Around October last year, I decided it was time to spend all my money and go broke again. I was sure it was the only scratch for my travel itch. I racked my brains hard to find an Asian (budgets!) country that holds enough experiences for my travel craving soul and also has enough attractions to let my hair down and party.
So my long pending trip to Bhutan as an option was thrown out again, while we considered affordable and enticing options in our own continent. The Philippines was too much sea, Nepal was too much mountain, Pakistan was well, too much Pakistan. Vietnam, I wanted to go solo, Hongkong seemed too expensive and we were already travelling to Indonesia virtually every day through the flurry of posts as every other person on our friend list was going to Indonesia.
We decided on Singapore, under full disclosure that it is a city experience, and we also decided to “club” it with Malaysia. You know, like it is usually done. Of course, it is a complete no-no to travel through an agent, so I decided to plan the whole trip myself. Planning of a trip is like essential foreplay to me, I see no point in coming (arriving) to a destination otherwise. So we decided Singapore to be the actual destination and Malaysia (Read Langkawi) to be a spillover.
As my travel monster mode took over, I slowly kept getting detached from Singapore and got drawn to the very diverse land of Malaysia. All I knew about Malaysia at that point was Petronas Towers, Langkawi, Gula Melaka, and Nasi Goreng. I had heard about the Tamil settlements there and a tactless representation of their community in some terrible Tamil TV shows. I was wrong! I was so wrong!
Everything I read about Malaysia fascinated me, the fact that it is not so popular, that it is a cultural melting pot of so many communities coming together – The Chinese, the Malays, The Tamils, the innumerable number of options that years of cuisine inbreeding has to offer, the diversity of the country covering gorgeous untouched beaches, the wide-ranging forests, the rich heritage and their love for all kinds of food.
I already made up my mind that there is no way I will do justice to Malaysia in only five days, and hence it should cover the entire duration of the trip. I convinced my partner to ditch Singapore, which he reluctantly did, and he had little choice.
I set out on my own mini mind-trip, to deliberate and plan the journey, with the most beautiful Airbnb options, and all the food I needed to devour. I really did not know what to expect, and that was the most beautiful part of the trip. My mind was a clean slate, and my heart full of expectations.
At the first glance, the Perhentian islands struck me with wonder, and I was ready to spend all my ten days in those magical group of islands. But then some quick reading told me December was the worst time to visit the Perhentian islands unless I want to be stuck inside hotel rooms with little to no transport. The next obvious destination choices were Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur which I never really fancied. A lot of fighting and some fun later, we decided on a perfectly diverse trail. It seemed to cover the ocean, the hills, and the plains.
Chennai | Kuala Lumpur Airport | Melaka | Kuala Lumpur | Cameron Highlands | Pangkor | Penang | Kuala Lumpur | Chennai
I plan to write about each of these cities separately because each place made me feel so different in its own way. I loved most of the places I went to, and almost all the people I met. Malaysia is a culturally diverse country with so many communities living together peacefully.
To all those people who raised their eyebrows asking, “Why Malaysia?”. I get it. I know how we tend to perceive certain things only based on things we have heard and known. For most of us, Malaysia is about couples taking photos in front of Petronas towers, and snorkelling in Langkawi. There could not be a more false image of Malaysia in people’s mind. There are so many undiscovered territories, devoid of crowds and tourists. there are so many bakeries baking the most creamy cakes you can think of, there are so many Tamil eateries just longing for someone from their country to walk in just so they can go down memory lane, there are so many untouched islands other than Langkawi, there are so many Buddhist shrines you can walk into and spend as many hours as you want, there are so many pubs with travellers drinking together and discussing football!
Before my trip, I was a little skeptical about Malaysia being an Islamic country and the kind of dress code that I should keep in mind. I am always kind of a safe traveller, I like to blend in and just disappear in a city. But, I would say most of my concerns seemed wrong, and if you have the alert sense to know where to wear what, you are good to go!
Coming to the most important bit of it all, Food. Malaysian food like I mentioned before, has multiple roots arising from the different ethnic groups that have settled in Malaysia. This is truly a food lover’s paradise, as you will never run out of choices on what to eat.
If your trip goes entirely as you plan, then you must be a really boring person. This is my personal belief. 😀 True to my nature, so many things went wrong and we took unexpected turns in our trip, and as always, it turned out to be even better than the original plan. This includes an almost bar fight, the worst Bollywood nightclub (courtesy Punjabi friend) I have set my foot into, the darkest Kopi you will drink, partying too hard on Christmas Eve to fall sick on Christmas, trying to snorkel with braces, tasting fish balls, meeting a very strange art gallery owner, visiting a food stall that ranks among the top ten in world street food, a spooky conversation about haunted houses with a monk and watching the sunset at a beach with literally no other human around.
So, Everybody! “Why not Malaysia?”
The next few series of posts are going to be about individual cities mostly. I am not getting into itineraries, I feel there is enough information available online, but please do reach out in case of any specific queries. The idea is to share my perspective and experiences from the truly underrated travel destination that is Malaysia.
