Malaysia offers U.K. Tourists a free 90 day tourist visa on arrival which can be renewed again if you take a short break away even in neighbouring Thailand, Sri Lanka or Indonesia. Something we found many people were enviously taking advantage of by making Malaysia their base to the rest of Asia all year round. It was very easy to see why. The whole of Malaysia is thick beautiful jungle cleared away only to make way for the scattered and few cities and villages. The people and food are amazing and for us the whole country was a perfect balance between Asia and the West.
Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur having flown in from Sri Lanka. We found the train from the airport worked out more expensive for 2 people than it would be to call an Uber taxi and meant a 4km hike from KL sentral to our hotel in Bukit Bintang. So we headed into the airport/train station mall, KLIA just to find breakfast and wifi to download the Uber app where we were blown away with being spoilt for choice- the place was huge and crammed with shops and restaurants! Anyway, Uber booked, we relaxed on the back seat (having used only public transport for the last 3 months) looking forward to our next chapter in travel.
Bukit Bintang is the place to be for high end shopping during the day, turning busy and boisterous at night offering a wide variety of bars, restaurants market and of course massages. There are 2 main roads; one Changkat Bukit Bintang which is door to door bars selling food and drink at tourist prices. We called into one bar to watch some live music and enjoyed it but the place felt more like a street you’d find in any UK city so we finished our drink and headed round the corner to Jalan Alor.
Jalan Alor was the reason we were in Malaysia and the first time Asia really smacked me in the face! Stalls and restaurants filled to the rafters with the best Malaysian cuisine on offer, buckets of beer and even continuous live music from the city’s buskers all on a backpacker budget. Perfect city night on the town! In fact we found Bukit Bintang to be perfect for budget accommodation and the location was very central to all of Kuala Lumpars sights.
Chinatown a short walk from our hotel was full of fabulous markets for shopping practically everything. I wish we had stocked up on a few things as only a couple of days after a lot of our gear broke (including our phones!). Central market is also in Chinatown and is a souvenir based market with a arty section and some small food stalls. We really only scratched the surface in Kuala Lumpar and wished we had stayed longer.
And of course who could forget the KL tower and KL twin towers? Well us it turns out! We wanted to see them at night so went for dinner on Jalan Alor with the plan to head up there afterwards. A couple of beer buckets and a hell of a good time later we were laid in our hotel bed about to go to sleep when we realised we had totally forgotten to go with an early morning bus the next day to the jungle! Maybe next time?!
With heavy heads we woke to travel to our next stop in Malaysia, Taman Negara national park. We booked a bus online to pick us up from Chinatown and take us straight through to the jetty at Kuala Tembalin where we transferred to a long boat for the final part of the journey to Taman Negara both tickets were included in the price. The boat journey itself was a great experience even if we did get stuck on the high water bed halfway and have to abandon ship!
Taman Negara had a selection of floating restaurants serving Malaysian food and there were some more in the 200m long village set back from the river as well as Minimarts.
Entrance into the jungle is just 1Rm each and 5Rm for each camera. You can enter as many times as you want over a 3 day period and even camp overnight with the pass so there is not much need to book a tour. We did the Canopy walk, trekked up a hill to see the great views below, swam in the refreshing river and did a night walk to all the hideouts without a guide easily as this part of the jungle is signposted and there maps available too.
It was incredibly humid and although you may need to layer on the mosquito repellant (we didn’t use any and didn’t get any bites but others did) I strongly suggest not to wear trousers. The resort is on the opposite side of the river to the jungle so you need to catch the boat across. They run between 8am and 10pm and will always be available. There are packages to book in you want to visit the nearby aborigines or take a 4×4 night visit to oil plantations which can’t be done without the guides. All tours and packages are easily booked on arrival to the jungle.
Transfers can be easily booked at the jungle too so we booked the bus and headed north to the tea plantations in the Cameron highlands. If you like trekking then this is the place to it. The Cameron highlands are simply breathtaking. There are 14 trails in total with ranging difficulty. They are easily accessed online or maps can be bought for a couple of ringgits.
Trail 1 promised to give us the most physical workout as it started with a jungle hill climb of 2000m before coming down the other side via various attractions. Unfortunately G was a little sick so instead we cheated and hired a scooter to drive up to the summit instead! The rental place said it was not possible to summit without a 4×4 or crosser but we found it was ok if a little bumpy. On the same road as the hill you will find the mossy forest, strawberry farm and tea plantation all well worth a visit and all less crowded than other plantations in the area. The views certainly delivered on the picture perfection with the tea plantations looking like green velvet. Simply stunning!
It is much cooler up there and I would strongly advise you take a raincoat with you everywhere as you’d be incredibly lucky to have a completely dry day.
The bus station is located in the centre of the Cameron highlands at Tanah Rata so we opted to catch a bus on to Penang from here and then another to our hostel in Georgetown.
We only had a couple of nights in George Town but I immediately felt like it was a city I could live in forever! Huge shopping malls, jetty clans, the best street food, architecture and graffiti everywhere you look and incredibly cheap -it was fabulous. Our accommodation on Cintra street was also second to none which really helped us feel at home too.
Besides walking the streets everyday for hours in owe of the food, smells, sights and sounds, we caught the train to Penang hill to see the beautiful views and wildlife although you may be better to walk back down the hill if not up too as the train ticket wasn’t budget friendly and the only part we really enjoyed of the trip was walking off the beaten track. On route to Penang hill from Georgetown is an impressive Buddhist Temple sat on the surrounding hills but it was the hottest, most humid day ever recorded and there was no way we would have made it! Komtar tower observation deck was closed while we were there but promises to be worth a ride up if open.
From the main jetty in Georgetown we caught the boat on to Langkawi which took around 3hrs. You are greeted in Kaou in Langkawi with impressive statues and a jetty resembling an airport. We chose to stay there as we hired a scooter from the jetty for the duration and it was only 40mins max to each coastline. Make sure you barter down the scooter cost as we got it less than half the original quoted price! Kaou has no real beaches but is great for tax free shopping and cheap accomadation and food.
The main beaches on the island are to the East, Pantai Cenang and Tengah. Here you can enjoy many water sport activities and a lively atmosphere. The north coast has much prettier and quieter beaches such as Black sand beach which actually had surprisingly white sand when we visited but the huge boulders make it worth a visit as well as the tiny and beautiful bay of Pasir Tengkorak and also the stunning resort beaches of Tanjun Rhu and Datai bay.
As well as beaches langkowi has beautiful mountains with a ride up to the highest at Gunung Raya (900m high) well worth a trip. There is an observation tower at the summit and for 10myr each on a clear day you can enjoy Fabulous 360 views of the whole island with unlimited herbal tea.
On the west side of the island you’ll find Telaga Harbour and light house, the small beach of Pantai Kok and the cable car that also takes you to the skywalk. I’m still pretty terrified of these things and after only just surviving ones in Brazil and Canada which appeared shorter rides I had to pass on this trip but looks well worth it! Just further along the road is the 7 wells waterfall which is stunning and worth a trip up but be warned, it does get incredibly slippy at times and on 1 occasion I decked it messing my legs up pretty bad!
After 10 days it was time to leave langkowi and also Malaysia as we were moving onto the next destination in our trip, Thailand. It was easy enough to book our onward ferry with several leaving everyday and the island also has an airport. We certainly enjoyed Malaysia and already looking forward to returning to take full advantage of the free 90 day visa ❤️
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