The island of Langkawi was our introduction to Malaysia, a tax-free haven with nice beaches, popular with Malaysian tourists. After 3 hours seeking out accommodation, we crashed into Amzar’s motel and swiftly found what was to become ‘our’ restaurant for the rest of the week. A couple of Aalu gobi masala’s later, we rolled into Penang, our first proper Malaysian town, with the smell of culinary treats wafting out of its Chinatown and Little India districts. The Chinese hawkers market was a hot, sweaty affair but the ideal spot for the odd bargain and a good old Kuy Teow (Chinese noodles with prawns and some yummy sauce). Taking a trip out of town, we ventured to Penang Hill, apparently where many Brits used to live to catch the cool breezes coming inland…this was also a trek and a half (this time in the blazing midday sun) and although the funicular train was a nice alternative to a hike, there was little to see at the summit, especially as the air was too smoggy to see much of the city.

Over to the East Coast of Malaysia…where we caught an extremely bumpy, very fast speedboat to the Perhentian Islands. Perhentian Kecil (the smaller island) was where we chose to rest, on Long Beach. The few days we spent there were uneventful, except for what was our best snorkeling trip yet, seeing up to 6 or 7 reef sharks and a couple of turtles swimming nearby.

Onto the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. With a fair bit to see in the city, it was a non-stop few days. Merdaka Square, Batu Caves (where thousands of Buddhists pilgrim to each year), Little India, Chinatown and the Petronas Twin Towers all received a visit. We also visited a couple of major Mosques where I had to sport a bright orange head scarf and a long gown big enough to fit two large people to be allowed to enter. Petaling Street became an evening favourite, just wandering around the market, haggling, and eating Chinese staples.

The final port of call in Malaysia was Melaka, a fairly large town on the South-West coast. Almost as soon as we’d dumped our stuff we trekked to the other end of the city in search of Carrefour after we’d seen a random sign. Our hope that they’d sell baguettes was rewarded and we soon set about buying a few home food comforts for a picnic. On the weekend in Chinatown there was a huge night market, sprawling down the neverending Jonker Street, which centred on a stage where the Chinese volunteered themselves for Karaoke (the little man dancing next to each singer – priceless). By day we cycled everywhere (and with all the traffic lost each other once or twice), we took a gorgeous night cruise along the Melaka Straights, had a dip (literally, with the numbers in there it was like the inside of a sardine tin) at the local baths and soaked in a bit of the local festival which had taken over the port area. Melaka was a nice surprise.

What I most noticed about Malaysia was that it didn’t seem particularly touristy, the prices didn’t rise in areas you would have expected it to, there weren’t people out on the streets trying to get you into their bars and it saw nothing of the mass hoards of Thailand…quite refreshing after just being amongst those hoards.

So we moved on to Singapore…