We spent two weeks exploring the tropical pinninsular of Malaysia. From jungles to tropical islands to some of the best street food in the world, this corner of South East Asia has it all.
This post is about our time in peninsular Malaysia. To read about our time in Borneo (Malaysian territory) head over here.
Kuala Lumpur – 3 nights
We actually spent four nights here, but seeing as we landed at midnight on our flight from Nepal, our first night doesn’t really count.
Kuala Lumpur is a vibrant, gigantic city. It’s grittier than it’s cousin, Singapore, with a crazy mix of food stalls, premium malls, street art and hipster cafes. We stayed in 1000 Miles Hotel, located just outside Chinatown (45NZD per night for a windowless twin room with a private bathroom, a/c, simple breakfast included). We found that this location was great to explore the city. Generally, we got around fine on foot, with most attractions within a 30min walking radius. For going further afield, Grab is dirt-cheap on Malaysia and a short ride oven rivaled the cost of a metro ticket for two people. The metro itself is fairly inexpensive, and average in terms of its signage and navigation.
In terms of day-to-day activities, we checked out the Eco Park, the Botanic Gardens, the historical quarter and the Batu caves, but those are easy to read about and boring to write about. What really made us love KL is the food. I tried to list our favourite places to eat, but that will be a post on its own (coming soon).
Cameron Highlands – 3 nights
The Cameron Highlands is a four-hour bus ride out of Kuala Lumpur (any intercity bus can be booked through easybook.com). Sitting 800-1600m above sea level, the temperature here is much more bearable, and the surrounding jungle is a crazy vibrant green. The steep hills also mean this area hasn’t yet been taken over by palm plantations (as of writing this, anyway.)
We stayed at The Cave Guesthouse (22NZD / 14USD) per night for a private room with ensuite in a shared apartment, a/c, breakfast with home-made bread daily, and a Chinese tea ceremony with the host for only 10rm/pp!) The centre of town is fairly small, with limited eateries – basically one side of the road is restaurants, the other side is inexpensive street food.
There are all kinds of tours and attractions in Cameron Highlands – you can pay to visit all kind of strawberry fields and butterfly gardens and lavender centres. But what we came for was the hiking. There are 14 free trails that wind their way through the surrounding jungle. Download maps.me if you plan on hiking, which has all the trails.
We hiked up trail 10, through the jungle, and down trail 6, through tea plantations. It took about five hours in total, but because Cameron is so temperate compared to the rest of Malaysia, we were hardly sweaty at all. It’s also very easy to hitchhike back to the town centre from wherever your trail finishes.
Penang – 4 Nights
Penang is an easy 6 hour bus ride from Cameron. We, like most tourists, stayed in Georgetown which is on the northern tip of Penang’s offshore island, connected to the mainland by two highway bridges. The old colonial settlement of Georgetown is now a UNESCO world heritage site, with it’s crumbly, street-art covered buildings now converted into hostels, cafes and eateries.
We stayed in two hostels here, about 50m apart from each other. Cookoo Bird Hostel (23NZD / 15USD for a twin room, shared bathroom, a/c, no brekkie) and Cocoa Mews (23NZD / 15USD for a twin room, shared bathroom, a/c, no brekkie but free snacks and tea, plus three cats). The location of these hostels, just on the edge of Little India, provided a great base to explore on foot. We also rented a scooter from a hostel on Chulia Street for a very reasonable 25rm for 24 hours, half the price we were quoted elsewhere.
Penang’s main attraction, as repeated by every blog, guidebook and Instagrammed, is the street food. Let me tell you, it has not been overstated. We had the single most amazing char keys teow, flash fried in a charcoal wok. On Chulia Street there’s a night market of about ten stalls, which was within walking distance of our hostel. One auntie there gave us the best bowl of Curry Mee we’ve ever had. More authentic than some of the larger markets and food streets, it was pumping with locals and tourists alike. Grab some of the small coconut pancakes when you’re there too – just remember the mandatory drinks if you’re planning to sit down.
We also checked out the Kek Lok Si Temple (worth it), the Blue Mansion (cool but maybe not worth the price of entry) and the Clan Jetties, which were nice to walk around. We were also there in time for the Vasakhi Sikh Festival, which involved amazing live music and dance performances and a free feast for everyone in attendance.
Notable eats and eateries:
- Charcoal Char Kwey Teow, Siam Street
- The Curry Mee stall, Chulia Street market
- The coconut pancake stall (opposite the Curry Mee stall), Chulia market
- Assam Laksa from My Own Cafe
- Any of the cakes from China House
Perhentian Islands (Perhentian Kecil) – 3 Nights
While all the other places we visited in Malaysia were fairly simple to reach, these islands proved more of a challenge. Wanting to avoid the night bus (because night busses are Satan’s gift to the living), we caught the single 9am bus from Penang to the port-side town of Kuala Besut. Nine hours later, we had missed the last ferry and had to spend the night in Kuala Besut (with another stranded traveler.) Our hostel dropped us off at the ferry dock at 7am the next morning, and we paid our 75rm each for a return ticket to the islands (the price is fixed and non-negotiable).
We opted to stay on Perhentian Kecil, which is the smaller of the two islands. Perhentian Besar has more of a luxury, family vibe, while Kecil has cheaper accommodation options (though none are that cheap). Our boat driver initially dropped people off on Long Beach (sunrise side of the island, more accommodation options, beach parties, bars) then at our request, took us around to Coral Beach (sunset side, less accommodation, better snorkelling, a few places to eat.)
We had not prebooked anywhere to stay. If I was doing this again, I think I would book ahead. While others may have got by a few years ago with walk-ins, as the islands grow in popularity, more and more places get booked up. After approaching five different hostels/hotels at 8am in the morning, two were sold out, one had just given away it’s last room, and the other had a hole in the ceiling. We eventually got a beach-side hut (attached bathroom, one fan) at Senja’s for 130rm per night. When we got eaten by bed bugs in this room on the first night, they upgraded us to an a/c beach cabana at no extra cost.
All this aside, the Perhentians are basically paradise. The snorkelling off the beach is very good, with coral that is in a reasonable condition, including live anemones full of clownfish. Turtles, stingrays and sharks are not uncommon. For even better snorkelling, pay for a trip to take you out to Rawa island (50rm/pp from any of the operators on Coral Beach, we chose Yellow Station) where the ocean is full of life. Otherwise, you can lie on the beach under the palms, swim in the water and watch the lazy monitor lizards snooze under the houses.
Notable eats and eateries:
- ‘The best live rotti on the Island’ at Fatimas, Coral Beach. You can’t miss him.
- Mango Ice Blend, from Ewan’s Place. I’d go back just for these.
- Tuna club sandwich, from Ewan’s Place. Reasonably priced and delicious.
We caught the 12pm boat from Perhentian Kecil back to Kuala Besut, where the 1.30pm bus took us back to Kuala Lumpur. The next day, we headed for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for two weeks in Borneo.
