After Indonesia we spent 1 ½ months in the country just north of it and had the opportunity to see lots of different places there. Our journey started in the capital Kuala Lumpur, or KL, how it’s called there, as locals almost always use abbreviations to refer to their cities.
Kuala Lumpur
Accidentally, we arrived in Kuala Lumpur during the Chinese New Year celebrations. As a major part of the inhabitants are of Chinese descent, the celebrations were huge, and we got to see Dragon dances and the like on multiple occasions. Shops offered sales and everything was decorated in the traditional red. The temples were stuffed with people and it was a delight seeing so many following their tradition and paying their respects at Guan Di Temple and Thean Hou temple – two gorgeous Chinese temples, the former on top of a hill, while the latter is situated firmly within the Chinese quarters.
Apart from the Chinese, there is also a big Indian community in KL and this is were our first accommodation was. While the food in Little India is absolutely delicious and ridiculously cheap, the accommodation was a nightmare and we moved to a more expensive apartment, in a fancier area of KL, later on. Little India is still worth a visit though, it is nicely decorated and situated right next to the main hub for public transport – KL Sentral station – and of course you can visit Indian temples there as well.
One of these temples is situated at the Batu Caves, where you walk hundreds of colourful steps up towards a big cave with multiple shrines and temples inside. On the way you will see many monkeys snacking on things locals or tourists brought them (or accidentally had with them). Don’t forget to explore the area at the bottom of the cave as there are other ones with art expeditions and meditation areas!
The city center offers everything you’d expect from a modern city in Asia – the famous Petronas Towers, modern architecture, green parks and water areas. You can find shopping centers and night markets and easily spend a day exploring it.
My personal highlight in KL was our day at Noble Gateway though, you can read more about this here.
Cameron Highlands
After the excitement of the big city, we wanted to chill down a bit and escape the heat for a while, so we took a bus to the Cameron Highlands, famous for their mossy forests and green tea plantation. We had a nice time there, but one should not underestimate the distance between the famous green views and the town with the hotels. As we didn’t have a car or scooter (and we didn’t see a place renting them there either), we spent a lot of time walking and exploring the area on foot and didn’t get to the more secluded areas. One day we wanted to go for a little hike in the mossy forest. After the ascend to the starting point though, we decided to just head back down, as we were exhausted from 3hrs uphill walking and they wanted an entry fee for the last 500m to the viewpoint. For real hikes in the national park, you have to get a permit a week prior to your hike, so this is something to be aware of as well. During this particular hike though, we were accompanied by the cutest stray dogs, who really followed us all the way up and back down. So, 10/10 puppy location.
Miri
Miri is a small town in Sarawak, Borneo, with little to do and little to see. We stopped there on our way to Mulu national park (more about this adventure can be found here) and while we had a nice time there, we were thoroughly disappointed by the beach and didn’t feel comfortable going for a swim there. We did a little walk on a hill right next to the city, which was nice, but I wouldn’t go there for that alone. Miris advantage lies in its proximity to Brunei and other excursion locations, so I would only recommend you go there, if you have something like that planned…
Working in Desaru
Finally, our last stop in Malaysia was Desaru Coast, where we had another workaway. Sadly, as the season was just starting, this wasn’t quite as exciting as we’d hoped. We were working at a water sports supplier, renting out Jetskis, SUPs and Kayaks at different locations along the beach. Due to the weather conditions, we didn’t get to try any of them and only rented them out on a handful of days, instead selling snacks or just sitting out our shifts at a fancy hotel. You see, why we were rather bored. We had a really nice time talking to the locals though and even enjoying Iftar with them one evening.
The town, where we stayed, was called Bandar Penawar and had little to offer. There were a handful restaurants and a nice pool bar, where I learnt that David is a bad ass player. Apart from that we visited a Fruit Farm together with the other workawayers and had a blast there. We learnt about and tried different fruits, some of which we hadn’t had before and honestly, what more do you need in life? Fresh, delicious tropical fruits are like 50% of my motivation to be on this trip. That being said, the lunch there was ok, but not super good. We could get as many fresh fruits as we liked at a buffet there though, so that made it ok 😊
Have you ever been to Malaysia? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you!
xxx
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