Travel Blog | About TravelBlog | World Facts | Travel Wallpaper | Travel Forum | Travel Insurance | Services | Cameras

Malaysia Travel Blogs

Credited nowhere near enough for its infectiously languid pace of life, Malaysia time arguably runs at least as slow as famously sleepy Laos a few hundred miles to the north. In fact, mediocre press is a bit of a theme for Malaysia, causing many folks on the regional travel circuit to pencil in just a few days to pass through - or even pass over - en-route to Singapore in the south or Thailand to the north.

Those that slow to take a peek, though, can't help but be reeled in. Malaysia, see, is positively dripping in culture, biodiversity and out-and-out natural beauty. Take time to hit the highlights and you'll soon be hastily re-jigging your itinerary (itineraries are for geeks, by the way) to accommodate the fortnight-or-so that you're going to
need in order to see just the very tip of the iceberg.

If you're in need of a poke in the right direction, here's a few pointers:

The truly stunning Perhentian Islands, with their coral reefs and refreshing lack of roads and other infrastructure (imagine how the more popular of the Thai islands might've looked 30 years ago, and you'll not be far off); Taman Negara National Park, one of the most absorbing places in all of South East Asia; the Cameron Highlands, with its tea plantations and breezy respite from the swelteringly moist lowlands; the old town charm of Penang island (try to ignore the Tesco); the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, featuring mountains, rainforest and apes (big orange ones called Orangutans); and the ethnic melting pot that is Kuala Lumpur, where 3 main cultures - Malay, Chinese and Indian - all get on just fine, albethey largely concentrated in their own micro-cultural districts.

Despite its colonial past and still strong ties to Britain, modern Malaysia's official religion is Islam, although freedom of worship is encouraged in the country's constitution and national holidays are observed for the main religious festival periods of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians. Talk about reasonable.

If you're in South East Asia, make time for Malaysia - don't just write it off as the 'baby pool' that some travel guides will have you believe it to be.

Highlights

 • Lazing on silky beaches on the Perhentian Islands
 • Sipping tea in the cool Cameron Highlands
 • World class diving at Sipadan
 • South-East Asia's highest Mountain - Mount Kinabalu
 • Hanging with the orange apes in Borneo
 • Munching street food and generally mixing it up in KL
 • Getting up close and personal with nature in Taman Negara
 • Blowing your budget on Langkawi
 • Soaking up the old skool charm of Malacca
 • Admiring the stunning twin peaks on Tioman Island

Tips and Hints

If it's tropical islands and pristine beaches you're after, go east between March and October, or west between November and February. Two distinct monsoon seasons hit each coast at pretty much opposite times of year, so you can always find sunny paradise on one coast when the other's getting a soaking.

It's worth knowing that the Perhentians are completely closed during the entire duration of the east coast wet season. Don't even bother trying. It's a shame to miss them, so if you can, try and rig it so that you can get to Malaysia outside of the east coast wet season. The Perhentians are definitely more backpacker friendly than their west coast counterparts, both in terms of price and fun factor.





Links: Malaysia Travel Blogs (all) | Malaysia Travel Photos | Malaysia Travel Forum | Hotels in Malaysia | Hostels in Malaysia | Cheap flights to Malaysia | Malaysia Facts | Map of Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia Location



Hostels in Malaysia
Latest Malaysia Blog Entries
Malaysia Photos











My only stay in Malaysia was in KL. Already very near to Port Klang I wanted to investigate about traveling by container ship. Besides walking in China Town I spend a lot of my time with taking pictures of Petrona Towers, the well-known landmark of KL. You cannot go to the top floor but the visit to the so-called sky bridge is for free. This visit also includes a pretty technology-admiring introduction to the construction of the Petrona Towers. The whole building is basically a big showing-off of Malaysias biggest petrol company. Still the photo opportunities are quite fascinating. Since I [View Full Entry]

der Bub - Robert Fleischhaker | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
128 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 3 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 21st 2006 | 867 Views | [diary=31249]

Gotham City
Zooooom...

Lindsay - I have no idea what that means. It is the Melaka Tourist Board slogan! If you have any idea then let me know. It would seem to suggest to me that Melaka is a boring place, which is totally untrue. I think someone needs to have words with the marketing people. On the morning of the 6th we headed off with all our bags (rapidly collecting more) to the nearby bus station and caught a Transnational coach to Melaka, the next city on our itinerary. Melaka is about 200 KM (that's 125 miles) to the south of KL, and [View Full Entry]

RussLins - Lindsay Clarke | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1076 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 8 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 13th 2005 | 347 Views | [diary=30519]

Signpost
Melaka Trishaw
Lins Ship

October 24th - November 1st Yay, Phil's parents came to visit this weekend! Our first official visitors. The week went by as usual, though we were thrilled to finally receive Phil’s replacement debit card on Friday (thank you again Mark!!!!). His parents arrived Friday evening and we took them straight to one of our favorite local restaurants, Roo’s Cellar. It is a wine bar that that serves good food and has an upstairs bar and an incredibly wine selection considering where we are. We had some late dinner snacks and a nice bottle of wine. Back at home we were lull [View Full Entry]

Phil and Selina - Selina & Philip Scott | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
935 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 10 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 12th 2005 | 212 Views | [diary=30016]

Spice Garden I
Big Swing
Spice Garden II

November 2nd - 7th I have to start this entry with an apology. I feel terrible that we haven't kept up with this blog like we wanted to, who knew that writing about your experiences could be so difficult and time consuming. We have had a great time here in Malaysia so far and are already half way through our time here. I will attempt to give you short updates of what we have been doing from November through mid-January (now). This week is a major holiday week in Malaysia. Tuesday was a holiday for Hari Raya and Thursday and Friday [View Full Entry]

Phil and Selina - Selina & Philip Scott | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1275 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 68 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 1st 2006 | 298 Views | [diary=30028]

Fishing boats
Stilted
Phil on balcony

Russell - So here we are in KL, described as the city of the future. Not only is it the home of the world's tallest building, it also has a modern monorail, subway system and a total dedication to brands, Even the monorail stations are sponsored. As you come to the main stations in town the sponsoring brand is mentioned before the destination. "Now arriving at Coca-Cola, alight here for Bukit Bintang" Anyone who has read "Cloud Atlas" will recognise this view of the future. I have to admit to having a liking for KL simply for it's integrated culture, but [View Full Entry]

RussLins - Lindsay Clarke | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
438 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 1 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 13th 2005 | 322 Views | [diary=31097]


October 10th - 23rd I'm getting fancy with the titles :-) I thought adding the date would be helpful since I'm finally bloging this a month and a half later! We are combining the blog entries for the sixth and seventh weeks because not a whole lot happened to warrant separate entries. The highlights of week six were my IWA meeting and a rafting trip we took with Phil’s coworkers. The meeting was interesting because our guest speaker was Penang’s chief of police. He presented some information on crimes that are of interest to women (purse snatching, rape, e [View Full Entry]

Phil and Selina - Selina & Philip Scott | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
932 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 16 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 5th 2005 | 453 Views | [diary=30009]

Local style
Down the river
Rapids

Yesterday I left my friends in Ko Phi Phi and headed down to Kuala Lumpur. I got here at 5 in the morning and checked into a guesthouse in the centre of town. We had a couple of fabulous days up in Phi Phi. On the first day we Dan, James and I rented a kajak and went out snorkeling amongst trillions of fish. In the nights there was plenty of drinks, most memorable ones in Reggae bar, where they have a Muay Thai Boxing stage to showcase fights between Thai fighters as well as tourists. The other day we gathered [View Full Entry]

jogailus - Fridolin Gailus | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
267 Words | 3 Comment(s) | 2 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 3rd 2005 | 345 Views | [diary=29748]

The Beach

Russell - Well we have arrived in Kuala Lumpur or KL as it commonly known. For those trivia buffs amongst you it means "Muddy Confluence" in English - go figure. Lindsay - confluence of the two rivers where it is based. Russell - OK. We arrived at the airport and cleared the usual paperwork quite easily then we had to get to centre of town. The guide book suggests using a taxi by buying a coupon from the airport. First we need some money. The first ATM I go to asks me a string of questions. Language, PIN, what type of [View Full Entry]

RussLins - Lindsay Clarke | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
793 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 3 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 3rd 2005 | 291 Views | [diary=29792]

Petronas Towers
Lins & the two towers

Sitting our luxurious VIP bus with seats like you'd get on a business class flight, we spot another westerner wearing a T-shirt saying To The Pub, we get into conversation at the Singapore/Malaysia Border......... HE’S AN ESSEX BOY!!!! Down the A12, Chelmsford boy - mind you quite posh! David was with us from that moment until we went our separate ways as we entered Thailand after a week in Malaysia. The bus from SNG to KL took 6hrs, so we arrive in KL just after 10pm. We got dropped off on the side of a main road by a building site, [View Full Entry]

Lisa n Jon - Lisa & Jon | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
642 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 24th 2006 | 34 Views | [diary=37357]


By Poz
December 3rd 2005
Diving Pulau Sipadan Asia » Malaysia » Sabah
Pulau Sipadan--some say the best dive site in the world. The island rises 2,000 feet vertically out of the floor of the Celebes Sea. Sinking down the dropoff is certainly a humbling experience. Common sightings are: sharks (hammerhead, leopard, reef, whale), turtles (Green and Hawksbill), massive barracuda and tuna schools, diverse corals, and countless other strange fish, eels and crustaceans. Amazing place! (Sorry no underwater pictures yet. My CD with the photos is on a slow cargo boat back to the States) [View Full Entry]

Poz - Jeff | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
81 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 15 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 6th 2006 | 2723 Views | [diary=34412]

Diving Day 1
Some Dive Partners
Fishing Community (Mabul Island)