Kuala Lipis Heritage Trail

Kuala Lipis was the capital of Pahang from 1898 to 1955, rich on gold, tin and timber, and the British built accordingly. Then the capital moved to Kuantan and the town stopped growing, which is why so much of it is still standing. Start at the 0 KM marker beside the post office, itself from 1910, where the information square has a map of the buildings. The oldest is Masjid Negeri on Jalan Jelai, a small wooden mosque from 1888 that has outlasted every flood since. Thean Hou Temple went up in 1898. Clifford School was founded in 1913 and still has its 1926 Malay Hostel. On the hill above it sits the Pahang Club from 1907, padlocked and sagging. The Residency crowns the highest hill in town. The town is hilly and the old buildings are mostly on the tops of the hills, which is deliberate, because the Jelai and the Lipis used to take the low ground regularly.