Discovering Malaysia
What can motivate someone to take two long flights 14 hours altogether to arrive in a new country with completely different weather, nature, and culture? My answer is curiosity and desire to learn and experience a new world I never saw before. Thus, I planned a short getaway for the Christmas holidays and arrived in a country I hadn’t visited yet — Malaysia.
While I was extremely excited, I had certain doubts too — I’d already been to two of its neighbours, Singapore and Thailand. And my question was, would Malaysia bring something new? The photos of George Town showed me the similar style of the old colonial architecture and thus, I had the least expectations from this part of the itinerary (I didn’t know I’d like this place the most!).
First impressions
The very first minutes in my new country I spent on the long confusing route through multiple sections of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on the way to passport control. The latest could be a formality if it’s organized well. Though in Kuala Lumpur it wasn’t.
Never-ending crowds of foreigners from all around the world were forming chaotic lines that from time to time were broken in by other newer lines. In the end, the time of waiting was constantly increasing as well as the density of people and no one from the airport crew tried to improve such a state. Two (!) hours later I got my brand new stamp in the passport. Voilà, I’m in Malaysia!
The next impressions were high humidity, non-stop rain and a long 1-hour taxi ride to the centre of Kuala Lumpur.
Welcome to the top of the world
It took me less than 10 min to choose the place where I’ll stay while in Kuala Lumpur. That was literally the first option I saw on the feed — a room in the aparthotel on the 17th floor with an astonishing panoramic view over massive green hills and remarkable towers. But don’t take it easy, since I’m living in France right now I proudly adapted the very French manner of complaining and once I checked in, I was slightly disappointed that this place had only cold light from the ceiling and its functionality was strictly solving the basic needs, not more — wait a minute, I’m no longer in Paris with its artistic vibes apartments?
What was excessive, there were plenty of Christmas songs on every corner — in the hall of the hotel, in cafes and shops, and that was more than bizarre to listen to “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” while it was 30°C and you’re surrounded by greenery, doesn’t it mean you’re dreaming of the severe climate change, ha?
Multiculturalism, spicy sauce and futurism
On my second day, I met my local friend and together we went to déguster the local cuisine and walked around the Chinatown district.
Traditional Malaysian food is all about meat and spicy sauce. The last one definitely creates a unique, intense taste which was interesting to try but too strong for me to finish the plate. On the contrary, I enjoyed the Ice Kacang/ABC dessert which was full of ingredients I’m not used to seeing in this kind of food: beans, corn, grass jelly and more.
Malaysia has three main ethnic communities: the Malays, Chinese and Indians. Thus, you can see a diverse cultural heritage. One of the spots I’ve added to my to-visit list was Batu Caves, the set of Hindu temples hidden in the limestone caves outside of Kuala Lumpur. What impressed me there a lot was how colourful, detailed, and rich in details the Hindu temples are.
Walking the streets of Kuala Lumpur I enjoyed spotting the contrast between modern and old buildings. And then, I was impressed by the monorail — probably a usual transport for the locals while to me, it looked really futuristic. Once you’re in the busiest crossroad junction, you also experience quite a stressful crosswalk with a sea of people and cars that hardly can wait their turn to move. Ah, Asia, you’re so vibrant!
Moving further: Cameron Highlands, British influence and tea plantations
To move from Kuala Lumpur to Cameron Highlands you simply book a 4 hours bus drive and nothing signifies there’d be something unusual about it. Ho-ho-ho, that was the craziest bus drive I’ve ever had!
Cameron Highlands, as it is mentioned in the name, is situated in a higher area and to reach it, you go through multiple twists of mountain type of roads. Usually, drivers are supposed to be careful in such places unless you’re somewhere in Albania or Montenegro but even there it was much safer than in Malaysia. The bus driver I was lucky to go with took high speed right on every corner so that the bus was naturally moved to the sides while turning and all I could do was hope or pray I’d still reach the destination (actually, I was thinking how many car accidents are happening daily there, do we know about it, is it on the daily news aaaand so on).
In the end, I did. And the first impression from Cameron Highlands was — wait a minute, these are the British cottages in the tropics?
Cameron Highlands was founded by the British under the British colonial government at the end of the 19th century. Now, you still see the British influence whether in such things as scones that are served everywhere or in general preferences: “It’s raining here all the time just as in Britain”, where “as in Britain” usually indicates a positive evaluation.
Other things that have a strong tight with the British are the tea plantations and you have a chance to visit them.
The panoramas that I saw were really beautiful, I always enjoy seeing greenery and rich nature around me. What was sad to discover was the harsh conditions under which the workers on the tea plantations were working 6 days a week. The minimum amount of tea leaves you have to collect daily is 250 kg (!). Also, you have to be able to carry a 50 kg bag on your shoulders while transporting it. And while workers have free accommodation to live in and free medicine, they gain very little money from such work. It made me think how little we know about the world we’re living in.
The tricky thing about Cameron Highlands is that you’re slightly limited in what you can do there unless you rent a scooter. All the activities like tours or renting a taxi to reach certain points are highly recommended to do in the first half of the day since later, the only road connecting all of it is stuck in a traffic jam that can last for hours. And while you’re resting in Tanah Rata, one of the towns in the area, there are no interesting activities to do. The incredibly beautiful area is full of rather gloomy modern buildings and a few old British-pseudo-European mansions. The only choice you have is to order scones and maybe read a book (I spent a few hours reading “The Book of Humans” by Adam Rutherford).
Penang, George Town: my big love
Can you imagine how worried I was before my next bus ride? Well, not really, but another 4 hours drive with a different ending point than mentioned on the ticket and I’m in Penang, the region in the northwest of Malaysia. I planned to stay for two nights in George Town, one of the towns in the area while having an idea to try to explore the places nearby since partially, this region is situated on the island.
I didn’t do the last one but instead, spent all my time in George Town which to me, is full of charms and history and I couldn’t not to fall in love with it.
One more place I fell in love with was the hotel I stayed in — Ren I Tang Heritage Inn Hotel. As they mention on their website, the hotel “is the result of a 2-year long restoration project on a 19th century Early Straits Eclectic Styled Building located within the core zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Penang Island”. I love it when the places carefully preserve their history and bring new life to them. Everything is exactly like this in Ren I Tang, and even more, the people who are working there are extremely nice and it was always a pleasure to have a chat with them. I can’t recommend it enough!
The old part of George Town, the very heart of it is a great representation of Malaysia’s multiculturalism. It’s full of temples, mosques, colonial architecture, restaurants serving all kinds of cuisines, and of course, street food markets. It’s getting quickly full of tourists but even that, doesn’t change the amazing and unique atmosphere of this place.
On my second day, I heard about the festival that is about to happen in the evening so I greatly joined it to dive into the local culture even more. I saw dragons, dancers, and locals carrying huge flags in an acrobatic way (turned out, it’s a local tradition). What was rather interesting to note was the fact that while it looked like the parade in the first place and people were moving through the road, the main action happened in front of some honourable guests (I suppose, the local deputies) not in front of the usual visitors.
On my last day, just as it was years ago in Bangkok, I met the local Urban Sketchers group — a group of people who are sketching what they see around them on location. Both times such meetings brought very positive emotions to me, people are very nice and there’s an inspiring spirit in the air, it’s so wonderful to see different techniques and points of view on the same subject.
Right after the meeting, I jumped to my hotel to check out and then headed to the airport to start my way back home. It was December 31 and my flights as well as the airport in between perfectly covered meeting New Year with various timezones — that was another little dream I had. And though in reality there was not as much excitement around me as I expected, it’s still a remarkable thing.
During my trip, I met some other travellers and most of them are staying in Southeast Asia for at least a few months. Years later I’d easily say “I wish I had a chance to do such long travels too!”.
Now, I’m much more at ease to enjoy short breaks learning new places and cultures around the world and know that I have only partially discovered a new country. There are still plenty of places to see in Malaysia which means that this “book” isn’t fully read yet. Just as many others I started years ago.
Coming back to my daily life after such a short break in a different reality makes me freshly see things around me, appreciate what I have and plan the next destinations I’d like to learn.
If you’re one of the few people who read till the end, then here are more of my travel articles I’d greatly suggest to you!
My first trip to Asia — COLORASIA: things I’ve learned about color and culture during my Asia trip (and part two)
Changing the continent, here comes the impressions from my trip to Colombia — Colors of Colombia
My travelogue from one particular area in Europe — Hey Sista, call me Balkanista! The journey of thousand miles across Balkans.
