Please do not say you do not know who or what is lonelyplanet. Do google them up. In brief, they are the world’s largest travel guide book publisher. I had one copy when I was travelling around in Europe many years ago. Very handy indeed. Okay, one piece of significant news that was published in many medias recently was that Perak (yes, my home state) has been listed within the top 10 “must visit” regions for 2017. It is ranked 9th and other regions include Choquequirao (Peru), Taranaki (New Zealand), The Azores (Portugal), North Wales (United Kingdom), South Australia, Ayse´n (Chile), The Tuamotus (French Polynesia) and Coastal Georgia, USA. The Skellig Ring, Ireland was ranked number 10.
Before everyone start asking me if it’s the time to buy property since visitors are going to swarm into Perak in 2017, let’s get this very straight. Assuming your property really could be rented out for the whole 2017, then what’s next? Think a little more long term before buying. As long as you are connected to one very reliable homestay agent, then by all means get your place furnished soonest and be ready. My personal thoughts, even if Perak is my home state is this, the number of foreign visitors cannot suddenly double. The reason is because of limitations in terms of connectivity into Perak via flights. Seriously, assuming I am a foreigner who trusts LonelyPlanet totally and thinks Perak is an awesome choice, then what? Fly into Kuala Lumpur and skip KL altogether so that I can visit only Perak? Hmmm
Of course, I would always be doing my part to get more friends to visit Perak, mostly Ipoh, Sitiawan and Teluk Intan which is more closely connected to me. One was the place I was born and stayed till 10. One is my father’s hometown which we still frequent on a yearly basis. Ipoh is whereby parents stay today. Some of the plus points listed by Lonely Planet? Ipoh has both heritage and historical sites. It has many classic and vintage cafes and where nature is concerned, it has the Royal Belum National Park and also Pangkor Island. If I may add, there is also Lumut where along some stretches of the beach, you can dig for ‘kepah’ which is awesome when stir-fried or made into omelettes. There’s also historical hiking trails in Taiping, seafood in many smaller towns and one of the best dim sums you can find in Malaysia. Last but not least, buying a home in Ipoh for your future retirement is going to be a good one because I intend to retire there too. Haha. As for buying a property to rent out to tourists because of this top 10 ranking? Your decision lah. Happy visiting Ipoh.
written on 25 Oct 2016
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