Five Days in Malaysia

My favorite thing to do in Malaysia was EAT!!! As a crossroads to Asia, Malaysia has lots of great food - traditional Malay food, satay, Indian, Thai . . . Our hotel actually was right across the street from a small restaurant/market where there were several vendors selling various kinds of food. You don't have to go to a fancy restaurant to get good food!!

It was also fun to meet up with a woman as we were getting off the bus in Malacca and spend the day with her. Of course, spending the day with a stranger made planning our day a little more complicated, but it was fun in the end - it gave us a little more variety and was a great learning experience!

Quick Tips:

Malaysia is a hot country no matter what time of year you go, so make sure to plan accordingly - take lots of water to drink, take time in the middle of the day to get inside, cool off, and rest.

There are a lot of fun day trips near Kuala Lumpur, so you can stay in one hotel the whole time you're there while still taking time to get outside the city. We really enjoyed our trips to Malacca and the Forestry Research Institute - Malaysia (FRIM). If you look at professional tour companies, be sure they offer what you really want to do and compare the prices with what it would cost to do it yourself. We ended up taking one tour simply because it would have been a lot of hassle to do it ourselves - that was worth the price tag.

Best Way To Get Around:

There are plenty of options for getting around in Kuala Lumpur. Taxis are the most convenient, but not always the cheapest option. You can also take the buses, trains, and monorail fairly easily - just be sure to have specific directions about where to get on and how to get to your destination from the stop. We found people in the stations, on the whole, to be very helpful.

From the airport to Kuala Lumpur, definitely take the train service - it's a little more expensive than the bus, but it's fast, convenient, and reliable. From the train terminal, you can take a taxi to your hotel. They offer pre-paid services there, based on the location of your hotel.

Malacca is a historical town about 2.5 hours south of Kuala Lumpur. There are two historical churches, a fort, a replica sailing ship, and a replica sultan's palace. The Indian restaurants are great and not to be missed -- just make sure to drink lots of water (it's spicy!). Also make sure to wander through the Chinese quarter and stop into the shop that makes and sells tiny shoes from the era of footbinding.

The Petronas Twin Towers are beautiful skyscrapers! Frankly, I think that they are the most beautiful skyscrapers that I have ever seen -- they have an aesthetic quality to them not usually seen in tall buildings.

Getting up to the skybridge, however, is a much more difficult task. We tried three times but were not able to get tickets (our fault for not reading all the information clearly the first time). First, Monday is the day that the towers are closed (we tried that first). Second, only a certain number of tickets (with a time stamp to return) are issued each day, so if you go late in the day or with a time constraint, you probably won't get a ticket. We had fun looking at the towers anyway!

Frankly, I found the Batu Caves disappointing. After reading all about them in the guidebook, we were excited to go, but the caves themselves are not all that interesting. If you are interested in the Hindu aspect of the caves or want to go for the annual festival, then by all means, they are a great sight. Also, while we were there, the temple at the base of the stairs was under construction, so we couldn't really see it.

One note: Don't take a taxi to Batu Caves -- they'll rip you off. The bus is much more affordable. Also, a trip to the Caves can be combined with a trip to the Forestry Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), where there is a rainforest canopy walk. Take a taxi from FRIM to the Caves (or vice versa) -- they're not that far apart.

We took the rainforest canopy walk, which was quite interesting and a very unique experience, but definitely not for those who have a fear of heights!! The walk only lasted about 15 minutes (depending on how slowly you walked), but that was long enough for us, as we walked across the swinging rope bridge between trees!! It was a great experience that helped us learn more about the ecosystem of the rainforest.

I believe you are supposed to call ahead to book the canopy walk, but we were able to show up that day and book it then. There is a fee for the canopy walk (RM5, I think), although entrance to the park is free.

In order to get to FRIM, many people take taxis from Kuala Lumpur, but that is an expensive option, as the taxi drivers will quote you outrageous fares to get there. A better option is to take the train to a nearby station and then take a taxi from there-it's much more reasonable. Also, a visit to FRIM can be combined with a trip to the Batu Caves- they are both in the same area north of Kuala Lumpur. Just take a taxi from FRIM to the Batu Caves (or vice versa). We also discovered (by asking the gate guard at FRIM) that there is a local mall where we could get lunch. Otherwise, there wasn't much available nearby (and the cafeteria at FRIM was closed).

The fireflies in Malaysia were amazing! There are hundreds of them roosting along the riverbanks, all flashing in unison. It was a beautiful sight!

We chose to go from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Selangor to see the fireflies via a tour that we booked through our hotel. It was pricey, but since going ourselves would mean buying bus tickets, then catching a taxi and chartering the boat, we felt it was worth it. And actually, it was, as we were picked up by car (for just the two of us), taken to a hilltop lighthouse where we could also see monkeys, taken to dinner and then on to see the fireflies. It was so much more relaxing than going through the hassle of booking everything ourselves. The only complaint I could have is that we got there so early that we were on the first boat out, before it was completely dark. We still had a good show, though, with the fireflies. Bottom line: No matter how you get there, the fireflies in Kuala Selangor are definitely worth the trip!

Taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur-what to do? We were warned (rightly) beforehand that some would try to charge outrageous fares or not use their meters. Yes, we got ripped off a time or two, but we found some helpful ways for getting better fares:

1. Walk away from whatever tourist place you are at. Whether it's a hotel, bus station, or scenic spot, there's a good chance that you can get a better fare simply by walking away from the area and hailing a cab off the street.

2. Make sure they use their meter. We got into a cab once, thinking that the meter was on, only to find out that he wasn't using the meter and was going to charge us RB15 for what should have been a RB5 ride. Which brings me to the next point . . .

3. If they're not going to use the meter, make sure to negotiate the fare in advance. Negotiated fares are usually more than the metered fare would be, but for longer trips or trips out of the city, that's often the only way you can take a taxi. You can bargain here-just don't appear too desperate or else they won't budge.

4. Take public transport. Yeah, it's not as convenient, but you can often get to a spot much closer to the place you're going and then take a taxi, saving you half the cost or more. We did this on our trip to the Forestry Research Institute Malaysia and the Batu Caves. And Kuala Lumpur has a good public transport system (as long as you don't get lost on the way to the station as we sometimes did).

5. Speak Chinese. My friend and I were both living in Taiwan at the time we visited Malaysia, so we both spoke some Mandarin. We had much better relationships with the Chinese taxi drivers who discovered that we could speak Mandarin!! (Okay, so this probably isn't a practical tip for most people.)

Overall, take it easy. You may have some bad experiences, but overall, we had a wonderful time in Kuala Lumpur in spite of some transportation glitches.