Orang Utan Island and Taiping from Penang

Our driver, Herrik was punctual and we were pleased to find that we were the only passenger. The drive to Taiping, a pleasant small city with many old buildings, was interesting and comfortable. We visited the beautiful Lake Gardens and war cemetery, before having a coffee at a quaint roadside cafe opposite the prison, called Mom's prison corner cafe. The museumwas in a beautiful old building and was well curated. Then on to the Lske Resort where we grabbed a hasty bite of lunch in the cafe. The boat trip to the island took about 15 minutes. Our guide at the Orangutan facility was informative and she as well as the keepers ensured that ee eere able to view and interact with about 10 of the animals.

From start to finish the tour was first rate. The driver/guide was on time arriving at our hotel at 8am. He introduced himself and told us any questions we had, to ask and he would try to answer them, which he did. We first went to Taiping Zoo we were there for an hour and a half, which we felt was long enough. Not a big Zoo. Animals looked healthy hopefully well looked after. Following that we went to Perak Museum, which was very interesting out of the two we felt we would have liked more time at the Museum. Following the Museum we set off to see the Orangutan's. All the way our guide was giving us lots of interesting facts about Penang. Before going to the Orangutan Island we had lunch at the Lakeside. Very good food at very cheap price. After lunch we left our guide and crossed to the island on the ferry which was a plesant journey. We were met with a guide from the Island. We were very lucky as we were the only visitors at that time which was great. The guide was very interesting telling us all about the Island and the work they do for the Orangutan's and of course telling us about the Orangutan's. She told us all their names and as we called to them they responded. It was fantastic we were so lucky to see them and so many of them. We saw the youngest and the oldest. It was a day we will remember for a very long time. For anyone who likes the Orangutans, as we do, it is a must do trip. A little tip go during the week it is quieter a tip from our driver/guide.

The orangutans are the stars of this tour and are well worth it. The trip to the zoo is at the hottest part of the day - the majority of the animals looked hot or couldn't be seen. Not sure about the conditions at the zoo. Museum is a let down after the orangutans. But tour is with it for them!!

After docking we met up with Wong and his mini bus and were driven across the new 24km long bridge joining Penang to the mainland then travelled an hour passed fresh water lakes and marsh land then into the mountains to the theme park at Laketown. Here a ferry took us across to Orangutan island where we were met by our guide. To see the Orangs we walked in a cage unfortunately not good for photography. They were separated from the cage by an electric fence about a metre away. Being clever animals they knew not to touch this and retrieved some fruit thrown to them using sticks. We were introduced to them by name and learnt about the hierarchy and personalities. From here it was a 30 minute drive to the zoo. With perspiration dripping off us December we viewed what animals were not taking shelter before going to the museum. Here we viewed many of the Malaysian animals me missed at the zoo - stuffed. That was good - it was cool inside and the animals couldn't run away! There were many species we hadn't seen before. A very full day with a diversity of scenery.

Great to be up close to these amazing animals. We met a teacher with a school group who were super friendly and took pic's of us with the kids.Good day out

The Iranian island was worth doing but would advise English speaking tourists not to the Taiping Zoo as the guide, even after repeated efforts to get him to translate into English completely ignored the request. The Perak Museum was worth doing though.

Certainly worth a visit here but allow at least 11/2 hour for the zoo