Malaysia

New day, new country. I headed to Malaysia from Koh Lanta via a bus, 2 ferries, a Tuk Tuk and a taxi, and finally arrived in Langkawi with 3 new friends (and Jay).

The Currency

Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)

5.5 MYR = 1 GBP

The Language

This is written how I pronounce it; excuse anything that is a spelling error!

Terima kasih - thank you

Selamat - good...

Pagi- morning

Tengah hari- afternoon

Petang- evening

Malam- night

Tinggal- bye

Barapa harga- how much?

Mahal bangat- too expensive

Boleh kurang- reduce price?

Sila - please

Yuh - yes

Teeduck- no

Maaf- sorry

Sedap- delicious

Kopi o - black coffee

The Food

Night markets are your best bet to find great food, but many restaurants offer amazing food and great prices too! Being a very mixed culture, the three main food types you get here are: Chinese, Indian and Malay. The Indian food here is the best I’ve had since leaving India. Do not miss it. Roti’s (a pancake like bread) for breakfast is pretty standard here, it’s cheap and will fill you up for a while. Also try Murtabak, which is a Malay dish consisting of a filled pancake and varying sauces.

The Route

Langkawi

Crossing the border over from Thailand via a small ferry was an interesting one, something I’ve not done before in Asia. As soon as we came close to the Island of Langkawi, I knew we had made the right decision starting here. The water is clear and blue, and reflects images of the lush forest that cover most of the island. There are a lot of local tourists from the mainland here, as it is duty free; stock up on your booze here because peninsula Malaysia is notoriously expensive due to the large Muslim population. There’s lots to do here, but I’d suggest hiring a car or a bike to get around; taxi’s are expensive and public transport is non existent. A great intro to Malay food can be found at the night market, which changes place every evening; ask at your accommodation for the location.

Must Visit: Seven Wells for natural waterslides and incredible views over parts of the island.

Penang

Penang, specifically Georgetown is a beautifully kept town covered in colonial British style buildings. People come here for the street food, and the street art both of which are in large supply. I met my mum here, so we stayed in a nice hotel out of Georgetown, but there are hostels and hotels of various styles and prices all over the island. There’s also a national park, which you can hike through, or grab a taxi boat to see the highlights.

Stay: Near Love Lane for a central location. Try Tipsy Tiger Party Hostel if you’re in the mood for pub crawls!

Cameron Highlands

Up past Ipoh in the mountains you’ll find the two small towns of Tanah Rata and Brinchang that serve the area widely known for it’s tea plantations. A quiet area, there’s not so much to do here, and a couple of days will be plenty. Make sure you see the Mossy forest, and the tea plantations themselves, if not the factory where they process the tea. We booked through Cameron Eco tours and were they were great!

Eat at: The Barracks Restaurant in Tanah Rata and order the bread bowl; you won’t be disappointed.

Kuala Lumpur

A couple more days with my Mum meant sightseeing for all, but the weather wasn’t always on our side. Torrential downpours happen most days around this time of year, so sometime you get stuck for an hour or two in the afternoon. Check this out before you plan anything or you’ll find yourself up to your shins in water at the bottom of the 272 steps to Batu Caves (which I wouldn’t recommend but I’m sure is much better when it’s dry). The city hasn’t a whole lot to offer for tourists, but I’d image it’d be great to live in. Check out the standard Petronus towers too, because they’re pretty impressive.

Don’t Miss: Drinks at the Heli Bar for a 360 view of the city, go before 9 to take advantage of drinks you don’t need to sell both kidneys to buy!

Melaka

This is a sleepy Colonial town, much like Georgetown, and there really isn’t a lot to do. It’s nice to see for a day or two, but you could easily skip it if you’re going to Penang. You also have to go back to KL to get anywhere else.

North Borneo (Kota Kinabalu & Sandakan)

I came to Borneo to see the orang-utans and if I had more time I would’ve made the effort to see more of this huge island. Unfortunately, with time now ticking, and my flight to Australia booked, I had to sacrifice much of this to see Indonesia. Over in Sandakan, there’s a great Orang-utan Sanctuary where you can see all ages of Orang-utans at 2 feedings per day. The nice thing about this is that you may only see one or two ( or none at all), so you know they only come if they want the food, not because keepers are forcing them to for the tourists. There was even one that was hanging around the boardwalk through the forest, obviously very curious of us. Another highlight was Turtle Island. It’s part of the conservation efforts of Borneo, and the only island of many that allow tourists to visit, and even this is tightly monitored with a maximum of 60 people on the island each night. You’ll get to see a turtle laying it’s eggs, and the release of some baby turtles, along with the peacefulness of the island during the day.

Top Tip: To book Turtle Island, head straight down to the Crystal Quest Jetty and pay half the price (or less)

From KK, I headed on over to Indonesia, the last country of this leg of the trip *sad face*

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