Hotels in Gopeng

Gopeng is a township located in Mukim Teja, Kampar district within the state of Perak, Malaysia. It is just 20 kilometres away from Ipoh, the state capital. The township is located at the western part of the North-South expressway stretch between Tapah and Simpang Pulai. Gopeng is blessed by the presence of limestone hills and Titiwangsa Mountains. Its strategic location makes it able to access the major cities from almost every direction – Ipoh to the north, Batu Gajah to the west and Kampar to the south. It is placed under the administration of a recently established district of Kampar; prior to that it was administered under Kinta district.

The town once enjoyed prosperity due to its richness in tin minerals where tin mining activity was ongoing heavily till the collapse of the tin mining industry in the 1980s. In its glory days, there are French and British mining companies operating alongside the local companies which give jobs to a lot of people. Since then, a lot had fled this place to find better opportunities elsewhere. Nonetheless there are still people who stayed for the love of the city. Nowadays Gopeng is more well-known for its cultural and heritage values as well as the ecotourism activity going on around the city. This is due to the fact that Gopeng is surrounded by a number of natural attractions such as jungles, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, caves (Gua Tempurung), ponds, and villages, making it such an ideal place to go for an outdoor adventure.

How to Get There

From Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the best method of transport is by train – you can catch the Express Rail Link (ERL) train which goes to KL Sentral/Bandar Tasik Putrajaya/Cyberjaya/Salak Tinggi/KLIA route. There, you can board the Electric Train Services (ETS) northbound coach and stop by the Batu Gajah station before opting for public transportation. Coaches departing from KL Sentral are available from 0700 hours to 2340 hours daily with intermittent gaps around 1-2 hours in between coaches. Schedules are available at the official website of KTM.

Another option is to go directly by bus. From the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), you can board the Transnational Express or Sri Maju Express line directly to the Ipoh Amanjaya bus terminal to get started. Then from Ipoh, board a bus directly to Gopeng.

Tourist Attractions

Gua Tempurung

Gua Tempurung is easily accessible from the Gopeng Toll Plaza. Upon exiting the toll, one can take around mere ten minutes to reach the cave. With the length of about 3 kilometres, Gua Tempurung is the longest cave in the country, being very popular among cave enthusiasts. This limestone cave is one of the largest in Peninsular Malaysia as well. It is not as massive as Niah Cave and Mulu Cave in Sarawak and is relatively easy to explore, hence someone new to caving exploration will be delighted. Part of the cave has been developed lightly as a show cave with electric lighting and walkways and there are a range of tours of different lengths and difficulty. A fine river cave with the river passage runs about 1.6 kilometres through the hill can be found. Then there is the cave tunnel running from the east to the west covering a distance of about 2 kilometres under the limestone hills known as Gunung Tempurung and Gunung Gajah. Three very large chambers are visible with some amazing structure of stalactites and stalagmites, which are what these caves are famous for – its breath-taking collections of stalagmites, stalactites and other amazing rock formations are nothing short of magnificent speleological wonders, which is unique only to this part of the world. If one is interested, there are various tour packages into the caves provided. There are torch lights and safety helmets being available for rent.

Gopeng Heritage House and Museum

The heritage house and museum is created by the locals of Gopeng for the visitors to learn about the Gopeng history about tin mining. Both museums are within walking distance hence it is not complete to go to one without visiting another. Entrance fee is not charged and maintenance is done using the public funds. Upon entering the museum, visitors will feel like going through the time machine back to the glory days where Gopeng are famously attended by people all over the country intending to have a taste of the tin mining labours. A complete recollection of the tin mining industry back in those days as well as carefully taken care of relics are put into display, making it worth a visit.