I was thinking about going to Malaysia - however, not for a while. But that doesn't mean that I'm not looking! I came across this great deal $2749 Includes Air and 9nt hotel. how are the hotels there? Is this a good deal or are there other ones that are better? Again, I'm wishing to go in another few months.
Just in case you are interested in where this deal was, click here
Any information about Malaysia would be greatly appreciated!
Posts: 14 | Location: Florida | Registered: 13 March 2008
Its not a particularly great deal, though if you're scared to travel alone, I'm not going to argue with you. I'm sure you get very nice hotel rooms for the price, and they take you to three or four places, so its not TOO rushed.
If you only have 10 days, and 3000 dollars comes easy to you, it might be ok. Keep in mind that plane flights cost about 1000 dollars or more just to get there from the West. that leaves 2000 dollars for 10 days, or 200 dollars a day, or maybe 130.
Sounds better than a cruise to me!!! I love Malaysia any way I can get it.
I do hope you like group tours.
Posts: 2323 | Location: spain | Registered: 19 November 2004
That's not at all a very good deal. You could fly from Florida to KL, fly to Malaysian Borneo from KL, stay in decent hotels and eat well for 10 days for little more than half the price they are quoting. You'd just have to do it independently, which is not hard in Malaysia. It's a fairly developed country, with good infrastructure, and it's not dangerous.
You can also check into flying to Singapore, which can be much less at times. 4 years ago, a r/t from Orlando (what airport would you be using -MCO, MIA, or tampa?) to Jakarta, Indonesia would have cost me $2,200. R/T to Sing, cost me, with tax, $827. Then I bout a r/t from Sing to Jakarta for about $250. Total cost $1,107. Total Savings $1,093. Of course I sent a few days enjoying Singapore first.
Remember the quickest route between two countries is to go directly from country A to country B. However, the cheapest way is often to go from Country A to country C or D then go to Country B.
Posts: 514 | Location: Winter Park, FL, USA | Registered: 28 December 2005
Does anyone have advice on traveling through Malaysia? I'm going for 9 or 10 days in August with my wife and parents. We're flying from Macau to Kuala Lumpur. We don't really want to stay in the city for long. We want culture, art, and nature. I doubt my parents would try scuba diving and my wife can't swim--so, we're probably looking at forests and mountains. Also, does anyone have recommendations for nice hotels in KL? My parents will probably want 4-star accommodations (I'm less picky).
KL is only interesting for a few days if you are on a short itinerary.
The first day you can explore the chinese food restaurants, naturally, the Petronas towers, and the area.
The second day go to the Batu Caves. It's well worth the visit and public buses go there from the center. Don't feed the monkeys.
The Batu Caves are caves set in a large Massif, which contain both ecological reserves and a buddhist temple carved out of rock. Its very impressive. The reserves, set in what seems to be a closed ecology, are difficult to visit without an arranged tour, and usually only done with ecological professionals, but hey, Its a tour I'd do if I qualified.
Then you have the highlands, which are warm mountain areas where they grow tea in a manner remiscent of Colonial England, a very civilised place I've heard, the forests, all beautiful, and a few other cities. I liked Malaka myself.
I also liked Tman Negara National park, a jungle park. If you are the four star type, you can stay in the resort on the othe side of the river, a very nice place next to the jungle.
Posts: 2323 | Location: spain | Registered: 19 November 2004
I have been to Malaysia a couple of times both on work and on vacation. When I went there on vacation a couple of years back we did KL, Perhentian and Langkawi. Check out my trip report with pictures http://gardkarlsen.com/malaysia_kuala_lumpur.htm . Maybe you can find some useful info there :-)
I highly recommend Malaysian Borneo be included in any itinerary. I lived in KL for 7 months and enjoyed our trip there the most. The Sepilok Orangutan reserve and Kinabalu National Park (both in Sabah) are highlights.
We now have part of the trip set. Looks like the first two days will be in KL and to Batu Caves. From there we'll fly to Penang and stay for 3 days. That still leaves another 4 full days to plan elsewhere. I'm thinking that I'd like something either near Penang or KL--I'd rather not add another flight into the mix. I was looking at going into Kedah--maybe into one of the parks...doesn't look like we'll go to Langkawi.
How bout a trip to Malacca/Melaka? Okay, i may be biased as it is my hometown, but I love it. Food's the best you can get in Malaysia. Try the chicken rice ball, satay celup, cendol, ikan bakar, wantan mee, assam laksa. Spicy but good if you can take it.
And Malacca is one of the oldest states in Malaysia, steeped in history. Here, you can find the oldest church in Malaysia, built in 1700. You'll also find a fort built by the Portuguese and the Dutch when the state was colonised.
At nights, you can find night bazaars, though they're at different places each day of the week. Ask a local for details of that night's bazaar.
It is not difficult to get around as it is relatively small. Definitely worth a visit.
Posts: 14 | Location: London | Registered: 22 February 2006
Instead of flying to Penang, get a bus from KL to the Cameron Highlands, via Tapah, & then on to Ipoh and the Caves:
"Ipoh has many limestone caves due to the karstic formation around it. The Sam Po Tong (Cavern of Three Precious; Chinese : 三寶洞) temple, is a Chinese temple built within a gigantic limestone cave. It houses a few giant tortoises too. Its sister temple, Perak Tong (Perak Cave; Chinese : 霹靂洞), has a steep, tall staircase in the interior of the cave rising up to the top of its hill where one is greeted by a panoramic view of Ipoh and its surroundings. The statue of Buddha in Perak Tong is the tallest and largest of its kind in Malaysia. Both these cavern temples have decent vegetarian food.
Another sight worth seeing is the Kek Lok Tong (Cavern of Utmost Happiness; Chinese : 極樂洞), which is a cave temple that lies on the other side of the same range of limestone hills as Sam Po Tong. however, it is only accessible through the Gunung Rapat housing area. It has a cleaner, quieter and more cooling environment and has the best scenic cave view.
Limestone hills extend 20 km north of Ipoh and also 20 km to the south. There are many caves in these hills. Gua Tempurung, near Gopeng south of Ipoh, is a show cave open to the public."
Cave Temple near Ipoh ^
I liked Malacca too, but it's south west of KL, and a great stopover if heading to Singapore.
Posts: 151 | Location: Korea | Registered: 18 January 2006
If it was my decision, I'd take the bus to the train to Bangkok. But my parents wouldn't like that. Plus, we don't have much time. We're flying...unfortunately, now Air Asia only has one flight at night on the day we're leaving--we really wanted to leave in the morning. Guess we'll see if things change or if another airline has reasonable prices.
Now that the trip is complete, I can comment on how well the suggestions worked out.
We definitely did not spend enough time in Malacca. We should've cut KL short instead. I highly recommend the Islamic Arts Museum in KL. Just wandering the streets of Malacca for a few days would make me happy--and eating at the Bulldog Cafe.
Penang is nice, but don't stay at the Bayview Hotel in Georgetown--plenty of complaints to go around (from me and other guests). A short hike through Penang Nat'l Park was really cool (though we should've had more water) and a boat ride back was worth the 70 Ringgits.
I'm happy to report that the people in Malaysia are quite possibly the friendliest people I've ever encountered (except maybe the people in my wife's hometown here in China). If it wasn't so hot in Malaysia, I'd consider moving there.
Great report back, CM. I hope the trip was great overall. We're going to be hitting this area near the end of the year so it's great to hear how things have gone recently for people.
