We’ve been in Ipoh for years and didn’t know about this cave temple until recently. It’s not a new temple but after our visit, we think it can certainly rival more popular temples.
Just go through our photos here and you’ll see what we mean!
However, you do want to read what we have got to say too, as there are some things to note for a successful visit here!
Getting Here
The temple is tucked in an industrial area but from certain angles, it can be seen from the main road.
On weekdays, the roads to the temple are frequented by lorries coming and going from the cement works in the area. It is dusty but the road didn’t have as many potholes as we anticipated. The roads are quite wide too.
There is actually another lovely temple in this area but construction is not finished yet. We mean to check this one out in the future as it offers some hillside views with a short trekking trail.
Kong Fook Ngam Cave Temple is beside a river and up against a high limestone outcrop. The compound is spacious and you can park your car anywhere although we suggest keeping a sharp eye out for dog poop.
There are many resident dogs wandering the temple grounds – they mostly keep to themselves except for one friendly female who is usually inside the temple. We suspect she likes to follow the temple caretaker around.
What’s Inside The Temple
The front of the temple is only accessible by stairs so you cannot push a wheelchair up into this temple.
There’s no lift inside the temple too. Unlike with Kek Look Tong. It’s barren and plain inside the temple. The main prayer hall is in a cave which can be accessed up a few flights of stairs.
Here, you can buy some incense sticks to pray at the various deities inside the hall. They happen to sell some chilled soft drinks at this same counter too.
Things To Note
The elderly temple caretaker, Ling Jie has quarters within the temple and she may either be here, or upstairs in the main temple chamber.
We think it’s very important that you find Ling Jie before exploring the caves in the main temple chamber. Because if you get lost in there, no one will know you are there. There’s no phone signal while in the never-ending tunnels.
Also, you will need her to turn on the lights in the tunnels. It’s very dark in there even with a flashlight. The door barring access to the tunnels may be locked too.
There are no entrance fees to visit the temple or the tunnels but they do very much appreciate donations to upkeep the temple (especially the lights in the tunnels).
Note: If you call the number listed for the temple online, another lady will answer and she can contact the caretaker if you cannot reach her.
Ling Jie did not follow us into the tunnels but just showed us in until the first tunnel. She came back to check on us after close to an hour.
Closing time for the tunnels is 4pm although the official closing time for the tunnels is 5pm. If you want ample time to explore the tunnels, we recommend coming here before 3pm.
Note too that the temple is closed on Mondays.
Inside The Caves
Ling Jie showed us a spot inside the cave with beautiful crystal. And she also mentioned there are places inside the tunnels that we should not go as they are risky.
After our cave exploration, she also showed us an old newspaper article telling of how one guy sought to protect the cave crystals from being stolen by thieves. The same guy installed all the lights in the tunnels too so that visitors could appreciate the beauty of the caves!
And beautiful they are! Inside, we saw many impressive and curious instances of stalagmites and stalactites. There are markers to indicate formations that resemble animals or religious icons too.
Ling Jie also told us that the front part of the tunnels have some manmade portions to replace what was lost during these secret excavations. Further in, the tunnels are completely natural. Some parts of the cave have marble walls!
There are a few different caverns as well including one larger one that we stopped at to catch our breath. Tunnels seemed to lead in every direction – we even found one that offered a glimpse of the outdoors. And another tunnel had a dog sleeping peacefully in the sand.
Somewhere deeper in the tunnels was a gated and lit niche which had a lot of sparkling crystal in it. The crystal is gated to prevent theft.
All throughout the caves, colorful LED lights lent some cheer to the tunnels. The only ventilation in these tunnels are from some strategically placed industrial stand fans.
Without these, we can only imagine how much more claustrophobic it would be! As we wanted to leave these tunnels after about an hour of endless exploring.
The furthest we went was a tunnel that had some puddles in it. The ceiling was so low here that we had to crouch. But it too looked like it could just keep on going.
Conclusion
Gua Tempurung and Kek Look Tong may be grander in scale than Kong Fook Ngam Cave Temple. But this cave temple has its own set of cave tunnels to explore and they’re very extensive.
If you want to feel a real sense of adventure and want to visit a less popular cave temple, we highly recommend a visit here. Very few tourists come here and it’s a shame!