Holidays in Malaysia: my experience
Vibrant city breaks, hiking through the Borneo jungles in search of Orang Utans, releasing baby turtles back into the wild, playing a round or two of golf, exploring the wonders of the ocean, or simply sunbathing on a beach in sand overlooking crystal blue waters. Malaysia vacations really do offer a fantastic variety of options and have something to offer for everyone.
I have been to Malaysia many times and I never get tired of this place.
During my last trip to Malaysia I visited Kuala Lumpur (of course), Penang, Langkawi and Borneo.
In Kuala Lumpur I stayed at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel and highly recommend it. It is rated a 5 star property, however I would probably rate it a very good 4 star. Suite was very spacious and very well priced and offered an excellent location, a 3 minute walk from the Bukit Bintan area. I can recommend a visit to the Petronas Towers, a dinner at KL Tower and a visit to Chinatown. There is much more to do in and around Kuala Lumpur, such as a trip to the Batu Caves and seeing the fireflies, but generally 2-3 days is enough to get a good idea of the place and there is a lot you can do. without stretching your time too much.
Penang is a great place, but many people treat it like a beach vacation; however, I would personally recommend that you stay in the capital Georgetown and treat it like a city break before moving to a place like Langkawi. Langkawi is just a short flight or ferry transfer from Penang and offers a far superior beach experience in my opinion. Places of interest in Georgetown, Penang would be Cheong Fatze Mansion, a tricycle ride through Little India, and a trip to fruit, spice and butterfly farms.
Langkawi is one of my favorite places in Malaysia. It had a very relaxed atmosphere and is an ideal place to get away from it all for a while. It also benefits from being duty free, making it a bit cheaper than the other destinations. Good excursions here are the Cable Car Ride, a boat trip through the mangrove forest and a trip from island to island to the ‘Island of the Pregnant Lady’ so called because it looks like a pregnant woman lying down from a distance. There are numerous hotels to choose from in Langkawi ranging from the 3-star Mutiara Burau Bay Resort to the luxurious Datai Hotel.
Borneo is among my 2 favorite places in the world. I started my journey with a stay at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort near the Kota Kinabalu Center. The standards here are top-notch, although the beach is man-made. This was not a big problem as I was only here for one night before setting out on my Wildlife Tour.
After spending the night at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort, I made my way to my flight to Sandakan before transferring to the Kinabatangan River. Along the way I stopped at the Gomontong Caves to witness where they harvest bird nests for bird nest soup. This place is full of bugs and it’s pretty hard to avoid stepping on them, so it’s not for the faint-hearted. To get to Gomontong you have to walk through a wooded area for about 15 minutes and I had my eyes wide open the whole time, waiting and praying to see an Orang Utan. Unfortunately, that was not the case and I decided that I was being overly optimistic expecting to see the ‘Wild Man of Borneo’ during my first encounter with the rainforest. Slightly disappointed, but not too much, I proceed to the Kinabatangan River. It took me about 1 hour by boat to get to my hostel from the jetty and again my eyes were open. I checked in and we had some time to relax before our first scheduled boat trip in search of wildlife.
I’m not good at spending time alone, so I headed to the bar and started talking to an American couple who were finishing their trip around the world. They, along with a couple made up of a German man and a French woman, were to be my company for the 2 nights I was there and we all seemed to get along very well. After a drink or two we headed towards Kinabatangan and were lucky enough to see the peculiar proboscis monkey and a crocodile along with many birds, but still no Orang Utan. In the afternoon we repeated this process, albeit in a different direction, and we were told that there were sightings of pygmy elephants, but that we could not find them.
The next morning we headed to an area called Ox Bow Lake and went on a jungle hike. I felt like I was on cloud nine. I have always dreamed of going to Borneo because I really like wildlife and felt like I was on a wildlife documentary expedition as we walked through the jungle. My guide was making calls to try and attract the Orang Utans, although he told me this was considered a confrontation with the Orang Utans, so I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it. I decided that if my only chance to see the Wild Man of Borneo in his natural environment was to end up in a fight with one, then so be it! We found an Orang Utan Nest but there is no Orang Utan yet. On the way back to the boat, my guide had a conversation with a brightly colored bird. He whistled a tune and the Bird responded, it was quite fun to witness.
After dinner I had planned to do a night hike with my guide and we set off and noticed we were heading in a different direction than everyone else. I asked where we were going and the guides’ response was’ that’s how it is for the planned hike, that’s for the weak, I like to do my own hike ‘. Excellent!!! We set off, machetes in hand, while Terence led a route through the thick vegetation. We had seen nothing but insects and a deer when we reached a river blocking our way. ‘Hmm’ said Terence, it seems our path is blocked, we may have to go back. ‘ He looked at his watch and said “too soon to go back” and continued down the river. I was knee deep in the river, completely black except for the small amount of light coming from my flashlight. Some may not have been overly impressed, but I couldn’t be happier. A real experience, what I had been dreaming of for years and to top it off, I was getting paid to do this.
The next morning I woke up still thinking about my experience from previous nights and although I had been totally impressed by my tour so far, something was still missing. He had not yet seen the elusive Orang Utan in its natural habitat. We had one more boat ride before we left and I was convinced that we would see one. We had reached the end point of our trip and now it was time to return to the Resort to collect our bags and leave for the airport. I kept my head down, bitterly disappointed that I had not seen the only thing I expected to see when I suddenly heard a cry from my Guide, it had not failed me. Saw an Orang Utan in a nearby tree. The captain pulled the boat closer to the river bank and my guide jumped out of the boat to get closer. I concluded that he was indeed a little crazy, but in my eyes he was now my hero. The Orang Utan threw droppings at him, a defense mechanism to deter unwanted visitors, but to be fair it made a great display for us. Now I could go home a very happy man.
On the way home I stopped at the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center to see the orphaned Orang Utans and witnessed the morning feeding. It is a very pleasant experience to watch them play against each other and certainly worth a stop if you are in the area.
I spent my last night at the Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort, which is about a 45-minute drive from downtown Kota Kinabalu. This hotel benefits from a spectacular 3 km stretch of white sand beach and has its own nature reserve within its grounds where you can visit the orphaned Orang Utans and watch their rehabilitation ready to return to nature. This reserve is working together with the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center and together they are doing a great job to preserve this fantastic creature.
This Malaysia vacation was by far the best and I can recommend Borneo to anyone with a passion for wildlife. I can’t thank my guide Terence enough for everything he did to make my stay everything I expected. Terence was actually born in the jungle and for him it was a way of life, not a job for him and this shone through every minute spent with him.