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Southeast Asia
Georgetown on Penang island, northwest Malaysia, where some old cultures hang grimly on in the face of rising opposition. Also know as Pulau Pinang the island is in the state of Penang.
Photo by Adrian Loader
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A gorgeous original Chinese shop front in Georgetown. One of the reasons for Penang's new World Heritage Site status.
Photo by Adrian Loader
Best things to do on Penang Island
• stroll the Pinang Perankan Museum in George Town, the beautiful and lavishly furnished home of a wealthy Chinese/Malay family; see how they lived and all their well preserved knick-knacks. A guided tour is probably worth the extra cost to get a lot more detail and history.
• flutter into the small Penang Butterfly Farm for an hour or two and share space with hundreds of spectacular and often strange wing critters (that may settle on you), along with some other beasts such as snakes, lizards, spiders, scorpions, turtles and fish. Best to go first thing in the morning when it's reasonably cool. There's no public transport nearby so it may be a taxi job or a bit of a walk. Entry fee is a little pricey.
• wander in wonder at the tranquil ambience of the Dharmikarama Burmese Temple, Georgetown, and its gloriously over-the-top gold buddhas, stupas, shrines and intricate reliefs. It's very different from the usual Chinese Buddhist temples. Dharmikarama is just opposite a Thai Buddhist temple so you could have a two-in-one religious experience! And there's a bus stop nearby.
• take the kids to Adventure Zone in the Golden Sands Resort, Batu Feringgi Beach. AZ is a huge indoor playground with massive slides, obstacle course, toddler area and other play equipment that kids love. It's air conditioned and got wifi, snacks and drinks so parents are well sorted. Socks and long-sleeve T shirts mandatory!
• Khoo Kongsi Chinese temple in Georgetown is one of the most spectacular of this genre, absolutely packed with carvings, murals and paintings, but lacking in much explanatory data.
• Another possibly interesting old house/museum is the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in Georgetown, but only visitable with a guided tour three or four times a day and the experience very much depends on the knowledge, enthusiasm and humour of the guide.
Kek Lok Si temple/monastery in Georgetown, Penang.
Photo by D. Berthold
• Kek Lok Si temple/monastery is an elaborate, interesting and free-to-enter attraction with magnificent stupas and statues and terrific views over Penang but it's a bit run-down, lacking useful information and loaded with tacky gift shops. It's on Crane Hill and with no public transport nearby it's a half hour walk from the nearest bus or a taxi ride.
Monkey Beach, Penang Island.
Photo by Asiadetailfeed
• Penang National Park in the island's northwest features a quite unspoilt jungle (aka rainforest!), wild monkeys, and decent though slightly uncared-for stretches of sand but well-organised trails with occasional tricky sections. It's a good place for a hike, a swim or fishing but also boasts a Turtle Sanctuary. Don't show the monkeys on Monkey Beach food unless you want them to go bananas! Camping at Monkey Beach is possible but bring food and water though there are sometimes vendors there.
Get there by bus in about an hour from Georgetown. Tired hikers often catch a boat ride back to Georgetown, while tourists who don't fancy a 3.5km hike from the entrance can take a boat to Monkey beach.
Taman Negara National Park canopy walk.
Photo by
Jacek Nowak
Taman Negara National Park is an evocative big-tree jungle
north of Kuala Lumpur with a rainforest ambience and no shortage of leeches though a bit short of larger beasts. Apparently there are 350 species of bird but we saw almost none. Most visitors hike self-guided trails over a few hours so there isn't a sharp-eyed guide who knows where the interesting critters are. Long jungle treks or possible but require a guide.
There is a Tahan wildlife hide beside a salt lick but you'd need to overnight there for any real chance to see something sizeable, and me, I wouldn't bet a night's sleep on it.
I took my trainers off after a 3 hour hike in Taman Negara and two pints of blood dropped out. I thought I must have got some glass in my shoe bit then realised I had got a leech in it instead. The leech saliva de-coagulates the blood so it becomes runny and seems more than it is. Moral of the story: wear shoes without little holes and don't stop walking! If you do, look very carefully at the jungle floor and you may see little excited worms wiggling towards you. They are leeches, they small blood and want it! Enjoy!
Best season to visit Taman Negara is the dry, from February to September. The park is busiest from April to August. Malaysia Climate
Getting to Taman Negara
The south entrance is at Kuala Tahan, 3.5 hours from KL.
The main transit point from KL to Negara is the small town of Jerantut on Malaysia's east coast so that's step one for individual travelers (as opposed to going with a tour). Get there by bus or train from KL.
Boat: The most dramatic and appropriate way to travel there is via river boat from Kuala Tembling, a 60 km trip taking over just two hours. Take a short taxi ride from Jerantut to Kuala Tembling.
Bus: public buses do the run from Jerantut to Kuala Tahan three or four times a day.
Taxi: a taxi from Jerantut to Kuala Tahan will take about an hour.
Hire Car: the road is well signposted and the journey should take about 3-4 hours.
Things to do in Taman Negara
• Do a lengthy canopy walk on a suspension bridge at monkey-eye level.
• Visit an Orang Asli settlement. The Orang Asli are among the original inhabitants of Malaysia and live a nomadic lifestyle in the jungle. They will happily teach tourists how to live in the wild, use a blow gun, skin a snake and other essential skills.
• Climb Bukit Teresek. This 334m high hill is a reasonable climb with the help of ropes and tree roots and may result in a wildlife sighting such as boars or birds. From the view point there is a panoramic view of most of the park.
• Do a guided night wildlife safari, either on foot or by 4WD, in search of owls, snakes, monitor lizards and strange night creatures.
• Go Fishing for 300 species of fish in the waters of Sungai Tahan below Lata Berkoh, or Sungai Keniam below Kuala Keniam Kecil. Fishing is best in the drier months of February - April and June - August. Permits are required.
Tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands, a cool and colonial region of pleasant little old
towns and wild walks.
Photo by Will Ellis
A massive high and hilly region of forests and tea plantations, the Camerons is the size of Singapore and due to its altitude of between 1,200m (3,900ft) and 1,500m (4,900ft) is refreshingly cool in spite of the latitude. Along with the Genting Highlands the Cameron Highlands experience perfect temperatures from around 17C ( 62F) to 25C (77F).
Things to Do in the Cameron Highlands
• Hike up Gunung (Mount) Brinchang. Follow the marked trail (1) from Brinchang town which will take a couple of hours and no guide needed. An alternative route down takes hikers about 6 kms to the Boh Tea Plantation from where buses run hourly back to Brinchang. Or drive there! See below.
• Drive up to the top of Gunung Brinchang at 2200m (6,666) feet above sea level. This is the Malaysia's highest accessible point and offers an Observation Tower from which visitors get a stunning panorama of the Cameron Highlands and vicinity. Apart from the viewpoint there is boardwalk access to another attraction, the Mossy Forest, an ancient and unspoilt area of wonderfully gnarled trees surrounded by a thick carpet of moss.
A taxi ride here is likely to be expensive so check out car rental prices.
• Tour tea plantations. The Boh Tea Centre tour is free and set is an exquisite location.
Pasir Panjang beach on Redang Island, east coast.
Dazzling Malaysian beaches, mostly off the east mainland coast, offer soft sand, guaranteed heat, plenty of sun and clear seas, with fantastic snorkeling and diving in most locations, though the prime scuba drop is off eastern Sabah on Borneo island. More Beaches
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