Ancient route connecting two villages discovered in Ipoh
Published on: Sunday, March 07, 2021
By: Bernama
IPOH: A study by a heritage association has found that there was an ancient route that connected two villages in the southern part of Gunung Lanno, Simpang Pulai near here, which is believed to have been last used by the villagers more than 100 years ago.
Persatuan Jurupandu Pelancong Geopark Warisan Alam Semulajadi Perak (GEONAT) chairman Mohd Fadly Md Noor said a GEONAT team explored the area after receiving information from locals about this three months ago.
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“We were asked to conduct a study and after the exploration based on an old topographic map published in 1916, we discovered traces of a route that had been used in ancient times.
"Among our findings were a long tunnel and a stair-shaped stone structure in a cave," he said when met by reporters in the area.
He said the route was also believed to have been used for connecting two villages namely Teluk Kangor and Serba Jadi during the days of the British colonial era in Malaya at the time of the First World War (1914-1918), but most of the villages there had now been turned into an industrial area.
He said the findings would be relayed to the relevant parties to enable further studies to be conducted in more detail at the location gazetted as a quarry zone under the administration of the Batu Gajah District Council.
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"Besides that, the area is unique and we believe has the potential to be developed into a conservation centre and even suitable as a location for activities such as kayaking or tourism because there is a pool about two metres (m) deep with a size of 200mx200m.
"Further research can be carried out by historians or institutes of higher learning because we found that there is a unique H-shaped water pool in the hill area," he said.
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Mohd Fadly said if the cave there could be developed as a tourist attraction, it would be the first to offer water activities, especially kayaking, in Perak.
He said GEONAT was still conducting further studies on the rock structure and environment of the cave area as well as safety aspects including identifying suitable times to visit based on water level and weather factors together with diving and waterfall experts and nurses.
GEONAT was established in August last year with its mission and vision to develop ecotourism, specifically in Perak.
The 78-member association is active in exploration-related activities in cave areas, nature, heritage sites and geoparks.
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