Malaysia

Malaysia is a nation in Southeast Asia. It is geographically divided into two parts - the western portion is located on a peninsula extending down from Thailand and touching Singapore, and the eastern portion is located at the top of the island of Borneo, shared with Indonesia.

Getting there

By Air

• Malaysia Airlines is the national carrier and is very reasonably priced for flights to Malaysia itself as well as onwards to the rest of the world. Great food and service. I would highly recommend them.

• Air Asia is a budget airline based in Kuala Lumpur. They are a terrific airline with some very, very good deals. They don't currently fly to Japan, however it is anticipated that flights will commence in October 2010. There have been some hiccups in the negotiations though so watch this space. Looks like the flights will be out of Ibaraki Airport or Haneda.

• Cathay Pacific Cathay are a fabulous airline and fly via HK (or occasionally Taipei) to places all across asia. Excellent on all accounts. HKIA is a lovely airport to transit through too.

Via Singapore

By Train

You need to clear customs at the station BEFORE you board the train. So you need to make sure you have time for this. Arrive at Singapore train station at least 45mins - 1 hour before your train departs.

By Bus

You can enter Malaysia on a bus at Johor Bahru

• Everyone has to get off the bus and walk over to clear customs. Make sure you look at the number plates of the bus and its colouring as it can be pretty confusing if there are a hundred buses parked around the same place. Your bus will drive through to the otherside as you clear customs.

Via Indonesia

By Boat

• There are a few places where you can take a boat from Malaysia to Indonesia. If you want to get to Medan in Northern Sumatra, boats leave from Penang.
• You can also enter Indonesia via boat from Singapore, which is handy if you are in Southern peninsula Malaysia

Places

Kuala Lumpur

• Petronas Towers

  If you want to visit the Petronas Towers, try to get there early in the morning to get tickets for the same day. The tickets are actually free but due to the limit on the number of people allowed up per day, they can be booked up by tour groups and/or sell out fast.

• Butterworth (for Penang and Langkawi)

  overnight 2nd class sleeper cars are a cheap and pretty comfortable way to travel. It was easy to buy tickets at KL station on the day.

Penang

• Georgetown

  I can't remember the name of the place where I stayed but it was very close to a mosque. Tip - don't stay near any mosques as you'll get woken up at 4.30 every morning!!

• Fort Cornwallis

  Worth a look for an hour or so.

• Sri Mariamamm temple

  Really interesting temple - if you only have time for one temple, maybe this one

• Kuan Yin temple

• Botanical Gardens

  Lovely

• Wat Chayamangkalaram

  Very big reclining Buddha

Langkawi

A lovely island with a mix of accommodation. It's a pretty big island so do a bit of research to figure out where you want to go before you actually arrive. I stayed along Pantai Cenang, which was a lovely beach with a fair range of hotels/guesthouses and good places to eat. There are some shops for essentials nearby. The Aquarium there is worth a look if you feel like draggin yourself away from the coconut palms. Be careful the coconuts don't smack you on the head! I noticed a lot of mosquitoes there at night-time so make sure you have insect repellant.

I stayed at the AB hotel, which (as of July 2009) has basic twin rooms for $US16 a night (for room/not per person). Nice little place. My room was actually on the sand with a good view of the beach but it seems like the cheaper rooms are now across the road!

You can get to Langkawi via plane or boat (from Penang).

See also

• Malaysia - Wikitravel