Beyond the Dot, Malaysia, Mirror lake

The Mirror Lake

It seems like I get to visit Ipoh quite often because of family living there. And every trip back there I try to find something new to do in this sleepy small town which is often thought of as a place for retirees.

Fortunately, there is a new attraction in town and it’s part of the local government’s effort to promote eco-tourism. There is a rather new Geopark which is located in the midst of several limestone mountains. The main attraction is a small lake which has flooded a couple of old quarries. The attraction was only open in the last 2 years so it’s still rather raw and undergoing development work.

The new attraction is named the Mirror Lake or Tasik Cermin in Malay.
You can find Mirror Lake on Google Maps and navigating here by car is pretty simple. But the last couple of hundred meters of road is through an unpaved sand road which leads to this large carpark.
Beside the carpark you will see this scene. Although crass commercialism doesn’t seem to fit in with a Geopark, I’m glad to see that local businesses have the opportunity to setup here. It could have been a Starbucks logo up there.
Being the only coffeeshop in the area, there was a long line of people waiting for their turn to get a table.
Walking past the coffeeshop and through the steep cliffs will bring you to this very rugged looking area. It’s a dead end gorge where you can walk around and take photos.
There aren’t any safety barriers and despite the warning signs, visitors would still try climbing over the rocks.
I did noticed that many visitors left coins pressed into the sides of the cliff and wedged into the rock. I wonder what’s the significance of this?

You might think right now, so where is the lake? It actually lies across the carpark from this gorge. So walking back across the carpark, I found myself at the entrance to Mirror Lake.

This is the entrance to the Mirror Lake. Of course there’s a ticketing counter now. I guess someone has to pay for public facilities like the carpark and there’s even a newly built and decent public toilet available.
The lake is actually on the other side of the limestone mountain and past the ticketing counter is this old mining tunnel which you would have to walk through.
Its actually very serene and peaceful at the lake. The tunnel opens up on to a small wooden platform where you can take photos from and boat rides are also available. You have to buy tickets for the boat ride and waiting times can be quite long due to the crowds.

If you noticed in the picture of the entrance building, the words on the building says “TASIK CERMIN 1”. So there is a second Mirror Lake, and you will actually pass it on the way into the large carpark.

So this is the entrance and ticketing center for the second Mirror Lake. You can walk from the large carpark or you could drive the short distance, but there’s very limited parking space in front.
The only way to see the second Mirror Lake is to buy a boat ticket and enter through the flooded tunnel.
The flooded tunnel is about a 200m long, but it definitely felt like a long time going through it.
Once we exited the tunnel, it was like we had entered a hidden world. The silence was deafening with the occasional sound of birds chirping. The scenery was very raw and had a Jurassic Park feel to it.
The boats were powered by silent electric motors. A good choice as gas powered engines would have spoiled the silence and polluted the beauty of this place.

I would say this is a very interesting place to spend roughly 2 hours to explore and enjoy its natural beauty. With sensible and sustainable development, this could be a great way to redevelop old quarries into an eco-themed attraction.

Published by

Edwin Tan

Citizen of Earth.

2 thoughts on “The Mirror Lake”

  1. Although that giant logo of the coffee shop seems out of place, I do commend the decision to use silent electric motors to power the boats, for places like this are better when they’re quiet and peaceful, not noisy.

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