Why this itinerary? Initially, the plan was to go straight to Kuala Lumpur and start travelling around Malaysia. However, a great flight deal added Beijing and Singapore to the itinerary we followed:
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Langkawi: Tanjung Rhu and Cenang Beach
- Penang: Georgetown
- Perhentians
- Kuala Lumpur
Why Malaysia? Travel from idyllic nature heavens such as jungles that unite sea and mountain, to historical towns where many Asian cultures live harmoniously combining permanent progress with ancient traditions in one place.
1. Stopover in Beijing, capital of China
Thanks to Air China or Singapore Airlines you have the unique chance to add a long stopover in Beijing to your trip to Asia and choose a different airport for the return as well. That is how we got to stop in Beijing and in Singapur also.
Enjoying several hours of sightseeing in one more destination for much less. You take a train for a new exciting adventure, while the airline takes care of your luggage until the next flight.
For this to be possible, you only need your stopover to be more than six hours and preferably during the daytime so that you can leave the airport by choosing the 24-hour visa counter which is free of charge to then take the train to Dongzhimen and start exploring the city.
Book with Singapore Airlines here.
Bear in mind that if your flight arrives late in the afternoon like ours did, you will not be able to enter the major tourist attractions anymore such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, museums of the Tiananmen Square or Temple of Heaven. However, who says walking around the city main historical sights is not worth it?
The last stop of this 28-minute train from the airport to central Beijing is Dongzhimen. Train station connecting to the Airport Expressway and China National Highway 101. The Dongzhimen subway station is a transfer station between Line 2, Line 13. There are many restaurants and a great food market we found right outside the station.
We decided to dedicate our little time in Beijing to visit Tiananmen Square, only the seventh largest city square in the world with 440,000 square meters. 40 minutes away from Dongzhimen taking metro line 2 and 1 to Tiananmen East Station and there walk to:
- Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, and Gu Gong in Chinese, lies at the city centre of Beijing, and once served as the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1911).
- Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the final resting place of Chairman Mao where his body was embalmed and put on display after his death.
- National Museum of China. “Like the ancestral halls and temples of Chinese culture, NMC is the top palace of history and art in China.”
We will do the Great Wall next time!
2. Singapore, Singapura
Singapore was not a stopover, but part of the flight round trip you can purchase with Air China: London-Singapur and return Kuala Lumpur-London weeks later.
Once in Singapore, get a day pass transport $10, free city map with main attractions and transport, food market and a place to sleep is all you need for a quick stop in this modern unique island-city-country.
Singapore or Singapura; the Malay name for “Lion City” consists of the island of Singapore and about 54 smaller islands. The main island is linked by a causeway to Johor Baru on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. 5.6 million inhabitants, global finance centre and multicultural melting pot, speaking English (administration), Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.
A cultural, shopping and entertainment paradise, just follow the map to travel around Asia in one day:
Little India and Bugis
Arab Street
Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands
Take some time to walk around the gardens and to lift up to the trees canopy walk for the views to the bay and harbour, the city and around the park. Then, during the golden hour walk to the Marina Bay Sands and go up to the sky bar. Wait until sunset while sipping a delightful glass of prosecco, the first one is free for ladies!
Dining at Lau Pa Sat Festival Market
Lau Pa Sat, also known as Telok Ayer Market, is a historic building located within the Downtown Core in the Central Area of Singapore. It is currently a food centre and devotes some of the stands to city´s number one speciality: Hokkien Prawn Mee, stir-fried noodle steeped in aromatic stock made of pork bones and prawn heads.
Chinatown
Our rest for the night after many many hours of long flights and stop visiting Beijing. We stayed at Porcelain Hotel for one night, very good. Next morning we flew to Langkawi, our first stop in Malaysia.
Introducing Malaysia
3. Langkawi, The Jewel Of Kedah
Langkawi comprises a group of 99 islands on the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, 1h30m flight from Singapore. Worth visiting for:
- Global Geopark status by UNESCO with a history dating back 550 million old years you can admire in their stunning landscapes, karsts and caves.
- Nature-based activities and fine beaches to chill.
- Friendly locals sharing their rich culture and cuisine.
Langkawi Cable Car
After landing in Langkawi. we took a taxi to Oriental Village, a leisure park which includes Langkawi Cable Car. Views to Mount Mat Chinchang and the Andaman Sea. One of the steepest gradients in the world.
To save money getting around in Malaysia download Grab App, a safe South East Asian transportation platform similar to Uber. You pay in cash by the end of the journey.
Tanjung Rhu Beach
No words needed here, check it out…
Food recommendation: barbecue, juices and crepes with peanut butter and corn, chocolate cake with melted cheese on top.
Night at Eagleye Villa & Cottage
Eagleye Villa & Cottage offers a special location in front of the beach, 5 minutes to the Mangrove and near the village of Ayer Hangat. Friendly staff who made us feel so welcomed in our very first day in Malaysia telling all the legends of this magical island, I will not spoil them for you.
Good night of sleep in one of their cottages. Everything perfect!
Kilim Karst Geoforest Park
One of the attractions which inspired this trip to Malaysia: Mangrove Tour. Cruising through a mangrove, watching eagles, cave bats and crab-eating macaques. Booked locally on the day before (much cheaper as online).
Lunch in Tanjung Rhu Beach
We chose to have lunch at the terrace restaurant close to our accommodation with views to the islands Gasing, Dangli and Pasir (Eagleye Villa & Cottage). After lunch, we walked to the Black Sand Beach stopping every other minute to see the crabs hiding between the rocks that the low tide began to leave to dry under the midday sun. And herons gathering for lunchtime.
Cenang Beach
A lovely beach promenade, water sports and delicious chilly crab for dinner on our second and last night in Langkawi islands.
Here we stayed at Rainbow Lodge for the night because it offered a good location near the main beach road at affordable rates. The only problem we found was the room had no mosquito net and we did spend some time killing a trillion mosquitoes before managing to sleep. Tip: bring a mosquito net.
4. Georgetown
From Langkawi, you can fly to Penang airport or enjoy a 3-hour ferryboat to Georgetown in Penang Island or Pulau Pinang in Malay.
Georgetown is the capital of the Penang State and island, connected to the Peninsula Malaysia by a bridge. Attracting foodies from all over the country and the world!
The city keeps a valuable colonial heritage mixed with colourful street art, temples and food markets reachable within walking distance, altogether a theme park for the most curious urban explorers.
I had my first dragon fruit juice here, the purple fruit you can see on the picture!
On the next morning, we began our sightseeing itinerary:
Lorong Burma
The Epic Renunciation: on the right are Devas who encouraged Prince Siddharta Gotama for Supreme Enlightenment, while on his left are Maras who tried unsuccessfully to dissuade him from doing so.
Clan Jetties
“Clan Jetties form part of the Penang Heritage Trail. There used to be seven jetties until one was demolished by fire and now six remain. Billed as one of the last bastions of old Chinese settlements on the island, this waterfront society is home to houses on stilts of various Chinese clans.”
Shops, restaurants and temples
Little India
Kek Lok Si Temple
Largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia with many treasures to discover. The best was watching the golden sunset over Georgetown from such a majestic temple, surrounded by the jungle singing voices of birds and monkeys.
Durian
Eating durian is the number one local attraction and surely we had to try it. But most accommodations forbid one to bring it inside because of the intense smell that disgust many.
While having the first bite, our faces could not disguise we were not going to be big fans of this fruit. It must have been quite fun to watch considering the shop assistant entertained look.
Our home is Georgetown was Tune Hotel George Town Penang
6. Perhentian Islands
Getting to the Perhentian Islands can be done by land transportation or flying to Kota Bahru which is much faster and not that expensive if booked in advance. Once at the airport, you can arrange a grab, taxi or shared transfer to Kuala Besut Port. And lastly, a taxi boat to your chosen resort at the Perhentians. In our case, the boat was arranged by our resort: Coral View Island Resort.
Tourism taxes apply at the harbour and at the hotel check-in, take cash.
Welcome to the Perhentian Islands in the National Marine Park of Malaysia
Perhentian Kecil and Perhentian Besar, the first is a smaller island with few accommodations and the second is larger and offers more diversity of hotels, bars and entertainment. So Besar means big and that is where we stayed the big island. Perhentian means stop and the islands got the name as pirates used to stop off there in the old days. Pulau means island.
Coral View Island Resort
Finding and choosing this resort is what made this experience so fantastic, truly a dream come true.
As budget travellers, we could afford to stay at this part of the island at the Coral View Island Resort only due to the fact that we were travelling in low season and that we booked a budget cottage.
The resort is located in front of the white sand beach and coral-rich bay, where hours went by snorkelling with blacktip reef sharks, manta rays, needlefish, snappers, parrot fish, clownfish in their anemones and so many more! Sorry to have missed the turtles.
Scuba diving centre and kayak rental in the resort too.
Above water, you will be surrounded by jungle wildlife ruled by dusky leaf monkeys, flying foxes, giant fruit bats, monitor lizards, magpies and many many squirrels. To explore the island you can follow the jungle trails to reach the other beaches or hire a boat taxi.
Jungle short trail to watch the sunset on the other side of the island: shark point
Jungle long trail to have breakfast on the other side of the island: turtle beach
Back to Coral Bay
Leaving was the only difficulty we found in Perhentians!
7. Kuala Lumpur
“Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia, boasting gleaming skyscrapers, colonial architecture, charming locals, and a myriad of natural attractions. Divided into numerous districts, its main hub is called the Golden Triangle which comprises Bukit Bintang, KLCC and Chinatown. KL is widely recognised for numerous landmarks, including Petronas Twin Towers (the world’s tallest twin skyscrapers), Petaling Street flea market, and Batu Caves, which is over 400 million years old.” (Hotels.com)
Petaling Street (China Town)
Landed in Kuala Lumpur Airport and went straight to rest well before the last two days in Malaysia exploring Kuala Lumpur.
Booked budget room in ZEN Hostel Explorers Guesthouse. Good location and price.
The first day in the city was like this:
Batu Caves
The final chapter of our precious adventure
Second and last day in KL we got a 32-minute train from Pasar Seni train station to Batu Caves. Mislead by receptionists we took it from another train station which is further, but thanks to that mistake, we met Sam, a friendly local who told us all that is to know about Batu Caves and Hindu traditions and ceremonies. You would not believe how many questions I asked him!
He explained Batu Caves is a limestone hill comprising three major caves and a number of smaller ones. About approximately 11 kilometres to the north of Kuala Lumpur and that he comes weekly since he has retired from his job. This 100-year-old temple features idols and statues erected inside the main caves and around it full of colours and details, dedicated to Ganesh, the creator elephant god. Considered an important religious landmark by Hindus. Major ceremonies can be overwhelmingly busy, take a look at my pictures and imagine the stairs crowded.
One of the most impressive temples I will ever see that transforms you when you make it to the top!
“ It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
- Edmund Hillary (New Zealander Explorer 1919-2008)
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