Singapore Hotels & Malaysia Hotels
About Singapore Malaysia

PLANING YOUR TRIP

Compared with spicy Thailand to the north and cosmopolitan Singapore to the south, Malaysia is a relative secret to many from the West, and most travelers to Southeast Asia skip over it, opting for more heavily traversed routes.

Boy, are they missing out. Those who venture here wander through streets awash with international influences from colonial times and trek through mysterious rainforests and caves, often without another tourist in sight. They relax peacefully under palms on lazy white beaches that fade into blue, blue waters. They spy the bright colors of batik sarongs hanging to dry in the breeze. They hear the melodic drone of the Muslim call to prayer seeping from exotic mosques. They taste culinary masterpieces served in modest local shops-from Malay with its deep mellow spices to succulent seafood punctuated by brilliant chili sauces. In Malaysia, I'm always thrilled to witness life without the distracting glare of the tourism industry, and I leave impressed by how accessible Malaysia is to outsiders while remaining true to its heritage.

Malaysia just doesn't get the tourism press it deserves, but it's not because foreign travelers aren't welcome. True, the Malaysian Tourism Board has almost no international advertising campaign-and you'll be hard-pressed to get any useful information out of them-but everyone from government officials in Kuala Lumpur to boat hands in Penang seems delighted to see the smiling face of a traveler who has discovered just how beautiful their country is.

singapore & malaysia websection 9 covers the major destinations of peninsular Malaysia. We begin with the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, then tour the peninsula's west coastthe cities of Johor Bahru, Malacca (Melaka), the hill resorts at Cameron and Genting Highlands, plus islands like the popular Penang and the luxurious Langkawi. singapore & malaysia websection 10 takes you up the east coast of the peninsula, through resort areas such as Desaru, Mersing, Kuantan, C;herating, and the small and charming Tioman Island, a11 the way north to the culturally stimulating cities of Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu. My coverage also includes laman Negara National Park, peninsular Malaysia's largest national forest. Finally, in singapore & malaysia websection 11, we cross the South China Sea to the island of Borneo, where the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah feature Malaysia's most impressive forests as well as unique and diverse cultures.

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