Majestic Angsana of Taiping Lake Gardens

Reflections

I have a thing about trees - especially those ancient, majestic-looking ones...

And yet, ironically - no matter how much affections I have for trees, I can never plant or take care of them. One time, a friend gave me a cactus as a gift, and it died in my care - a CACTUS! 

Hence, I keep my relationship with trees to just admiring them from afar. When cameras became more affordable commodities, I took to taking photographs of trees, usually with the blue sky as the backdrop.

So, spending time at the Lake Gardens in Taiping was a real treat. All the lush, foliage - bursts of green over the blue-black Bukit Larut (previously known as Maxwell Hill) in the background. A total change from my normal concrete jungle scenery.

A view of Lake Gardens and Bukit Larut

Taiping Lake Gardens was opened in 1880, making it the first public garden in Malaysia. Chung Thye Pin donated the land, that was initially an abandoned tin mine, to be turned into a recreation park.    

There are ten man made lakes and ponds at the park. But the main attraction would be the row of ancient Angsana (in English: Golden Rain) trees, standing tall and majestic along the Residency road.

As we walked along the road, we were greeted by these beautiful Angsana trees - their branches stretching over to the other side of the road touching the lake.

In Malaysia, where it is consistently sunny and hot - finding a shaded area outdoors, where you can just sit and talk, is not an easy thing. So it was a real change to have the Angsana trees over us, providing enough shade to sit down comfortably on the grass - reading our books, lulled by the sound of nature.

I'm going to stop talking now, and let you absorb the beauty of these majestic Angsana for yourself...

Angsana trees - Residency road

Long branches stretching touching water