After getting tired of the shopping in Kuala Lumpur, I hopped on a bus to Malacca (Melaka), the other UNESCO world heritage site in Malaysia. Malacca has a reputation amongst backpackers as being very boring, only worth a one-night stopover, but I found the city to be quite enjoyable and beautiful. A pity it was somewhat lacking in accommodation, or I would have stayed longer than 3 days before heading off to Singapore.
Tag Archives: Malaysia
Malaysia, just a tad bit boring
Travelogue: Kuala Lumpur
From the Perhentian Islands, I set off towards Kuala Lumpur, the (shopping) capital of Malaysia. Being a backpacker, I don’t have space for shopping, so I contented myself with enjoying some pretty amazing food (not as cheap as Penang, but more variety) and seeing some of the cultural landmarks.
Here’s a cool model of Kuala Lumpur:
Travelogue: Perhentian Islands
After finally sating my appetite in Penang, I took an overnight bus and ferry to the Perhentian Islands, a pair of islands with amazing scuba diving off the coast of northeast Malaysia.
The Perhentian Islands are beautiful and relatively untouched by civilization, but very touristy. Whereas places like Koh Tao have a good mix of local industry and tourism, the Perhentian Islands have only tourism – and so everything is about 50% more expensive than it should be. Absolutely beautiful, though!
Travelogue: Penang
For my first stop in Malaysia, I stayed for some time in Georgetown, the capital of Penang. As the northwestern-most state of Malaysia, Georgetown is right next to Thailand, and quite accessible once I left Thailand. As a UNESCO world heritage city, Georgetown has a lot of history!
But the real reason why I stayed more than a day in Penang, is that it is the hawker food capital of Malaysia! While staying at an amazing guesthouse near Chinatown, I discovered this huge hawker center near the guesthouse, and resolved to stay until I had eaten every single food at the hawker center.
I stayed here for an entire week. When you can get two or three delicious dishes for about $3 USD, it’s hard to walk away.