I had no tickets booked to get to Ipoh but knew that it was a bus every few hours, so spent the morning and lunch period sorting out all my belongings and packing, ready to head north.
After a lunch of some instant noodles, I made my way to the TBS bus station. I was not sure of the route via Masjid Jamek station so headed to KL central, and tried to find my way from there. Google maps had other plans though, because there are 3 different transport hubs at TBS, and depending on which one you select for your directions, results in different methods and choices for travel, between bus, LRT, and KMT. I ended up taking the KMT, though I had to buy a one off ticket, as to board the KMT required that my touch and go card be loaded with enough money for the most expensive journey
I made it to TBS in good time, and got the bus to Ipoh for only 20RM. This time I remembered to keep my jacket out of my bags so that I didn't freeze to death in the air conditioning!
As the bus reached Ipoh, I started to get nervous because it appeared t have gone past the bus station in the town center, and instead looked as though it was heading towards Butterworth, another hour away. The fears came to nothing though, as the new bus terminal for Ipoh/Perak is in the north west of the city.
I hailed a Grab taxi to the Hostel, then realised that reception officially closed before I would get there, so I called them and was advised it was fine I'd still be able to check in.
I reached the hostel after a nice chat with the taxi driver, who had recommended some of the cave temples for me to see. At this point, I had to unpack some things to dig out my passport.
Once I had done this I was unable to find the passport anywhere, and despite checking through my bags multiple times, I wasstill unable to locate it.
It was quite late by now, so I decided that I would get some sleep, and look again in the morning, and if unable to find it, head back to Kuala Lumpur, as that was where I last recalled it being. It was also the only place where I could sort out an emergency travel document.