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 Traveller's Tales: Advise for travellers in Malaysia
Heed our handy tips on safe travel in Malaysia. You may read about travel warnings, health, what to wear, travel with kids, travel with pets, local weather, local government, medical information and traffic information in the area.Also, you might want to read our
Kuala Lumpur city guide,
Langkawi city guide,
Melaka city guide,
and Penang city guide.
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| L Hoong boon |
12 July 2002 |
Stayed at Paradise Sandy Bay Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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Be careful of the cab drivers, very nasty and dishonest.
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| J Evans |
11 July 2002 |
Stayed at Berjaya Langkawi Beach and Spa Resort - Langkawi, Malaysia.
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The development of Langkawi as a resort destination has been driven by Malaysian government policy. Unfortunately, the drive from the airport to any of the resorts takes you pass an empty convention center, and a number of projects that were abandoned in mid-construction when the economy tanked in 1997. This gives the island a seedy appearance, and there is in any event nothing of interest here except the various beaches, which do not compare with those slighly to the north in the Phuket region of Thailand. Since its duty-free shopping is vastly overrated, the island is eminently missable.
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| D Ryan |
05 July 2002 |
Stayed at Crown Regency Serviced Apartments - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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1. Airport is 25 miles from City Center but Airport Shuttle Van from Hentian Duta provides VERY smooth transportation at 1/4 taxi cost--RM20($5.30) one-way, instead of $15-20 by taxi. 30 minute ride from KLIA to front door of hotel!
2. We generally take a morning city tour to orient ourselves to an area--very good one in KL--had pre-booked at Viator.com before leaving US. Recommend this.
3. Suria shopping center at KLCC (tucked between and beneath the Petronas Towers) provides excellent food options! We ate several meals there. You are sure to see the great Petronas Towers at night this way, too. We particularly recommend the Indian stall at the food court--full meal with Tandoori chicken, naan, curry shrimp, soft drinks, etc. for RM31 (about $8) in one of the ritziest shopping malls on earth! More elegant, on the 4th floor, is the Kelantan, where we had a great "steamboat" dinner (a waiter helps you cook your own food in a table-top crock-pot-type cooker). With local Tiger Beers, ended up costing only RM50 ($13). Had an equally delicious dinner at the House of Sudanese (also on the 4th floor)--excellent sweet-spicy fish (do try this one!), veggies in coconut milk, rice, and Tiger Beer--for RM 87 ($23).
4. Best shopping tip: Look for the cluster of crafts "stalls" we THINK are attached to the Parkson Grand. Bought batik sarongs at RM25 ($5.65) apiece.
5. Be sure to go to Petronas Tower #2 (best in morning) to get free tickets to go on Skybridge between the Towers for great aerial views of the city.
6. Just as great views from the Menara (KL Tower). For $2.50, you get an audio-tour and unlimited time (instead of the rush at Petronas) to look and take photos--and from the TOP of the tower! Tip: As the crow flies, it's not much farther than Petronas from this hotel, but take a taxi. It's an uphill walk that's tough in the heat.
7. Everyone makes a big deal of the Jalan Petaling (Chinatown) "night market", but it was disappointing. Only wares were DVDs, CDs, "knock-off" Gucci/Prada/Coach purses, sunglasses, t-shirts, and "Rolex" (!!)watches. No local crafts.
8. Eden Seafood Village dinner was most expensive meal we had in KL (but still a bargain at RM102 or $27). "Teksi" (taxi) had us there in 10-15 minutes for $1.00--then we chose to walk back, also 10 minutes! Halibut, garlic steak, lobster bisque--yum!
9. Don't be afraid to eat the "roti canai" at the stands on the street. This is a native "quick bread" kind of pancake served with mild curry sauce to dip it in (if you like). Eaten with thick boiled dark coffee (sweet and creamy). Two of us ate breakfast with the local police officers and security guards for a total of RM3.8 ($1.00)--amazing!
10. Take the Batu Caves (countryside) tour, too (RM25, $6.65 apiece). This gives one a completely different picture of KL life from the big-city-and-shopping-center side. We were also able to watch Royal Selangor pewter being made, saw latex being taken from a rubber tree, observed huge local insects being mounted and framed for sale, and visited a batik factory all on the way to the Caves. You do have to be able to climb the 272 steps up into the Caves (and there are more steps inside as well). Buy some peanuts to feed the monkeys who line the stairway up (but hold the bag AND your purse firmly--the monkeys are aggressive and literally swiped the bag from my hands!). We didn't need the 45 minutes allotted to the caves, but enjoyed the stalls outside during that time as well. This is a great place to try the local tropical fruit--vendors will give "samples". We bought our first mangosteens, rambutans, and longans of the trip here, because we could taste them first.
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| C Menham |
28 June 2002 |
Stayed at Berjaya Palace Hotel - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
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KK is OK - a bit of a concrete jungle after Kuching though. Get out to the islands from the KK jetty - beautiful.
Taxi drivers operate on a fixed price basis and collude to make sure that the fixed prices are about 3 times what they should be!!
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| R Sargent |
25 June 2002 |
Stayed at Holiday Inn Resort Damai Beach - Kuching, Malaysia.
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The location is nice, but the beaches in the region have potential sanitation issues! Bako National Park, Semonggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and Kuching are all worthy of visits and are nearby. The Sarawak Cultural Village is within walking distance, and is also worthy of a visit.
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| P Chiang |
23 June 2002 |
Stayed at Shangri-La Hotel Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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I walked by one restaurant that was washing dishes out of a bucket. The water was very dirty and it didn't look very sanitary. It made me cautious on food.
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| B Mcconnell |
16 June 2002 |
Stayed at Swiss Garden Hotel, Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Visit KL for the food. We had great Thai food at the big restaurant beside the Federal, tasty Indian naan curry at the second stall on the right before the bus terminal, and a truly great Indian meal in Bangsar at d'Sagar - see your KL magazine (in hotel room) for address. It was US$9 per person incl. drinks, and the same meal / quality / ambience in Singapore would be US$14. You can walk 15 mins down the street (ask for directions) to the expat nightspot: plenty of bars and coffee shops, lots going on. A taxi ride back to the hotel is under 7 ringgit. Makes for a good evening out.
Watch out for the taxi drivers. Insist on the meter, two times out of five they wanted to charge an absurd flat rate. The midnight surcharge is 50% and no higher!
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| L Hoong boon |
14 June 2002 |
Stayed at Corus hotel Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Be wary of the cab drivers... make sure they turn the meters on or else get off!
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| T Teck heng |
08 June 2002 |
Stayed at Bintang Warisan Hotel - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Many taxi drivers in KL still refuse to charge by the meter and ask for exorbitant rates. Difficult to get taxi if destination is only a short distance away.
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| V Forester |
07 June 2002 |
Stayed at Royale Bintang, The - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Enjoyed my stay in KL. Enjoyed the local shops.
Had an excellent meal at the Ship resaurant.
Local taxi people hanging around the hotel tried to rip me off.
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