Malaysia
General information
Malaysia is one of those places where most people go to go somewhere else. With Airasia being such a popular and reliable budget airline, it has truly become a major stepping stone to the rest of Asia, yet so many people never leave Kuala Lumpur or even the airport.
In our opinion, that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make if you are travelling to Asia. We keep finding ourselves back in this country and fall in love with it again every time. (The current count is at 8 times!)
A lot of people get put off by the size of KL but in reality the things you need to see or do are all very centrally located and even if they are not, there is a good, cheap and easy to understand bus and train system to link it all up.
Malaysia is a place that the rest of the world could learn from. It is a melting pot of culture, food and religion. People from all corners of the globe living side by side in harmony. Indians, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Lao, Cambodian, Myanmar,Vietnamese Taiwanese.... as the add says, "Malaysia truly Asia".... they summed that up perfectly. All this culture leads to some amazing fusion food on every street corner.
Here is a good example: where else could you sit out the front of a French colonial home occupied by the British now owned by a Thai eating Vietnamese pho noodles drinking chinese green tea, being served by an Indian by an Indonesian cook?
It is beautiful, it is cheap and above all, it's clean!! A true rarity in Asia. You can find western comforts if you want them, but you can also find true Asian nitty gritty aswell.
Being such, this country is the perfect place to learn how to backpack!What's there not to like about it? It's so diverse in it's environment and it's culture, from it's bustling cities that ooze with multiculturalism through to its high mountains and tea plantations with pristine rivers, it's heritage listed towns, and of course it's tropical islands and aqua waters. And then of course there is the food!
Most people speak english (along with another 3 or 4 other languages for good measure) so you're never far away from help. People are very kind and generous in Malaysia, often trying their best to help you in any situation.
TRAVEL TIPS:
Weather:
The temperature in Malaysia can be a little intense or even too much for some, with epic heat and humidity driving you crazy at all hours of the day or night. and if it's not hot, it's raining and hot! Except for the mountains which are the opposite.... cold or cold and raining!
Shopping:
There are some great markets around KL, the best ones are Low Yat for electronics and the china town market ( walking street) for clothes, shoes, watches and perfumes.
Do be warned though that budget sleeping in KL is a little on the difficult side with rooms small and noisy. You can find a few good places but you need to be patient.
Food:
Malaysia can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be, it caters for all types of wallets.
Typical Malay food is a melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and native Malay. A takeaway Dahl and roti can be as little as 2 RM (80c)
Cold beer:
Beer used to be cheap in Malaysia but has recently succumbed to a whole wad of taxes and is now almost western prices. Even at a supermarket or 7/11 a beer is around 9 to 12 RM ($4) for a 700ml (tallie for the Aussies)
Water: Water is safe and clean as long as it is from a sealed bottle. Tap water is fine to brush your teeth with. Malaysia has water refill machines simply everywhere and you can refill 2L of water for as little as 80 RM cents. Ask around if you can't find anywhere.
Transportation:
The best way to travel around Malaysia is by bus. They are clean, neat, fast, super comfortable, they make regular toilet and meal stops, and hard to believe in Asia I know, but also reliable!! Buses go everywhere in Malaysia and the prices are extremely reasonable.
Within cities the local buses and trains are very easy to use and cheap aswell. Everything is sign-posted in English and have convenient maps aswell.
Border crossings:
We have crossed at almost all of Peninsula Malaysia's borders.
To Singapore you can either take a bus or a train. Both are reliable, comfortable and cheap. The train does stop for an extended period of time for customs compared to the bus which has regular shuttles to and from customs and operates on a just jump on the next one coming past system. Long distance buses and trains run from Singapore directly to KL and reverse extremely regularly.
To Thailand you can either cross via Kota Bharu in the North East, or via Kuantan in the North West. Whilst the Malaysian side is completely safe, there have been sporadic bombings in the South East of Thailand so most governments and travel books advise against the Kota Bharu crossing. We had no hassles crossing here at all but found the Thai side of the border an extremely dull and unfriendly place. We also had quite a difficult time organising ongoing transportation as there is only 1 train a day and buses north were infrequent. For a combination of those reasons, where possible we would probably recommend crossing through Kuantan, where you can find a crazy number of buses ready and waiting to take you to anywhere in Thailand you may be heading to.
In our opinion, that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make if you are travelling to Asia. We keep finding ourselves back in this country and fall in love with it again every time. (The current count is at 8 times!)
A lot of people get put off by the size of KL but in reality the things you need to see or do are all very centrally located and even if they are not, there is a good, cheap and easy to understand bus and train system to link it all up.
Malaysia is a place that the rest of the world could learn from. It is a melting pot of culture, food and religion. People from all corners of the globe living side by side in harmony. Indians, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai, Lao, Cambodian, Myanmar,Vietnamese Taiwanese.... as the add says, "Malaysia truly Asia".... they summed that up perfectly. All this culture leads to some amazing fusion food on every street corner.
Here is a good example: where else could you sit out the front of a French colonial home occupied by the British now owned by a Thai eating Vietnamese pho noodles drinking chinese green tea, being served by an Indian by an Indonesian cook?
It is beautiful, it is cheap and above all, it's clean!! A true rarity in Asia. You can find western comforts if you want them, but you can also find true Asian nitty gritty aswell.
Being such, this country is the perfect place to learn how to backpack!What's there not to like about it? It's so diverse in it's environment and it's culture, from it's bustling cities that ooze with multiculturalism through to its high mountains and tea plantations with pristine rivers, it's heritage listed towns, and of course it's tropical islands and aqua waters. And then of course there is the food!
Most people speak english (along with another 3 or 4 other languages for good measure) so you're never far away from help. People are very kind and generous in Malaysia, often trying their best to help you in any situation.
TRAVEL TIPS:
Weather:
The temperature in Malaysia can be a little intense or even too much for some, with epic heat and humidity driving you crazy at all hours of the day or night. and if it's not hot, it's raining and hot! Except for the mountains which are the opposite.... cold or cold and raining!
Shopping:
There are some great markets around KL, the best ones are Low Yat for electronics and the china town market ( walking street) for clothes, shoes, watches and perfumes.
Do be warned though that budget sleeping in KL is a little on the difficult side with rooms small and noisy. You can find a few good places but you need to be patient.
Food:
Malaysia can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be, it caters for all types of wallets.
Typical Malay food is a melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and native Malay. A takeaway Dahl and roti can be as little as 2 RM (80c)
Cold beer:
Beer used to be cheap in Malaysia but has recently succumbed to a whole wad of taxes and is now almost western prices. Even at a supermarket or 7/11 a beer is around 9 to 12 RM ($4) for a 700ml (tallie for the Aussies)
Water: Water is safe and clean as long as it is from a sealed bottle. Tap water is fine to brush your teeth with. Malaysia has water refill machines simply everywhere and you can refill 2L of water for as little as 80 RM cents. Ask around if you can't find anywhere.
Transportation:
The best way to travel around Malaysia is by bus. They are clean, neat, fast, super comfortable, they make regular toilet and meal stops, and hard to believe in Asia I know, but also reliable!! Buses go everywhere in Malaysia and the prices are extremely reasonable.
Within cities the local buses and trains are very easy to use and cheap aswell. Everything is sign-posted in English and have convenient maps aswell.
Border crossings:
We have crossed at almost all of Peninsula Malaysia's borders.
To Singapore you can either take a bus or a train. Both are reliable, comfortable and cheap. The train does stop for an extended period of time for customs compared to the bus which has regular shuttles to and from customs and operates on a just jump on the next one coming past system. Long distance buses and trains run from Singapore directly to KL and reverse extremely regularly.
To Thailand you can either cross via Kota Bharu in the North East, or via Kuantan in the North West. Whilst the Malaysian side is completely safe, there have been sporadic bombings in the South East of Thailand so most governments and travel books advise against the Kota Bharu crossing. We had no hassles crossing here at all but found the Thai side of the border an extremely dull and unfriendly place. We also had quite a difficult time organising ongoing transportation as there is only 1 train a day and buses north were infrequent. For a combination of those reasons, where possible we would probably recommend crossing through Kuantan, where you can find a crazy number of buses ready and waiting to take you to anywhere in Thailand you may be heading to.
Accommodation:
Can be as cheap (aka dodgy) or as lavish as you want. Generally speaking accomodation is a little more expensive than the rest of Asia but as food and transport is so cheap, it is still completely do-able on a $15US a day budget. Please see below for a complete list of where we stayed, how much we paid and what we thought of it.
Places we stayed are as follows:
* Red dragon hotel – Johor Bahru 65 RM ($21.70) *****
Private bathroom with hot shower! Average room, smokey
* Cameronian Inn – Cameron highlands 30 RM ($10) *******
nice, quiet, hot showers! Great beds, had most amazing sleep! but too many signs!
* 75 Travellers Lodge – Georgetown 18 RM ($6) ******
Our home away from home in Penang. Mr Low is amazing and the service is great. Rooms are
average but cheap..
* Ms Low's guesthouse – Teluk Bahang 30 RM ($10) *******
unique setup, hard to find, lack of food in area
* Aur Bay Chalets – Perhentians 70 RM ($23.30) ****
super expensive with only average rooms but right on Coral beach.
* Mira Beach – Perhentians 40 RM ($13.30) ********.5
awesome room&view, food expensive but big portions and cooked fresh, no running water or electricity, amazing atmosphere.
* Wheelers Guesthouse – Kuala Lumpur 25 RM ($8.30) *****
stinks of cigarette smoke, loud, owners don't care about noise complaints, hot rooms, BUT has a free indian buffet on friday nts
* Gecko Guesthouse – Langkawi 25Rm ($7.60) ***
ok basic rooms, ok vibe, VERY noisy til 2am!!!
* Cenang bungalows – Langkawi 55Rm (16.60) ****
kinda funky, own mandi &verandah, close to beach, quiet but bossy owner
* Grocers Inn – KL 40 MYR ($10.50)*******.5
not the best bed but beautiful, antique rooms, beautiful building, great location, nice rooftop, wifi, good value
* Tune Hotel – LCCT 112 MYR ($29.50) ********
v clean, small room, hot water, nice sitting area downstairs w 7-11, v comfy bed! Checkout too early..
* Hotel Ban Cheong – Kangar 37 MYR ($10.30)
clean and quiet, sufficient for a couple of nights.
* Marang Guesthouse – Marang 40 MYR ($11.80)
clean and quiet bungalows quite close to the boat to Kapas.
* Qimi Chalet – Pulau Kapas 50 MYR ($14.80)
beautiful chalets on the beach, lovely family run, good good.
* Zainun Palace Hotel – Rantau Panjang 50 MYR ($14.80)
like a palace, very clean and big rooms, a short distance to the border but not a long walk.
Can be as cheap (aka dodgy) or as lavish as you want. Generally speaking accomodation is a little more expensive than the rest of Asia but as food and transport is so cheap, it is still completely do-able on a $15US a day budget. Please see below for a complete list of where we stayed, how much we paid and what we thought of it.
Places we stayed are as follows:
* Red dragon hotel – Johor Bahru 65 RM ($21.70) *****
Private bathroom with hot shower! Average room, smokey
* Cameronian Inn – Cameron highlands 30 RM ($10) *******
nice, quiet, hot showers! Great beds, had most amazing sleep! but too many signs!
* 75 Travellers Lodge – Georgetown 18 RM ($6) ******
Our home away from home in Penang. Mr Low is amazing and the service is great. Rooms are
average but cheap..
* Ms Low's guesthouse – Teluk Bahang 30 RM ($10) *******
unique setup, hard to find, lack of food in area
* Aur Bay Chalets – Perhentians 70 RM ($23.30) ****
super expensive with only average rooms but right on Coral beach.
* Mira Beach – Perhentians 40 RM ($13.30) ********.5
awesome room&view, food expensive but big portions and cooked fresh, no running water or electricity, amazing atmosphere.
* Wheelers Guesthouse – Kuala Lumpur 25 RM ($8.30) *****
stinks of cigarette smoke, loud, owners don't care about noise complaints, hot rooms, BUT has a free indian buffet on friday nts
* Gecko Guesthouse – Langkawi 25Rm ($7.60) ***
ok basic rooms, ok vibe, VERY noisy til 2am!!!
* Cenang bungalows – Langkawi 55Rm (16.60) ****
kinda funky, own mandi &verandah, close to beach, quiet but bossy owner
* Grocers Inn – KL 40 MYR ($10.50)*******.5
not the best bed but beautiful, antique rooms, beautiful building, great location, nice rooftop, wifi, good value
* Tune Hotel – LCCT 112 MYR ($29.50) ********
v clean, small room, hot water, nice sitting area downstairs w 7-11, v comfy bed! Checkout too early..
* Hotel Ban Cheong – Kangar 37 MYR ($10.30)
clean and quiet, sufficient for a couple of nights.
* Marang Guesthouse – Marang 40 MYR ($11.80)
clean and quiet bungalows quite close to the boat to Kapas.
* Qimi Chalet – Pulau Kapas 50 MYR ($14.80)
beautiful chalets on the beach, lovely family run, good good.
* Zainun Palace Hotel – Rantau Panjang 50 MYR ($14.80)
like a palace, very clean and big rooms, a short distance to the border but not a long walk.