It is best to go there on a sunny day or at least when it ain't raining. Not that Ipoh rains a lot but it just so happened that on the day I went, it drizzled -_-
If you are unfortunate enough not to be able to visit actual proper castles, this is your nearest, cheapest bet. Although we used to go back to my hometown rather regularly when my
grandmother was still around, we never visited the place before. Or at
least I never did.
Perched on a tiny hill, it isn't your typical big European castle but it is rather majestic.
Of course, the castle was never completed as funds ran out before then. There were information plagues around the castle and the story is romanticized to lure tourist more.
Formerly a suspected haunted ground, now it's haunted by tourists and couples shooting their wedding photos instead. Of course, that's not to say that the area is entirely spook-free.
The castle itself is rather cooling. The outside grounds, on the other hand, can be rather testing.
A mockup of the living room, had the castle been completed. Reminded me of the
Smokehouse in Fraser Hill.
As to how authentic it is, your guess is as good as mine.
The stairways are small and not the kind that you'd want to go down in the middle of the night.
The basement or cellar. No, this I gave a pass. None of my entourage was keen on exploring the entire grounds, what more this eerie walkway.
The overall layout of the castle is plain and simple enough.It's not big enough to get lost in .
The linen room. Not sure how this works because of the humidity. Mouldy linen does not make a happy family; having dealt with it myself when I first moved in.
View from the first floor overlooking the secondary castle.
One of the many bedrooms. Each room was spacious, could easily pass as a studio apartment in KL.
As well kept the grounds were, the mold was growing all over the the wall.
The white walls are a perfect backdrop for bridal shoots. If you don't mind the heat.
Not sure why the mock windows but there is enough natural lighting throughout the rooms. .
This isn't your typical English castle and would have been interesting once completed.
There are so many different living quarters that you can fit 3 generations in the castle comfortably..
I guess people back then were really thin. Otherwise, that's going to require some coordinated moves.
The fact that the castle still stands till today is impressive. It goes to show that workmanship back then is no shoddy job. These days, you'd be lucky if your house don't have cracks after few years.
The elevator shaft. Yes, 3floors and it needed an elevator.
The rooftop is meant to serve as a lookout for incoming attacks.
In this day and age, it'll be more suited for BBQs and moonlight tanning.
My artsy shot.
There is another building which I didn't venture as the sky was turning dark and my company wanted to leave =(
The shadow or windows cast weird shapes.
Inspired by a particular
quote in 2046.
The walkways are narrow. So are the doors. Kinda short too.
It is sad that some people find the need to do graffiti. Of course, it's not as bad as that Egyptian
temple.
Fear of heights or acrophobia isn't something that I have but when you're standing about 4floors up without any safety railing, it's a new found phobia.
Looking down the elevator shaft.
Lets go back to lower ground instead.
This was more incomplete and why just one side of the wall?
There were intricate carvings and structures. Laborers from different parts of the world were brought in to build this castle.
In comparison to the main building, this second one didn't have much information. Maybe it's the servant's living quarters; which is actually bigger than my house.
The tiles and marbles were also especially imported for the castles.
The second castle is perhaps half or three quarters the main castle.
Too bad that this has suffered much at the hands of mother nature.
There is entrance fee to be paid with different rate for kids, adults and senior citizens. Apart from the adults, the rest do have discounts. Is it worth the fee (less than RM10)? It's something to do once in a life time. Oh, there's a different rate for wedding shoots.
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