Kota Bharu...the river port for Gopeng Town.

This is Kota Bharu , a one street railway town that was at one time the seat of the Kinta administration.In 1879 the main access to Kinta was by river transport and Kota Bharu located on the Kinta River was considered an ideal spot by the then Kinta Magistrate HMC Leech.

This is a view of the town from atop the double tracking railway overhead bridge. Looking east beyond the town are disused mining ponds and beyond the ponds is the Kinta River.
For a brief period it served as the river port for the tin produced from Gopeng. A cart road had been cleared and tin from Gopeng was transferred to the Kinta River using bullock cart instead of elephants.
Due to the high incidence of malaria, Kota Bharu was abandoned and in 1884 the administration center for Kinta shifted to Batu Gajah.Subsequently it was made a train stop and the station continued to serve the orang asli mining community and the 3000 acre rubber estate of Chang On Siew.

The main road .
These are double storey shops. The design is slightly different. The upper floor does not extend over the five foot way.
Looking north.The new double tracking railway station is completed.
Looking south.A flat expanse of valley.
As i drove east towards the Kinta River and Batu Gajah i saw this lake. Very nice view.
Across the other bank was a duck farm.
The duck farm.
A closer view of the duck farm. The road here is sandy all the way passing through disused mining ponds.

It was very pleasant driving through here.

cheers.