Malaysia – Peninsula – Outdoor Travel Addicts

We finally made it to our first country in South East Asia where we would meet with Alex and Joana. Flying from Darwin to KL was only a short distance flight. However, the

cultural contrast was more than noticeable. For the following three weeks, we would travel across the peninsula of Malaysia, learning about the country and the Malay culture.

First impressions

When we landed in Kuala Lumpur, we took the express train that takes only 30 minutes to the city centre.

Communication

Once in the main station, we felt pretty lost and we were asking around how to take the metro to get to our hostel. We got the feeling that nobody wanted to help us. However, that was only because we were asking people that did not speak English, and for some reason, they would feel uncomfortable. We would later find out, though, that a lot of people speak English compared to other Asian countries, which makes the travelling much easier.

Easier with cash

On the other hand, we quickly noticed that there are not so many places that accept credit card, so it is very handy to get a good travel credit/debit card that doesn’t charge any conversion fees and atm fees. There are also some places where you don’t have easy access to an ATM, so it is very useful to plan ahead for that.

Unbearable heat

We landed in the afternoon and, even though we were coming from the hottest side of Australia (Darwin), the heat hit us pretty hard. It is extremely humid and hot in Malaysia, but we felt like KL was the most unbearable.

All eyes on you

There were not so many white people in some areas. Therefore, sometimes they treated us like celebrities. From our perspective, they were always suspiciously interested in us. We were very sceptical in the beginning, thinking they would want our money. However, most of the times, they are just friendly people who want to have a chat with a foreigner to practice a little bit their English.

First world country infrastructures

We were expecting chaos on the roads as we have heard from many other countries. However, they are pretty civilized when it comes to driving. On top of that, moving around is very easy and very well organized. The buses are comfortable and cheap. As a bonus, using grab (Asian uber) is easy, reliable and also very affordable.

This Grab seemed to have the right space for our four backpacks

Dirty and loud place

Malaysia was not an exception. They use a lot of plastic and there are barely any recycling bins. Very often we would find trash on the side of the road. Also, there is a lot of traffic and even though it is quite organized, it can still be annoyingly loud sometimes.

Cultural diversity

Malaysia is a multiethnic country. Indian, Malay and Chinese people live together in harmony here. This means that it gets three times more interesting as a tourist. There are lots of Buddhist, Chinese, Hindu Temples as well as Mosques to visit. On the other hand, you can also feast on a great variety of food. However, the Malay and Chinese cuisine are not very vegetarian-friendly so we would try to eat Indian most of the times.

On the other hand, Malaysia is mainly a Muslim country, so prepare for hearing the praying several times a day. Also, it is fair to warn you about the absence of toilette paper in public toilettes, not to mention how wet you might find them.

Water refilling stations

Even though you should never drink from the tab, all restaurants and most hostels have their own filtered water which you can use to refill your bottle. This way there is no need to generate more plastic waste!

Sugar rush!

They put sugar in absolutely everything! If you order a coffee or a smoothie, make sure you say no sugar! It is easy to understand then why lots of locals don’t have very good dental health.

Affordable meals, expensive alcohol.

A meal for two people could easily be 20 MYR. However, a beer would of 15-20 MYR, which is basically Western prices.